The License Agreement is very much unfinished for now.
We are aware that there will be strong opinions coming up. Read up on our LicenseReasoning, and feel free to ContactUs with constructive criticism.
To give the general idea: Don't think of it as "yet another Open Source license".
Rather, think of a project that wants to open itself for outside contribution, while keeping control over direction and redistribution as long as the project remains "alive", i.e. active. We want to keep this project together, to avoid scattering development effort over a number forks and "mutations" of our source code. We also want to reserve the right to sell "Perfection", because there will be costs coming up at some point in the future. This is basically turning around the GPL: Instead of earning the funds to work on the product by offering additional services, we want to fund the additional services by selling the product.
Note that this does not spell "profit", it spells "covering the costs, and perhaps get some excess funds for e.g. advertising, shrink-wrap distribution et al.".
There are plans to make the project into a cooperative (legal body), including articles of association, to protect the project maintainers from legal backlash from the stupid things being done by lawyers regarding trademarks, software patents etc.
At the same time, we want to make sure that there's no chance that by some "hostile takeover" your contributions are turned into a closed source product, since we fully understand that this would scare away most contributors.
$license$ Pre-Release Version
Copyright (c) 2003 by Martin Baute Wilhelm-Leuschner-Str. 5, 61267 Neu-Anspach, Germany
Pre-Release Version - Do Not Distribute.
This is a draft document, (c) 2003 by Martin Baute. Copying or the creation of derivative works outside the scope of Pro-POS is prohibited.
''The finished version of this document will be properly versioned and
released. The above restriction is to avoid confusion with copies in various
stages of "perfection" (pardon the pun) floating around. // MartinBaute
TODO
The conceptual idea behind the $license$ is that it binds not only the user (License of Use), but the implementor (License of Modification), the copyright holder (License of Maintenance) and the contributor to the project (License of Contribution) just as well; it is aimed at a maximum of fairness and protection for each party named above.
The $license$ is an attempt to combine the best of the commercial and the Open Source world, while inheriting the drawbacks of neither. Since it is substantially different from any other popular license agreement, we strongly recommend you read it casually, and consult the FrequentlyAskedQuestions should any questions persist.
This license consists of a Generic and a Variable Section.
Following is a piece inspired by the GPL, waiting to be bent into shape. ;-)
// MartinBaute
''applies to any program or other work which contains a notice placed by
the Copyright Holder saying it is placed under the $license$. The "Product",
below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the
Product" means either the Product or any derivative work under copyright
law; that is to say, a work containing the Product or a portion of it, either
verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another language.
(Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in the term
"modification".) Each licensee is addressed as "you".
Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of running the Product is not restricted, and the output of the Product is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Product (independant of having been made by running the Product). Whether that is true depends on what the Product does.
You are, at all times and without having to agree to this license, free to refer to, download, and inspect the source code of the Product. Any further activities require you to agree to the applicable parts of this licensing agreement; this includes (but is not limited to) the following limitations:
Failure to comply with these limitations on unlicensed use implies you have read this license agreement in full, and accept its terms and conditions.
A License of Use can be obtained by legal bodies (thus including individuals). Such a license is valid for the major release of the Product, on a range of systems as indicated in the License of Use. It extends to any predecessors of the indicated release, and any minor revisions yet to come.
A License of Use does not extend to major releases newer than the one indicated in the license. To use such a newer major release of the Product, an update has to be obtained.
Once for each major release of the product, you are allowed to use the Product for a period of thirty days, starting with the day of first installation of the Product release on one of your systems. This evaluation period is always free of charge, and may be repeated once for every successive major release of the product.
A License of Modification can be obtained by legal bodies (thus including individuals). Such a license is valid for the major release of the Product, on a range of systems as indicated in the License of Modification. It extends to any predecessors of the indicated release, and any minor revisions yet to come. It also implies a License of Use for the indicated range of systems.
A License of Modification can be revoked by the Copyright Holder, if proof can be found that the terms of the $license$ have been violated by the Implementor.
The Implementor is allowed to make changes to the Product as seen fit, including the right to employ a such modified version of the Product on any systems the License of Modification is valid for. Any such modified version must carry a prominent note, to be seen in the most common way of using the Product (unless that unduly hinders operation of the Product), stating the Implementor, the changes made, and the date of the changes.
Any modifications employed in such way must be made available to the Copyright Holder, at no cost and without additional conditions, for potential inclusion in the Product.
The Project will not provide support for modified versions of the Product. The Implementor agrees with and will not modify any modification detection mechanism built into the Product.
A License of Contribution is granted by the Copyright Holder to legal bodies (thus including individuals). Such a license is valid for the major release of the Product, on a range of systems as indicated in the License of Contribution. It extends to any predecessors of the indicated release, and any minor revisions yet to come. It also implies a License of Modification for the indicated range of systems, for the current and the coming major release of the Product.
A License of Contribution can be revoked by the Copyright Holder, if proof can be found that the terms of the $license$ have been violated by the Contributor.
A License of Contribution requires a legally binding, written and signed contract between the Copyright Holders and the Contributor, as presented in the Appendix.
The License of Maintenance binds the Copyright Holder releasing the Product under the $license$. It can be granted to legal bodies (thus including individuals). Such a license is valid for one Product line.
A License of Contribution can be revoked by the Contributors, if proof can be found that the terms of the $license$ have been violated by the Copyright Holder.
The Copyright Holder commits to hold all material adopted into the project available for public access.
The Copyright Holder and the Contributors provide the Product "as is", without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including (but not limited to) the implied warranties of merchantibility and fitness for a particular purpose.
The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the Product is with you. Should the Product prove defective, you assume the cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction.
In no event, unless required by applicable law, will the Copyright Holder or the Contributors be liable to you for any damages arising from the use or inability to use the product, be those damages general, direct, indirect, incidential, special, exemplary or consequential. This includes (but is not limited to) data lost, rendered inaccurate, or unintentionally undisclosed; losses sustained by you or third parties by failure of the Product to interoperate with other hard- or software; or loss of profits or business interruption, however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise); even if the Copyright Holder or the Contributors have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Should any paragraph of this license agreement be found in conflict with applicable law, it shall be replaced by a non-conflicting wording that best meets the legal, technical, and economic aim of the original paragraph. The remaining paragraphs of this license agreement remain valid.