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![]() The Free World Licence V1 (Plain Text) Here is Version 1 of the Free World Licence. The text below consists of plain text wrapped to 60 characters wide, and is the official "canonical" form of the licence. This form is suitable for copying into text files, email messages, web pages and programs. There is also an annotated version of the licence which provides a commentary on each clause. -----(Start Of The Free World Licence)----- THE FREE WORLD LICENCE V1 ========================= Version : 1. Date : 12 August 2000. Author : Ross N. Williams (ross@ross.net). Web : http://www.freeworldlicence.org/ Copyright : Copyright (c) Ross N. Williams 2000. All rights reserved. Licence : You are permitted to copy, distribute, and use verbatim copies of this licence document, but you may not modify it. However, you may copy and modify clauses of this licence for use in your own licence of a different name. Branding : The author requests that the term "Free World Licence" be used only to refer to verbatim copies of this licence. Warning : This licence does not constitute legal advice by Ross N. Williams or any other party, and accordingly it is not intended to be, nor should it be relied upon as, a substitute for legal or other professional advice. If you use this Licence, you do so at your own risk. Note : Because this licence permits use on free platforms only, it does not satisfy the requirements for use of the term "open source" as it is informally defined on the web site www.opensource.org. In order to avoid confusion, this licence should not be referred to as an "open source" licence and software released under this licence should not be referred to as "open source". Thanks : Parts of this licence are based on parts of the GNU GPL, with permission. Thanks also to Adrian Tembel for insightful legal debugging, and to Dan Shearer and Marc Leeuwen for helpful comments. Abstract -------- This is a free-software licence that provides all the conventional free-software freedoms, but restricts them to free platforms only (the "Free World"). This licence, which may be used by anyone, is suitable for commercial software vendors who want to contribute to the free software community and experiment with free-software business models without destroying their existing commercial-platform licensing revenue stream. It may also be suitable for free-software developers who do not want their software to enhance the functionality of non-free platforms. Form Of Invocation ------------------ The suggested form of invocation of this licence in your source code is: Copyright (c) [YourName] [Year]. All rights reserved. To the extent permitted by law, all liability is excluded, including contractual, tort and other forms. You are permitted to copy and distribute this module on Free Platforms only, subject to the terms and conditions of the Free World Licence V1 which can be found at the website www.freeworldlicence.org. [YourName] is the Original Licensor and can be contacted at: [Your name] ([Your email address]) [Your web address] [Your postal address] If you are releasing a complete program, the suggested form of notice that the program should display to its user is: Copyright (c) [YourName] [Year]. All rights reserved. To the extent permitted by law, all liability is excluded, including contractual, tort and other forms. This program may be run on Free Platforms only. By running this program twice, you agree to the terms and conditions of The Free World Licence V1 (www.freeworldlicence.org). Definitions ----------- 1.1 CONTRACT: The terms "Licence" and "Contract" are used interchangeably to refer to this document and the relationship it defines. 1.2 EXECUTABLE: A work, or derived work, capable of being executed on a Platform without further translation. 1.3 FIRMWARE: Firmware is defined to be any software residing in computer chips (not mass storage devices) of one megabyte or less that is undamaged when the computer is disconnected from its power supply and which cannot be replaced or altered without having to disconnect the computer from its power supply, open the computer, and manually perform a physical hardware modification. 1.4 FREE PLATFORM: A Free Platform is defined to be any Platform whose software component satisfies all of the following conditions technically, legally, and free of charge for all entities: a. complete Executables can be downloaded from the internet; b. complete Source Code can be downloaded from the internet; c. the software may be used for any purpose; d. the software may be modified, and modified versions used; e. modifications and modified versions may be publicly shared under the same terms; f. these freedoms apply to both Executables and Source Code; g. these freedoms are granted irreversibly for the particular version of the Platform in question; the Platform's licence must not contain termination clauses triggered by anything other than the wish of the licensee or formally defined breaches of the licence's conditions relating directly to the intellectual property of the Platform software. Exception: The incorporation of non-free device drivers, and other directly hardware-related software does not in itself cause a Platform to be classified as non-free. The following is an informal categorization of some existing Platforms. This categorization is subordinate to the definition above: Free : GNU/Linux (often called just "Linux"), FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, GNU/HURD, FreeDOS, MINIX. Non-Free : MS-DOS, Windows95, Windows98, WindowsNT, Windows2000, MacOS, AIX, IRIX, Tru64 Unix, SunOS, Solaris, OpenVMS, HP-UX, BSD/OS, Plan 9, VMware and other non-free software that emulates hardware and/or emulates free platforms. See also PLATFORM. Note: Many of these platform names are trademarks of their respective owners. 1.5 LICENCE: The terms "Licence" and "Contract" are used interchangeably to refer to this document and the relationship it defines. 1.6 LICENSOR: Licensor is the entity that is granting a licence under this Licence. The Licensor will usually also be the copyright holder. The Licensor may also be the Original Licensor. 1.7 LICENSEE: Licensee is the entity that is being granted a licence under this Licence. 1.8 MODULE: A component of a computer program, and the unit of licensing under this Licence. A module's source code consists of a single source file, or a small cluster of very closely related source files (e.g. in C, module.h and module.c). "The Module" means the module that is the subject of this licence, and includes any derivative work under copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Module or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another language. Hereinafter, translation (including compilation) is included without limitation in the term "modification". An executable or object code module is a derivative work of each Module from which it was derived. 1.9 NOTICE: A message within a Module, or associated with a Module or Program containing the Module. 1.10 ORIGINAL LICENSOR: The entity that first created/released the Module under this Licence. This is usually the copyright holder. If several entities contribute modifications to a Module, then each entity holds copyright over its modification, and licenses those modifications to the public under this Licence. All of those entities are Licensors of the Module, but only the original creator/releaser is the Original Licensor. 1.11 OFFICIAL: Something is Official if it is provided or endorsed by the Original Licensor. 1.12 PLATFORM: A collection of hardware, software and interfaces that together constitute a software execution environment. For the purposes of this Licence, the software component of a Platform is defined to be the minimum set of software required to enable the execution of the Module (or the derived work containing the Module) and does not include Firmware as defined above. See also FREE PLATFORM. 1.13 PROGRAM: A collection of one or more Modules that together constitute an operational piece of software that can be run on at least one Platform. 1.14 SOURCE CODE: The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable. However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the Platform on which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable. 1.15 THIRD PARTY WORK: A work that can reasonably be considered independent and separate to the Module. 1.16 YOU: The Licensee. Framing ------- 2.1 CONTRACT: This Licence is a legal contract between you and the Original Licensor (and possibly between you and other contributing Licensors too). As you are not obliged to accept this Contract without becoming aware of its existence and then indicating your agreement to it, you are free to receive and store a copy of the Module on your computer for an undefined grace period. However, in the absence of some other licensing agreement with Original Licensor, this Licence forms the only basis for your continued use of the Module, and by performing any of the following actions, you indicate your formal acceptance of this Licence and you enter into a contract with Original Licensor (and possibly with other contributing Licensors too): (a) Executing the Module, or any Program incorporating the Module, more than once (see clause 4.9); (b) Modifying the Module or creating a derived work of the Module; (c) Passively or actively copying or distributing the Module; (d) Failing to delete the Module from your computer within three days of becoming specifically aware of the Module's presence on your computer and its coverage by this Licence. 2.2 SUBJECT OF LICENCE: This Licence applies to any Module, or other work, that contains a notice placed by the work's copyright holder (or entity authorized by the copyright holder) saying that it may be distributed under the terms of this Licence. If no licence version number is provided in the notice, the version of this Licence is applicable that was most current at the time the Module was first released under this Licence. 2.3 CONSIDERATION: In exchange for this Licence, you agree to accept the terms and conditions of this Licence, including agreement to license to Original Licensor any bugfixes and minor modifications that you release, as described in clause 5.8. 2.4 SCOPE: This Licence covers only the activities of copying, executing, distributing, and modifying (creating derived works) the Module. All other activities are outside its scope. Module output is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Module (independent of having been made by running the Module). Whether that is true depends on what the Module does. 2.5 LICENCE, NOT SALE: The Module is licensed, not sold, to you for use only under the terms and conditions of this Contract, and Licensor reserves all rights not expressly granted to you. This Contract does not grant you any rights to copyright, patents, trade secrets, trade names, trademarks (whether registered or unregistered), or any other rights, franchises, or licences (apart from the express licence granted by this Contract) in respect of the Module, or collection of Modules similarly licensed. 2.6 WARRANT OF RIGHTS: Original Licensor warrants that it has sufficient copyright rights to the Module to license it to you under this Licence. However, due to the uncertainty associated with other forms of intellectual property, Original Licensor does not warrant that it has sufficient patent or other rights, apart from copyright, to license the Module. Own Use ------- 3.1 PLATFORM RESTRICTION ON EXECUTION: You may execute the Module on any Free Platform. You may not execute the Module on any non-Free Platform. 3.2 PLATFORM RESTRICTION ON DERIVED WORKS: You may not generate, copy, distribute or endorse object code or an executable that incorporates the Module and which can run on one or more non-Free Platforms, unless the object code or executable was generated on a Free Platform, can run unmodified on at least one Free Platform, and has interoperability as a natural consequence of the relationship between the architectures of the Free and non-Free Platforms rather than as the result of an engineering effort (e.g. using two bodies of code in the same executable) designed to circumvent this clause. Distribution ------------ 4.1 COPYING OF SOURCE: You may copy and distribute copies of the Module's source code, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish (or retain) on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this Licence and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Module a copy of this Licence along with the Module (or collection of Modules similarly licensed). You must also adhere to the other terms and conditions of this Contract. 4.2 COPYING OF EXECUTABLES: You may copy and distribute copies of object code and executables (that incorporate the Module) for Free Platforms only, providing that you include a copy of this Licence, and that you either include the source code for the Module or instructions on how to download a publicly available copy of the source code for the Module (or Program or collection of modules containing the Module) from the internet free of charge and provided under this Licence. You must also adhere to the other terms and conditions of this Contract. 4.3 CHARGING FOR DISTRIBUTION: You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy of the Module. 4.4 CHARGING FOR WARRANTY PROTECTION: You may offer warranty protection on the Module in exchange for a fee. 4.5 ORIGINAL LICENSOR CONTACT INFO: Original Licensor must provide, along with any notice indicating that this Licence applies, appropriate contact information so as to enable Licensees to send Original Licensor changes and to contact Original Licensor about issues relating to this Licence. Original Licensor should provide at least its name, postal address, email address, and website address. 4.6 INTEGRATION: Where you distribute a Third Party Work as part of a whole that contains the Module, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this Licence, whose permissions for other Licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it. However, this restriction does not apply to such Third Party Works when they are distributed as separate works. 4.7 AGGREGATION: Mere aggregation of another work not based on the Module with the Module on a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under the scope of this Licence. 4.8 REPRESENTATION OF RIGHTS: In interacting with a third party in relation to the Module under this Contract, you may not explicitly or implicitly represent that they have more or less rights than are provided to them under this Licence. For example, you may not imply, when distributing the Module, that the Module is conventionally-commercial software (implication of less rights), and you may not imply that the Module is public domain (implication of more rights). Similarly, you may not imply that the Module may legally be run on a non-free Platform (e.g. by distributing it under the implicit or explicit representation that it is for use on one or more non-free Platforms). 4.9 STARTUP NOTICES: If a work based on the Module is distributed as part of a whole that has an interactive interface, then that interface must display (in a startup notice, "about" box, or similar) a notice that includes: (a) an appropriate copyright notice; (b) a notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide a warranty); (c) a notice that the software is covered by this Licence; (d) a notice telling the user how to view a copy of this licence; and (e) a notice that by running the software twice, the user is explicitly agreeing to this Licence (see clause 2.1). If the work does not have an interactive interface (e.g. traditionally "silent" Unix utilities) then you must configure the distribution so as to ensure that the user is made aware of these notices before the user runs the program for the second time. 4.10 INTEGRITY: If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this Licence, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this Licence. If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this Licence and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Module at all. For example, if a patent licence would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Module by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this Licence would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Module. 4.11 ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The end-user documentation included with any distribution of this software must include the following acknowledgement: "This product includes software developed by Original-Licensor (Original-Licensor's-Web-Address)." where you should substitute the Original Licensor's name and web address as appropriate. Alternately, this acknowledgment may appear in the software itself, if and wherever such third-party acknowledgments normally appear. Modification ------------ 5.1 GRANT OF MODIFICATION: You may modify your copy or copies of the Module or any portion of it, thus forming a work based on the Module, and copy and distribute such modifications or work in accordance with clauses 4.1 and 4.2, providing that you conform to all the other terms and conditions of this Contract. 5.2 LICENCE ENFORCEMENT: You must not remove or disable parts of the Module that notify, support or enforce the terms and conditions of this Licence. 5.3 NOTICE PERMANENCE: You may not remove any notice of proprietary rights (e.g. notices of copyright, patent, trademark, trade name), or any other legal or other notice, from the Module. 5.4 MODIFICATION NOTICES: If you modify the Module, you must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices, providing, for each change, your name, the date of the change, your email address, and a brief summary of each change. 5.5 PROGRAM MODIFICATION NOTICES: If Original Licensor released the Module as part of a Program, and the Module has been modified since it was released by Original Licensor, and the Program has an interactive interface, then that interface must display (in a startup notice, "about" box, or similar) a notice stating that the Program has been modified since its Official release, a statement that an official version is available, and sufficient online contact information (e.g. official web address) for obtaining the Official version, as provided by Original Licensor. 5.6 NAMING EXECUTABLES AND DISTRIBUTION FILES: If Original Licensor released the Module as part of a Program, and the Module has been modified since it was released by Original Licensor, then all modified executables and distribution archive files must be given a different name from the Official name. For example, if the Program is called Gnomovision, then you could name your executable and distribution file gnomovision-banana.exe and gnomovision-banana.zip. The different name must not imply that the variant is Official (e.g. "Gnomovision-Deluxe", "Gnomovision-Pro" or "Gnomovision-V5"). This clause is subordinate to the powers of trademarks wielded by Original Licensor. 5.7 TRADEMARK: If Original Licensor released the Module, under this Licence, as part of a complete Program, and the Program's name is protected by trademark, Original Licensor should issue a licence for use of the trademark, and you must conform to its terms and conditions or rename your variation of the Program. 5.8 MINOR MODIFICATION LICENSEBACK: If you apply a self-contained modification that adds or modifies at most twenty (possibly non-contiguous) lines of code in the Module, or apply a simple systematic transformation throughout the Module (e.g. correcting a systemic spelling error), then upon releasing such modification, you automatically grant to Original Licensor a non-exclusive royalty-free unrestricted worldwide licence to distribute and/or license the modification (and hence the modified Module) under terms of the Original Licensor's choosing. The purpose of this clause is to allow bugfixes and minor enhancements to be incorporated into commercial releases of the Module. 5.9 ALL-PLATFORM CONVERSION: If you apply a modification to the Module, then upon releasing such modification you automatically grant a public licence to the modification under this Licence, and also under this Licence but with the definition of "Free Platform" relaxed to include all platforms. The purpose of this clause is to enable the Original Licensor (at a later date) to relax the platform restriction without having to obtain permission from each contributor/Licensor. However, until the Original Licensor releases the original Module under the relaxed licence, the modified Module does not fall under the relaxed licence. 5.10 GNU CONVERSION: If you apply a modification to the Module, then upon releasing such modification you automatically grant a public licence to the modification under all versions (including future versions) of the GNU General Public Licence (as published by the Free Software Foundation (www.fsf.org)). The purpose of this clause is to enable the Original Licensor (at a later date) to convert the Module's licensing over to a GNU GPL without having to obtain GNU GPL permission from each contributor/Licensor. However, until the Original Licensor releases the original Module under a GNU GPL, the modified Module does not fall under the GNU GPL. 5.11 IMMUTABILITY: You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Module except as expressly provided under this Licence. Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Module is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this Licence. However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this Licence will not have their licences terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance. 5.12 TRANSITIVITY: You must cause any work (and each Module in any work) that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Module or any part thereof, to be licensed at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this Licence. Each time you redistribute the Module, the recipient automatically receives an offer from Original Licensor and all subsequent Licensors to accept this Contract and thereby obtain the right to execute, copy, distribute or modify the Module subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. 5.13 PATENTS OWNED BY LICENSOR: Where Licensor owns (or has licensed) patents that relate to the Module, Licensor must prominently and appropriately list in the Module's source code and documentation (using the word "patent") formal references to each patent. Failure to do this constitutes (to the extent permitted by Licensor's powers in relation to the patent) an implicit free public licence to use the patent in the form of the Module and derived works of the Module under this Licence. 5.14 PATENT GEOGRAPHICAL EXCLUSIONS: If the distribution and/or use of the Module is restricted in certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, Licensor may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among countries not thus excluded. In such case, this Licence incorporates the limitation as if written in the body of this Licence. 5.15 INTERACTION WITH OTHER LICENCES: If you wish to integrate parts of the Module with other modules whose distribution conditions are different, contact the Licensor(s) to ask for permission. No Warranty Or Liability ------------------------ 6.1 NO WARRANTY: BECAUSE THE MODULE IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE MODULE, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE MODULE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE MODULE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE MODULE PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. 6.2 NO LIABILITY: IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE MODULE AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE MODULE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE MODULE TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER MODULES), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. 6.3 INDEMNITY: IF YOU BREACH ANY PART OF THIS CONTRACT, YOU INDEMNIFY ORIGINAL LICENSOR (AND ALL SUBSEQUENT LICENSORS) AGAINST ANY CLAIMS THAT ARISE AS A DIRECT OR INDIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF SUCH BREACH. Additional Legalities --------------------- 7.1 NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIRD PARTY COMPLIANCE: You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to this Licence. 7.2 SUGGESTIONS: By making a suggestion (in relation to the Module, a derived work of the Module, or a Third Party enclosing Work) to Original Licensor or its representatives, you thereby grant Original Licensor permission to use that suggestion, free of charge, in any way it chooses. 7.3 USE OF LICENSOR'S NAME: Neither the name of the Original Licensor, nor the names of the Module's contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. 7.4 TERMINATION: You may terminate this Licence at any time by deleting all copies of the Module (and works derived from the module) in your possession. However, such deletion does not necessarily constitute a remedy for a prior breach. The No Warranty, No Liability, and Indemnity clauses survive termination. Termination does not extend to parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this Licence so long as such parties remain in full compliance. 7.5 SEVERANCE: If any section of this Licence is held invalid or unenforceable under any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other circumstances. 7.6 ENTIRE AGREEMENT: This Contract contains the entire agreement between the parties hereto with respect to the specific licence granted under this Contract, and supersedes all such prior agreements and/or understandings (oral or written). 7.7 WAIVERS NOT PRECEDENT: Failure or delay by Licensor in enforcing any right or provision hereof shall not be deemed a waiver of such provision or right with respect to the instance or any subsequent breach. 7.8 LEGAL SYSTEM: This Contract will be construed under the laws of the state and country in which Licensor resides, except for that body of law dealing with conflict of law; Licensee consents to jurisdiction in the state and federal courts located in the state and country in which Licensor resides. -----(End Of The Free World Licence)-----
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