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donaldr3 - 10 years ago 2014-03-21 22:19:55
donald@copyrighteous.office.fsf.org
the gpl
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gpl-lgpl.tex
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@@ -2709,338 +2709,338 @@ GPLv3~\S4 is a revision of GPLv2\~S1 (as discussed in \S~\ref{GPLv2s1} of
 
this tutorial).   There are almost no changes to this section from the
 
GPLv2\~S1, other than to use the new defined terms.
 

	
 
The only notable change of ``a fee'' to ``any price or no price'' in the
 
first sentence of GPLv3\S4\P2.  The GPLv2\S1\P1 means that the GPL permits
 
one to charge money for the distribution of software.  Despite efforts by
 
copyleft advocates to explain this in GPLv2 itself and in other documents,
 
there are evidently some people who still believe that GPLv2 allows charging
 
for services but not for selling copies of software and/or that the GPL
 
requires downloads to be gratis.  Perhaps this is because GPLv2 referred to
 
charging a ``fee''; the term ``fee'' is generally used in connection with
 
services.
 

	
 
GPLv2's wording also referred to ``the physical act of transferring.''  The
 
intention was to distinguish charging for transfers from attempts to impose
 
licensing fees on all third parties.  ``Physical'' might be read, however, as
 
suggesting ``distribution in a physical medium only''.
 

	
 
To address these two issues, GPLv3 says ``price'' in place of ``fee,'' and
 
removes the term ``physical.''
 

	
 
GPLv3~\S4 has also been revised from its corresponding section in GPLv2 in
 
light of the GPLv3~\S7 (see \S~\ref{GPLv3s7} in this tutorial for more).
 
Specifically, a distributor of verbatim copies of the program's source code
 
must obey any existing additional terms that apply to parts of the program
 
pursuant to GPLv3~\S7.  In addition, the distributor is required to keep
 
intact all license notices, including notices of such additional terms.
 

	
 
Finally, there is no harm in explicitly pointing out what ought to be
 
obvious: that those who convey GPL-covered software may offer commercial
 
services for the support of that software.
 

	
 
\section{GPLv3~\S5: Modified Source}
 
\label{GPLv3s5}
 

	
 
GPLv3\S5 is the rewrite of GPLv2\S2, which was discussed in \S~\ref{GPLv2s2}
 
of this tutorial.  This section discusses the changes found in GPLv3\S5
 
compared to GPLv2\S2.
 

	
 
GPLv3\S5(a) still requires modified versions be marked with ``relevant
 
date'', but no longer says ``the date of any change''.  The best practice is
 
to include the date of the latest and/or most significant changes and who
 
made those.  Of course, compared to its GPLv2\S2(a), GPLv3\S5(a) slightly
 
relaxes the requirements regarding notice of changes to the program.  In
 
particular, the modified files themselves need no longer be marked.  This
 
reduces administrative burdens for developers of modified versions of GPL'd
 
software.
 

	
 
GPLv3\S5(b) is a new but simple provision. GPLv3\S5(b)  requires that the
 
license text itself must be unmodified (except as permitted by GPLv3\S7; see
 
\S~\ref{GPLv3s7} in this tutorial).  Furthermore, it  removes any perceived
 
conflict between the words ``keep intact all notices'' in GPLv3\S4, since
 
operating under GPLv3\S5 still includes all the requirements of GPLv3\S4 by
 
reference.
 

	
 
GPLv3\S5(c) is the primary source-code-related copyleft provision of GPL. (The
 
object-code-related copyleft provisions are in GPLv3\S6, discussed in
 
\S~\ref{GPLv3s6} of this tutorial).  Compared to GPLv2\S2(b), GPLv3\S5(c)
 
states that the GPL applies to the whole of the work.  Such was stated
 
already in GPLv2\S2(b), in ``in whole or in part'', but this simplified
 
wording makes it clear the entire covered work
 

	
 
Another change in GPLv3\S5(c) is the removal of the
 
words ``at no charge,'' which was often is misunderstood upon na\"{i}ve
 
reading of in GPLv2\S(b) (as discussed in \S~\ref{GPLv2s2-at-no-charge} of this
 
tutorial).
 

	
 
%  FIXME-LATER: Write up something on 5d, and related it to Appropriate Legal Notices.
 

	
 

	
 
Note that of GPLv2~\S2's penultimate and ante-penultimate paragraphs are now
 
handled adequately by the definitions in GPLv3\S0 and as such, have no direct
 
analogs in GPLv3.
 

	
 
GPLv2~\S2's final paragraph, however, is reworded and expanded into the final
 
paragraph of GPLv3\S5, which now also covers issues related to copyright
 
compilations (but not compilations into object code --- that's in the next
 
section!).  The intent and scope is the same as was intended in GPLv2.
 

	
 
\section{GPLv3~\S6: Non-Source and Corresponding Source}
 
\label{GPLv3s6}
 

	
 
GPLv3~\S6 clarifies and revises GPLv2~\S3.  It requires distributors of GPL'd
 
object code to provide access to the corresponding source code, in one of
 
four specified ways.  As noted in \S~\ref{GPLv3s0}, ``object code'' in GPLv3
 
is defined broadly to mean any non-source version of a work.
 

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

	
 
GPLv3~\S6(a--b) now apply specifically to distribution of object code in a
 
physical product.  Physical products include embedded systems, as well as
 
physical software distribution media such as CDs.  As in GPLv2~\S3 (discussed
 
in \S~\ref{GPLv2s3} of this tutorial), the distribution of object code may
 
either be accompanied by the machine-readable source code, or it may be
 
accompanied by a valid written offer to provide the machine-readable source
 
code.  However, unlike in GPLv2, that offer cannot be exercised by any third
 
party; rather, only those ``who possesses the object code'' it can exercised
 
party; rather, only those ``who possesses the object code'' can exercise
 
the offer.  (Note that this is a substantial narrowing of requirements of
 
offer fulfillment, and is a wonderful counterexample to dispute claims that
 
the GPLv3 has more requirements than GPLv2.)
 

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

	
 
GPLv3~\S6(b) further revises the requirements for the written offer to
 
provide source code. As before, the offer must remain valid for at least
 
three years. In addition, even after three years, a distributor of a product
 
containing GPL'd object code must offer to provide source code for as long as
 
the distributor also continues to offer spare parts or customer support for
 
the product model.  This is a reasonable and appropriate requirement; a
 
distributor should be prepared to provide source code if he or she is
 
prepared to provide support for other aspects of a physical product.
 

	
 
GPLv3~\S6(a--b) clarifies that the medium for software interchange on which
 
the machine-readable source code is provided must be a durable physical
 
medium.  GPLv3~\S6(b)(2), however, permits a distributor to instead offer to
 
provide source code from a network server instead, which is yet another
 
example GPLv3 looser in its requirements than GPLv2 (see
 
\S~\ref{GPLv2s3-medium-customarily} for details).
 

	
 
% FIXME-LATER: more information about source provision, cost of physically
 
% performing, reasonable fees, medium customary clearly being said durable
 
% connecting back to previous text
 

	
 
GPLv3\S6(c) gives narrower permission than GPLv2\S3(c).  The ``pass along''
 
option for GPLv3\S6(c)(1) offers is now available only for individual
 
distribution of object code; moreover, such individual distribution can occur
 
only ``occasionally and noncommercially.''  A distributor cannot comply with
 
the GPL merely by making object code available on a publicly-accessible
 
network server accompanied by a copy of the written offer to provide source
 
code received from an upstream distributor.
 

	
 
%FIXME-LATER: tie back to the discussion of the occasional offer pass along
 
%             stuff in GPLv2 this tutorial.
 

	
 
GPLv3~\S6(d) revises and improves GPLv2~\S3's final paragraph.  When object
 
code is provided by offering access to copy the code from a designated place
 
(such as by enabling electronic access to a network server), the distributor
 
must merely offer equivalent access to copy the source code ``in the same way
 
through the same place''.  This wording also permits a distributor to offer a
 
third party access to both object code and source code on a single network
 
portal or web page, even though the access may include links to different
 
physical servers.  For example, a downstream distributor may provide a link
 
to an upstream distributor's server and arrange with the operator of that
 
server to keep the source code available for copying for as long as the
 
downstream distributor enables access to the object code.  This codifies
 
formally typical historical interpretation of GPLv2.
 

	
 
% FIXME-LATER: perhaps in enforcement section, but maybe here, note about
 
% ``slow down'' on source downloads being a compliance problem. 
 

	
 
Furthermore, under GPLv3~\S6(d), distributors may charge for the conveyed
 
object code; however, those who pay to obtain the object code must be given
 
equivalent and gratis access to obtain the CCS.  (If distributors convey the
 
object code gratis, distributors must likewise make CCS available without
 
charge.)  Those who do not obtain the object code from that distributors
 
(perhaps because they choose not to pay the fee for object code) are outside
 
the scope of the provision; distributors are under no specific obligation to
 
give CCS to someone who has not purchased an object code download under
 
GPLv3~\S6(d).  (Note: this does not change nor impact any obligations under
 
GPLv3~\S6(b)(2); GPLv3~\S6(d) is a wholly different provision.)
 

	
 
\subsection{GPLv3~\S6(e): Peer-to-Peer Sharing Networks}
 

	
 
Certain decentralized forms of peer-to-peer file sharing present a challenge
 
to the unidirectional view of distribution that is implicit in GPLv2 and
 
Draft 1 of GPLv3.  Identification of an upstream/downstream link in
 
BitTorrent distribution is neither straightforward nor reasonable; such
 
distribution is multidirectional, cooperative and anonymous.  In peer-to-peer
 
distribution systems, participants act both as transmitters and recipients of
 
blocks of a particular file, but they perceive the experience merely as users
 
and receivers, and not as distributors in any conventional sense.  At any
 
given moment of time, most peers will not have the complete file.
 

	
 
Meanwhile, GPLv3~\S6(d) permits distribution of a work in object code form
 
over a network, provided that the distributor offers equivalent access to
 
copy the Corresponding Source Code ``in the same way through the same
 
place''.  This wording might be interpreted to permit peer-to-peer
 
distribution of binaries \textit{if} they are packaged together with the CCS,
 
but such packaging impractical, for at least three reasons.  First, even if
 
the CCS is packaged with the object code, it will only be available to a
 
non-seeding peer at the end of the distribution process, but the peer will
 
already have been providing parts of the binary to others in the network.
 
Second, in practice, peer-to-peer forms of transmission are poorly suited
 
means for distributing CCS.  In large distributions, packaging CCS with the
 
object code may result in a substantial increase in file size and
 
transmission time.  Third, in current practice, CCS packages themselves tend
 
\textit{not} to be transmitted through BitTorrent --- owing to reduced demand
 
-- thus, there generally will be too few participants downloading the same
 
source package at the same time to enable effective seeding and distribution.
 

	
 
GPLv3~\S6(e) addresses this issues.  If a licensee conveys such a work of
 
object code using peer-to-peer transmission, that licensee is in compliance
 
with GPLv3~\S6 if the licensee informs other peers where the object code and
 
its CCS are publicly available at no charge under subsection GPLv3~\S6(d).
 
The CCS therefore need not be provided through the peer-to-peer system that
 
was used for providing the binary.
 

	
 
Second, GPLv3\S9 also clarifies that ancillary propagation of a covered work
 
that occurs as part of the process of peer-to-peer file transmission does not
 
require acceptance, just as mere receipt and execution of the Program does
 
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 GPL'd 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 \textit{preference}.  It is not clear that GPL should interfere
 
for this as a \textit{preference}.  It is not clear that the 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 under-inclusive.
 
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
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