主要参与者解决开源许可问题

本周有四家大型技术公司开始改进对开源软件许可违规的处理。

红帽，谷歌，Facebook和IBM表示，他们将在最新的GNU通用公共许可协议GPLv3中将错误标准应用于其所有开源许可，甚至包括根据较早的GPL协议授予的许可。

Rosenlaw＆Einschlag的知识产权律师，开源计划的前总法律顾问Lawrence Rosen表示：“较早的GPL中没有任何程序可以允许被许可人纠正错误 。”

他告诉LinuxInsider：“这将使所有东西都与GPLv3保持一致。” Red Hat的助理总法律顾问David Levine指出，v3之前的GPL版本的实施可能无法预测。

他对LinuxInsider表示：“经常阅读GPLv2的方式，如果您不遵守许可条款，它将终止而没有机会纠正错误。您没有许可。”

莱文说：“大多数错误往往是无意的。” “ GPLv3提供了治愈期的机会。这使被许可人安心，知道他或她将有机会在撤销许可之前纠正错误。”

错误空间

使用GPLv3中的语言，发现违反许可证的用户可以在纠正违规之后将其恢复。

最初，许可证是临时更新的，但是如果用户在60天内没有收到许可证所有者的来信，则该更新将永久生效。

如果用户在首次收到违规通知后的30天内解决了违规问题，则许可证也将永久恢复。

通过使用GPLv3的错误标准，两家公司将消除该协议过去版本中的一些不确定性。

Pund-IT首席分析师查尔斯·金（Charles King）表示：“以前的准则允许一定程度的灵活性，从而在某些人中引起混乱，并允许其他人通过可疑的执法行动来掩饰自己的窝。”

他对LinuxInsider表示：“对于合规性和强制执行，新模型更加固定。”

鼓励开源

Tirias Research的 首席分析师Jim McGregor指出，创建一种更一致的错误处理方法可能对社区有益。

他告诉LinuxInsider：“他们摆脱了与平台相关的某些歧义。” “当您是开发人员时，您想要做的最后一件事就是印象是您做的一切正确，然后受到停止和终止命令的打击。”

Red Hat的Levine表示，公司采取行动的动机之一是建立和加强社区机构，以促进许可证合规性的平衡和可预测性。

他说：“执法时，应向涉嫌违规者提供纠正违法行为的机会。这是社区的规范。”

莱文说，两家公司希望增加对开源软件的使用并为开源生态系统做出贡献。他们认为对GPLv3中的错误标准的承诺是迈向增加对开源社区参与的重要一步。

推动Linux增长

两家公司表示希望本周的行动能影响其他人。

红帽执行副总裁迈克尔·坎宁安（Michael Cunningham）说：“我们相信将在许可证执行方面促进更大的公平性和可预测性，并增加在开源社区中的参与。” “我们鼓励其他GPLv2版权持有者效仿我们的领导。”

Facebook的副总法律顾问Allen Lo建议，这些公司的举动可以促进创新。

他说：“开源加快了全球创新的步伐。” “为开发人员提供真诚的机会来纠正许可证合规性方面的错误，有可能帮助推动整个行业向前发展，并使工程师能够专注于打造出色的产品。”

IBM助理总顾问Mark Ringes表示，它还具有推动Linux前进的潜力，他指出：“将GPLv3的不合规治愈规定扩展到GPLv2，将使Linux在未来几十年中得以继续采用和强劲增长。”

原文标题：Major Players Roll Up Sleeves to Solve Open Source Licensing Problems

原文：Four big tech players this week moved to improve their handling of open source software licensing violations.

Red Hat, Google, Facebook and IBM said they would apply error standards in the most recent GNU General Public License agreement, GPLv3, to all of their open source licensing, even licenses granted under older GPL agreements.

"There is no procedure in the older GPLs that allowed a licensee to correct his mistakes," said Lawrence Rosen, an intellectual property attorney at Rosenlaw & Einschlag and former general counsel for the Open Source Initiative.

"This will make everything consistent with GPLv3," he told LinuxInsider. Enforcement of GPL versions prior to v3 could be unpredictable, noted David Levine, assistant general counsel for Red Hat.

"The way GPLv2 is often read, if you fail to comply with the terms of the license, it terminates without an opportunity to correct errors. You have no license," he told LinuxInsider.

"Most errors tend to be inadvertent," Levine said. "GPLv3 provides an opportunity for a cure period. This provides the licensee peace of mind to know that he or she will be provided an opportunity to correct errors before the license is revoked."

Room for Error

Under the language in GPLv3, a user found violating a license can have it reinstated after correcting the violations.

Initially, the license is renewed provisionally, but if the user doesn't hear from the owner of the license for 60 days, the renewal becomes permanent.

A license also is reinstated permanently if a user fixes a violation within 30 days of being notified for the first time of the infraction.

By using GPLv3's error standards, the companies will be removing some uncertainty in past versions of the agreement.

"The previous guidelines allowed a certain amount of flexibility that caused confusion among some folks and allowed others to feather their own nests by questionable enforcement actions," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

"The new model is more fixed for both compliance and enforcement," he told LinuxInsider.

Encouraging Open Source

Creating a more consistent approach to error handling can be beneficial to the community, noted Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

"They're getting rid of some of the ambiguity associated with the platform," he told LinuxInsider. "The last thing you want when you're a developer is to be under the impression that you're doing everything right and then be hit with a cease and desist order."

One of the motives behind the companies' action is to build and reinforce institutions in the community that promote balance and predictability in license compliance, said Red Hat's Levine.

"When enforcement takes place, alleged violators should be offered opportunities to correct violations. This is the community norm," he noted.

The companies want to grow the use of open source software and contributions to the open source ecosystem, Levine said. They view their commitment to the error standards in GPLv3 as an important step toward increasing participation in open source communities.

Fueling Linux Growth

The companies expressed hope that this week's actions will influence others.

"We believe in promoting greater fairness and predictability in license enforcement and the growth of participation in the open source community," Red Hat Executive Vice President Michael Cunningham said. "We encourage other GPLv2 copyright holders to follow our lead."

The companies' move could foster innovation, suggested Allen Lo, deputy general counsel at Facebook.

"Open source accelerates the pace of innovation in the world," he said. "Extending the good-faith opportunity for developers to correct errors in license compliance has the potential to help move the industry forward and allow engineers to focus on building great things."

It also has the potential to move Linux forward, according to Mark Ringes, assistant general counsel at IBM, who noted that "extending GPLv3's non-compliance cure provision to GPLv2 will enable the continued adoption and robust growth of Linux for decades to come."

原文作者：John P. Mello Jr.

原文链接：https://www.technewsworld.com/story/84980.html