BSD Protection License
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February 2002
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Preamble
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--------
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The Berkeley Software Distribution ("BSD") license has proven very effective
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over the years at allowing for a wide spread of work throughout both
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commercial and non-commercial products. For programmers whose primary
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intention is to improve the general quality of available software, it is
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arguable that there is no better license than the BSD license, as it
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permits improvements to be used wherever they will help, without idealogical
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or metallic constraint.
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This is of particular value to those who produce reference implementations
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of proposed standards: The case of TCP/IP clearly illustrates that freely
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and universally available implementations leads the rapid acceptance of
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standards -- often even being used instead of a de jure standard (eg, OSI
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network models).
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With the rapid proliferation of software licensed under the GNU General
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Public License, however, the continued success of this role is called into
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question. Given that the inclusion of a few lines of "GPL-tainted" work
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into a larger body of work will result in restricted distribution -- and
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given that further work will likely build upon the "tainted" portions,
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making them difficult to remove at a future date -- there are inevitable
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circumstances where authors would, in order to protect their goal of
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providing for the widespread usage of their work, wish to guard against
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such "GPL-taint".
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In addition, one can imagine that companies which operate by producing and
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selling (possibly closed-source) code would wish to protect themselves
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against the rise of a GPL-licensed competitor. While under existing
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licenses this would mean not releasing their code under any form of open
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license, if a license existed under which they could incorporate any
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improvements back into their own (commercial) products then they might be
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far more willing to provide for non-closed distribution.
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For the above reasons, we put forth this "BSD Protection License": A
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license designed to retain the freedom granted by the BSD license to use
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licensed works in a wide variety of settings, both non-commercial and
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commercial, while protecting the work from having future contributors
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restrict that freedom.
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The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution, and
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modification follow.
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BSD PROTECTION LICENSE
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION, AND MODIFICATION
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----------------------------------------------------------------
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0. Definitions.
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a) "Program", below, refers to any program or work distributed under
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the terms of this license.
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b) A "work based on the Program", below, refers to either the Program
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or any derivative work under copyright law.
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c) "Modification", below, refers to the act of creating derivative works.
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d) "You", below, refers to each licensee.
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1. Scope.
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This license governs the copying, distribution, and modification of the
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Program. Other activities are outside the scope of this license; The
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act of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the
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Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the
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Program.
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2. Verbatim copies.
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You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program as you
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receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and
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appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice; keep
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intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of
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any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this
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License along with the Program.
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3. Modification and redistribution under closed license.
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You may modify your copy or copies of the Program, and distribute
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the resulting derivative works, provided that you meet the
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following conditions:
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a) The copyright notice and disclaimer on the Program must be reproduced
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and included in the source code, documentation, and/or other materials
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provided in a manner in which such notices are normally distributed.
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b) The derivative work must be clearly identified as such, in order that
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it may not be confused with the original work.
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c) The license under which the derivative work is distributed must
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expressly prohibit the distribution of further derivative works.
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4. Modification and redistribution under open license.
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You may modify your copy or copies of the Program, and distribute
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the resulting derivative works, provided that you meet the
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following conditions:
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a) The copyright notice and disclaimer on the Program must be reproduced
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and included in the source code, documentation, and/or other materials
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provided in a manner in which such notices are normally distributed.
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b) You must clearly indicate the nature and date of any changes made
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to the Program. The full details need not necessarily be included in
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the individual modified files, provided that each modified file is
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clearly marked as such and instructions are included on where the
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full details of the modifications may be found.
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c) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole
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or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part
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thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third
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parties under the terms of this License.
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5. Implied acceptance.
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You may not copy or distribute the Program or any derivative works except
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as expressly provided under this license. Consequently, any such action
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will be taken as implied acceptance of the terms of this license.
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6. NO WARRANTY.
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THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
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INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
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AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL
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THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR
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REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT,
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INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
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ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING, BUT
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NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
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USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
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ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR
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TORT, EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
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POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
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