Changeset - 110f9ece935a
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Bradley Kuhn (bkuhn) - 10 years ago 2014-03-21 16:53:20
bkuhn@ebb.org
Rewrote paragraphs on additional permissions.
1 file changed with 19 insertions and 20 deletions:
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@@ -2907,446 +2907,445 @@ not require acceptance.  Such ancillary propagation is permitted without
 
limitation or further obligation.
 

	
 
% FIXME-LATER: Would be nice to explain much more about interactions between
 
% the various options of GPLv3~\S6(a-e), which might all be in play at once!
 

	
 
\subsection{User Products, Installation Information and Device Lock-Down}
 

	
 
As discussed in \S~\ref{GPLv3-drm} of this tutorial, GPLv3 seeks thwart
 
technical measures such as signature checks in hardware to prevent
 
modification of GPLed software on a device.
 

	
 
To address this issue, GPLv3~\S6 requires that parties distributing object
 
code provide recipients with the source code through certain means.  When
 
those distributors pass on the CCS, they are also required to pass on any
 
information or data necessary to install modified software on the particular
 
device that included it.  (This strategy is not unlike that used in LGPLv2.1
 
to enable users to link proprietary programs to modified libraries.)
 

	
 
% FIXME-LATER: LGPLv2.1 section should talk about this explicitly and this
 
%              should be a forward reference here
 

	
 
\subsubsection{User Products}
 

	
 
\label{user-product}
 

	
 
The scope of these requirements are narrow.  GPLv3~\S6 introduces the concept
 
of a ``User Product'', which includes devices that are sold for personal,
 
family, or household use.  Distributors are only required to provide
 
Installation Information when they convey object code in a User Product.
 

	
 
In brief, the right to convey object code in a defined class of ``User
 
Products,'' under certain circumstances, on providing whatever information is
 
required to enable a recipient to replace the object code with a functioning
 
modified version.
 

	
 
This was a compromise that was difficult for the FSF to agree to during the
 
GPLv3 drafting process.  However, companies and governments that use
 
specialized or enterprise-level computer facilities reported that they
 
actually \textit{want} their systems not to be under their own control.
 
Rather than agreeing to this as a concession, or bowing to pressure, they ask
 
for this as a \texit{preference}.  It is not clear that GPL should interfere
 
here, since the main problem lies elsewhere.
 

	
 
While imposing technical barriers to modification is wrong regardless of
 
circumstances, the areas where restricted devices are of the greatest
 
practical concern today fall within the User Product definition.  Most, if
 
not all, technically-restricted devices running GPL-covered programs are
 
consumer electronics devices.  Moreover, the disparity in clout between the
 
manufacturers and these users makes it difficult for the users to reject
 
technical restrictions through their weak and unorganized market power.  Even
 
limited to User Products, this provision addresses the fundamental problem.
 

	
 
% FIXME-LATER: link \href to USC 2301
 

	
 
The core of the User Product definition is a subdefinition of ``consumer
 
product'' adapted from the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a federal
 
consumer protection law in the USA found in 15~USC~\S2301: ``any tangible
 
personal property which is normally used for personal, family, or household
 
purposes.''  The USA has had three decades of experience of liberal
 
judicial and administrative interpretation of this definition in a manner
 
favorable to consumer rights.\footnote{The Magnuson-Moss consumer product
 
  definition itself has been influential in the USA and Canada, having been
 
  adopted in several state and provincial consumer protection laws.}
 
Ideally, this body of interpretation\footnote{The FSF, however, was very
 
  clear that incorporation of such legal interpretation was in no way
 
  intended work as a general choice of USA law for GPLv3.} will guide
 
interpretation of the consumer product subdefinition in GPLv3~\S6, and this
 
will hopefully provide a degree of legal certainty advantageous to device
 
manufacturers and downstream licensees alike.
 

	
 
One well-established interpretive principle under Magnuson-Moss is that
 
ambiguities are resolved in favor of coverage.  That is, in cases where
 
it is not clear whether a product falls under the definition of consumer
 
product, the product will be treated as a consumer product.\footnote{16
 
CFR~\S\ 700.1(a); \textit{McFadden v.~Dryvit Systems, Inc.}, 54
 
UCC~Rep.~Serv.2d 934 (D.~Ore.~2004).}  Moreover, for a given product,
 
``normally used'' is understood to refer to the typical use of that type
 
of product, rather than a particular use by a particular buyer.
 
Products that are commonly used for personal as well as commercial
 
purposes are consumer products, even if the person invoking rights is a
 
commercial entity intending to use the product for commercial
 
purposes.\footnote{16 CFR \S \ 700.1(a).  Numerous court decisions
 
interpreting Magnuson-Moss are in accord; see, e.g., \textit{Stroebner
 
Motors, Inc.~v.~Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.}, 459 F.~Supp.2d 1028,
 
1033 (D.~Hawaii 2006).}  Even a small amount of ``normal'' personal use
 
is enough to cause an entire product line to be treated as a consumer
 
product under Magnuson-Moss\footnote{\textit{Tandy Corp.~v.~Marymac
 
Industries, Inc.}, 213 U.S.P.Q.~702 (S.D.~Tex.~1981). In this case, the
 
court concluded that TRS-80 microcomputers were consumer products, where
 
such computers were designed and advertised for a variety of users,
 
including small businesses and schools, and had only recently been
 
promoted for use in the home.}.
 

	
 
However, Magnuson-Moss is not a perfect fit because in the area of components
 
of dwellings, the settled interpretation under Magnuson-Moss underinclusive.
 
Depending on how such components are manufactured or sold, they may or may
 
not be considered Magnuson-Moss consumer products.\footnote{Building
 
  materials that are purchased directly by a consumer from a retailer, for
 
  improving or modifying an existing dwelling, are consumer products under
 
  Magnuson-Moss, but building materials that are integral component parts of
 
  the structure of a dwelling at the time that the consumer buys the dwelling
 
  are not consumer products. 16 C.F.R.~\S\S~700.1(c)--(f); Federal Trade
 
  Commission, Final Action Concerning Review of Interpretations of
 
  Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 64 Fed.~Reg.~19,700 (April 22, 1999); see also,
 
  e.g., \textit{McFadden}, 54 U.C.C.~Rep.~Serv.2d at 934.}  Therefore, GPLv3
 
defines User Products as a superset of consumer products that also includes
 
``anything designed or sold for incorporation into a dwelling.''
 

	
 
Thus, the three sentences in the center of GPLv3's User Product definition
 
encapsulate the judicial and administrative principles established over the
 
past three decades in the USA concerning the Magnuson-Moss consumer product
 
definition.  First, it states that doubtful cases are resolved in favor of
 
coverage under the definition.  Second, it indicate that the words ``normally
 
used'' in the consumer product definition refer to a typical or common use of
 
a class of product, and not the status of a particular user or expected or
 
actual uses by a particular user.  Third, it clearly states that the
 
existence of substantial non-consumer uses of a product does not negate a
 
determination that it is a consumer product, unless such non-consumer uses
 
represent the only significant mode of use of that product.
 

	
 
It should be clear from these added sentences that it is the general mode of
 
use of a product that determines objectively whether or not it is a consumer
 
product.  One could not escape the effects of the User Products provisions by
 
labeling what is demonstrably a consumer product in ways that suggest it is
 
``for professionals'', for example.
 

	
 

	
 
\subsubsection{Installation Information}
 

	
 
With the User Products definition complete,  The ``Installation Information''
 
definition uses that to define what those receiving object code inside a User
 
Product must receive.
 

	
 
Installation Information is information that is ``required to install and
 
execute modified versions of a covered work \dots from a modified version of
 
its'' CCS, in the same User Product for which the covered work is conveyed.
 
GPLv3 provides guidance concerning how much information must be provided: it
 
``must suffice to ensure that the continued functioning of the modified
 
object code is in no case prevented or interfered with solely because
 
modification has been made.''  For example, the information provided would be
 
insufficient if it enabled a modified version to run only in a disabled
 
fashion, solely because of the fact of modification (regardless of the actual
 
nature of the modification).  The information need not consist of
 
cryptographic keys; Installation Information may be ``any methods,
 
procedures, authorization keys, or other information''.
 

	
 
Note that GPLv3 does not define ``continued functioning'' further.  However,
 
GPLv3 does provide some additional guidance concerning the scope of
 
GPLv3-compliant action or inaction that distributors of
 
technically-restricted User Products can take with respect to a downstream
 
recipient who replaces the conveyed object code with a modified version.
 
First of all, GPLv3 makes clear that GPLv3 implies no obligation ``to
 
continue to provide support service, warranty, or updates'' for such a work.
 

	
 
Second, most technically-restricted User Products are designed to communicate
 
across networks.  It is important for both users and network providers to
 
know when denial of network access to devices running modified versions
 
becomes a GPL violation.  GPLv3 permits denial of access in two cases: ``when
 
the modification itself materially and adversely affects the operation of the
 
network,'' and when the modification itself ``violates the rules and
 
protocols for communication across the network''.  The second case is
 
deliberately drawn in general terms, and it serves as a foundation for
 
reasonable enforcement policies that respect recipients' right to modify
 
while recognizing the legitimate interests of network providers.
 

	
 
Note that GPLv3 permits the practice of conveying object code in a mode not
 
practically susceptible to modification by any party, such as code burned in
 
ROM or embedded in silicon.  The goal of the Installation Information
 
requirement is to ensure the downstream licensee receives the real right to
 
modify when the device manufacturer or some other party retains that right.
 
Accordingly, GPLv3\S6's ante-penultimate paragraph states that the
 
requirement to provide Installation Information ``does not apply if neither
 
you nor any third party retains the ability to install modified object code
 
on the User Product''.
 

	
 
Finally, GPLv3\S6 makes it clear that there is also no requirement to
 
provide warranty or support for the User Product itself.
 

	
 
\section{Understanding License Compatibility}
 
\label{license-compatibility}
 

	
 
% FIXME: more about license compatibility here.
 

	
 
A challenge that faced the Free Software community heavily through out the
 
early 2000s was the proliferation of incompatible Free Software licenses.  Of
 
course, we cannot make the GPL compatible with all such licenses. GPLv3
 
contains provisions that are designed to reduce license incompatibility by
 
making it easier for developers to combine code carrying non-GPL terms with
 
GPL'd code.
 

	
 
% FIXME: connecting text
 

	
 
\subsection{Additional Permissions}
 
\subsection{GPLv3~\S7: Additional Permissions}
 

	
 
The GPL is a statement of permissions, some of which have conditions.
 
Additional terms --- terms that supplement those of the GPL --- may come to be
 
placed on, or removed from, GPL-covered code in certain common ways.
 
Copyleft licensing theorists have generally called
 
 those added terms ``additional permissions'' if they grant
 
exceptions from the conditions of the GPL, and ``additional requirements'' if
 
they add conditions to the basic permissions of the GPL\@. The treatment of
 
additional permissions and additional requirements under GPLv3 is necessarily
 
asymmetrical, because they do not raise the same interpretive
 
issues; in particular, additional requirements, if allowed without careful
 
limitation, could transform a GPL'd program into a non-free one.
 

	
 
With these principles in the background, GPLv3~\S7  answers the following
 
questions: 
 
\begin{enumerate}
 
\item How do the presence of additional terms on all or part of a GPL'd program
 
affect users' rights?
 

	
 
\item When and how may a licensee add terms to code being
 
distributed under the GPL? 
 

	
 
\item When may a licensee remove additional terms?
 
\end{enumerate}
 

	
 
% FIXME: FSF third person, etc.
 

	
 
Additional permissions present the easier case.  We have licensed some of our
 
own software under GPLv2 with permissive exceptions that allow combination
 
with non-free code, and that allow removal of those permissions by downstream
 
recipients; similarly, LGPLv2.1 is in essence a permissive variant of GPLv2,
 
and it permits relicensing under the GPL.  We have generalized these
 
practices in section 7.  A licensee may remove any additional permission from
 
Additional permissions present the easier case.  Since the mid-1990s,
 
permissive exceptions often appeared alongside GPLv2 with permissive
 
exceptions to allow combination
 
with certain non-free code.  Typically, downstream
 
stream recipients could remove those exceptions and operate under pure GPLv2.
 
Similarly, LGPLv2.1 is in essence a permissive variant of GPLv2,
 
and it permits relicensing under the GPL\@.  
 

	
 
\sectin
 
These practices are now generalized via GPLv3~\S7.
 
A licensee may remove any additional permission from
 
a covered work, whether it was placed by the original author or by an
 
upstream distributor.  A licensee may also add any kind of additional
 
permission to any part of a work for which the licensee has, or can give,
 
appropriate copyright permission. For example, if the licensee has written
 
that part, the licensee is the copyright holder for that part and can
 
therefore give additional permissions that are applicable to it.
 
Alternatively, the part may have been written by someone else and licensed,
 
with the additional permissions, to that licensee.  Any additional
 
permissions on that part are, in turn, removable by downstream recipients.
 
As subsection 7a explains, the effect of an additional permission depends on
 
As GPLv3~\S7\P1 explains, the effect of an additional permission depends on
 
whether the permission applies to the whole work or a part.
 

	
 
% FIXME: rework this a bit
 
% FIXME-LATER: LGPLv3 will have its own section
 

	
 
We have drafted version 3 of the GNU LGPL, which we have released with Draft
 
2 of GPLv3, as a simple list of additional permissions supplementing the
 
terms of GPLv3.  Section 7 has thus provided the basis for recasting a
 
Indeed, LGPLv3 is itself simply  a list of additional permissions supplementing the
 
terms of GPLv3.  GPLv3\S7 has thus provided the basis for recasting a
 
formally complex license as an elegant set of added terms, without changing
 
any of the fundamental features of the existing LGPL.  We offer this draft of
 
LGPLv3 as as a model for developers wishing to license their works under the
 
any of the fundamental features of the existing LGPL\@.  LGPLv3 is thus  a model for developers wishing to license their works under the
 
GPL with permissive exceptions.  The removability of additional permissions
 
under section 7 does not alter any existing behavior of the LGPL; the LGPL
 
has always allowed relicensing under the ordinary GPL.
 
under GPLv3\S7 does not alter any existing behavior of the LGPL since the LGPL
 
has always allowed relicensing under the ordinary GPL\@.
 

	
 
\subsection{Additional Requirements and License Compatibility}
 

	
 
% FIXME: minor rewrites needed
 

	
 
We broadened the title of section 7 because license compatibility, as it is
 
conventionally understood, is only one of several facets of the placement of
 
additional terms on GPL'd code.  The license compatibility issue arises for
 
three reasons.  First, the GPL is a strong copyleft license, requiring
 
modified versions to be distributed under the GPL.  Second, the GPL states
 
that no further restrictions may be placed on the rights of recipients.
 
Third, all other free software licenses in common use contain certain
 
requirements, many of which are not conditions made by the GPL.  Thus, when
 
GPL'd code is modified by combination with code covered by another formal
 
license that specifies other requirements, and that modified code is then
 
distributed to others, the freedom of recipients may be burdened by
 
additional requirements in violation of the GPL.  It can be seen that
 
additional permissions in other licenses do not raise any problems of license
 
compatibility.
 

	
 
% FIXME: minor rewrites needed
 

	
 
Section 7 relaxes the prohibition on further restrictions slightly by
 
enumerating, in subsection 7b, a limited list of categories of additional
 
requirements that may be placed on code without violating GPLv3.  The list
 
includes the items that were listed in Draft 1, though rewritten for clarity.
 
It also includes a new catchall category for terms that might not obviously
 
fall within one of the other categories but which are precisely equivalent to
 
GPLv3 conditions, or which deny permission for activities clearly not
 
permitted by GPLv3.  We have carefully considered but rejected proposals to
 
expand this list further.  We have also rejected suggestions, made by some
 
discussion committee members, that the Affero clause requirement (7d in Draft
 
1 and 7b4 in Draft 2) be removed, though we have revised it in response to
 
certain comments.  We are unwavering in our view that the Affero requirement
 
is a legitimate one, and we are committed to achieving compatibility of the
 
Affero GPL with GPLv3.
 

	
 
% FIXME: minor rewrites needed
 

	
 
A GPL licensee may place an additional requirement on code for which the
 
licensee has or can give appropriate copyright permission, but only if that
 
requirement falls within the list given in subsection 7b.  Placement of any
 
other kind of additional requirement continues to be a violation of the
 
license.  Additional requirements that are in the 7b list may not be removed,
 
but if a user receives GPL'd code that purports to include an additional
 
requirement not in the 7b list, the user may remove that requirement.  Here
 
we were particularly concerned to address the problem of program authors who
 
purport to license their works in a misleading and possibly
 
self-contradictory fashion, using the GPL together with unacceptable added
 
restrictions that would make those works non-free software.
 

	
 
\section{GPLv3~\S7: Explicit Compatibility}
 

	
 

	
 
% FIXME:  probably mostly still right, needs some updates, though.
 

	
 
In GPLv3 we take a new approach to the issue of combining GPL'd code with
 
code governed by the terms of other free software licenses. Our view, though
 
it was not explicitly stated in GPLv2 itself, was that GPLv2 allowed such
 
combinations only if the non-GPL licensing terms permitted distribution under
 
the GPL and imposed no restrictions on the code that were not also imposed by
 
the GPL. In practice, we supplemented this policy with a structure of
 
exceptions for certain kinds of combinations.
 

	
 
% FIXME:  probably mostly still right, needs some updates, though.
 

	
 
Section 7 of GPLv3 implements a more explicit policy on license
 
compatibility. It formalizes the circumstances under which a licensee may
 
release a covered work that includes an added part carrying non-GPL terms. We
 
distinguish between terms that provide additional permissions, and terms that
 
place additional requirements on the code, relative to the permissions and
 
requirements established by applying the GPL to the code.
 

	
 
% FIXME:  probably mostly still right, needs some updates, though.
 

	
 
Section 7 first explicitly allows added parts covered by terms with
 
additional permissions to be combined with GPL'd code. This codifies our
 
existing practice of regarding such licensing terms as compatible with the
 
GPL. A downstream user of a combined GPL'd work who modifies such an added
 
part may remove the additional permissions, in which case the broader
 
permissions no longer apply to the modified version, and only the terms of
 
the GPL apply to it.
 

	
 
% FIXME:  probably mostly still right, needs some updates, though.
 

	
 
In its treatment of terms that impose additional requirements, section 7
 
extends the range of licensing terms with which the GPL is compatible. An
 
added part carrying additional requirements may be combined with GPL'd code,
 
but only if those requirements belong to an set enumerated in section 7. We
 
must, of course, place some limit on the kinds of additional requirements
 
that we will accept, to ensure that enhanced license compatibility does not
 
defeat the broader freedoms advanced by the GPL. Unlike terms that grant
 
additional permissions, terms that impose additional requirements cannot be
 
removed by a downstream user of the combined GPL'd work, because no such user
 
would have the right to do so.
 

	
 
% FIXME:  probably mostly still right, needs some updates, though.
 

	
 
Under subsections 7a and 7b, the requirements may include preservation of
 
copyright notices, information about the origins of the code or alterations
 
of the code, and different warranty disclaimers. Under subsection 7c, the
 
requirements may include limitations on the use of names of contributors and
 
on the use of trademarks for publicity purposes. In general, we permit these
 
requirements in added terms because many free software licenses include them
 
and we consider them to be unobjectionable. Because we support trademark fair
 
use, the limitations on the use of trademarks may seek to enforce only what
 
is required by trademark law, and may not prohibit what would constitute fair
 
use.
 

	
 
% FIXME: 7d-f
 

	
 

	
 
% FIXME:  removing additional restrictions
 

	
 
% FIXME:  probably mostly still right, needs some updates, though.
 

	
 
Section 7 requires a downstream user of a covered work to preserve the
 
non-GPL terms covering the added parts just as they must preserve the GPL, as
 
long as any substantial portion of those parts is present in the user's
 
version.
 

	
 
% FIXME: minor rewrites needed
 

	
 
Section 7 points out that GPLv3 itself makes no assertion that an additional
 
requirement is enforceable by the copyright holder.  However, section 7 makes
 
clear that enforcement of such requirements is expected to be by the
 
termination procedure given in section 8 of GPLv3.
 

	
 
% FIXME: better context, etc.
 

	
 
Some have questioned whether section 7 is needed, and some have suggested
 
that it creates complexity that did not previously exist.  We point out to
 
those readers that there is already GPLv2-licensed code that carries
 
additional terms.  One of the objectives of section 7 is to rationalize
 
existing practices of program authors and modifiers by setting clear
 
guidelines regarding the removal and addition of such terms.  With its
 
carefully limited list of allowed additional requirements, section 7
 
accomplishes additional objectives, permitting the expansion of the base of
 
code available for GPL developers, while also encouraging useful
 
experimentation with requirements we do not include in the GPL itself.
 

	
 
\section{GPLv3~\S8: A Lighter Termination}
 

	
 
% FIXME:  probably mostly still right, needs some updates, though.
 

	
 
GPLv2 provided for automatic termination of the rights of a person who
 
copied, modified, sublicensed, or distributed a work in violation of the
 
license.  Automatic termination can be too harsh for those who have committed
 
an inadvertent violation, particularly in cases involving distribution of
 
large collections of software having numerous copyright holders.  A violator
 
who resumes compliance with GPLv2 would need to obtain forgiveness from all
 
copyright holders, but even to contact them all might be impossible.
 

	
 
% FIXME: needs to be updated to describe more complex termination
 

	
 
Section 8 of GPLv3 replaces automatic termination with a non-automatic
 
termination process.  Any copyright holder for the licensed work may opt to
 
terminate the rights of a violator of the license, provided that the
 
copyright holder has first given notice of the violation within 60 days of
 
its most recent occurrence. A violator who has been given notice may make
 
efforts to enter into compliance and may request that the copyright holder
 
agree not exercise the right of termination; the copyright holder may choose
 
to grant or refuse this request.
 

	
 
% FIXME: needs to be updated to describe more complex termination
 

	
 
If a licensee who is in violation of GPLv3 acts to correct the violation and
 
enter into compliance, and the licensee receives no notice of the past
 
violation within 60 days, then the licensee need not worry about termination
 
of rights under the license.
 

	
 
In Draft 3 the termination provision of section 8 has been revised to
 
indicate that, if a licensee violates the GPL, a contributor may terminate
 
any patent licenses that it granted under the first paragraph of section 11
 
to that licensee, in addition to any copyright permissions the contributor
 
granted to the licensee.  Therefore, a contributor may terminate the patent
 
licenses it granted to a downstream licensee who brings patent infringement
 
litigation in violation of section 10.
 

	
 
We have made two substantive changes to section 8.  First, we have clarified
 
that patent rights granted under the GPL are among the rights that a
 
copyright holder may terminate under section 8.  Therefore, a contributor who
 
grants a patent license under the first paragraph of section 11 may terminate
 
that patent license, just as that contributor may terminate copyright rights,
 
to a downstream recipient who has violated the license.  We think that this
 
is a reasonable result, and was already implicit in the wording of the
 
termination provision in our earlier drafts.  Moreover, this clarification
 
should encourage patent holders to make contributions to GPL-covered
 
programs.
 

	
 
Second, we have modified the termination procedure by providing a limited
 
opportunity to cure license violations, an improvement that was requested by
 
many different members of our community.  If a licensee has committed a
 
first-time violation of the GPL with respect to a given copyright holder, but
 
the licensee cures the violation within 30 days following receipt of notice
 
of the violation, then any of the licensee's GPL rights that have been
 
terminated by the copyright holder are ``automatically reinstated.''  The
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