APSL Violating the OSD (Round 9)

nickm writes "Seth David Schoen of CalLUG fame has written an essay entitled The APSL and Export Controls. This goes beyond patent craziness and nit-picking about legal details but rather shows a direct violation of the OSD in that the APSL adds a bit of US law to the license (adding additional burdens for those outside the US). "

Comments

Hold it!

[Millennium]

This cannot be considered a violation of the OSD. Let me explain why:

You see, Apple is a US-based company, and therefore is subject to the laws of the United States. Because of this, it cannot export software into those countries, nor can it allow the software to be exported there. This goes for every entity subject to US law, I might add. Therefore, Apple is doing nothing more than reiterating the laws to which it is subject (which is in fact necessary or it would be allowing the software to be exported into those countries and therefore breaking the law).

Now, let me state something here: this law does in fact affect all licenses for software written by US suthors. Therefore, if Apple is violating the OSD, so is every single piece of Open-Source software written by US authors, including the Linux kernel (or at least all versions written since Linus moved to the US), at least two of the *BSD's, and every single thing RMS, ESR, and Bruce Perens have ever written.

For that matter, KDE and Gnome both violate the OSD. In an ironic twist, GTK does but Qt does not (it's not done by US authors, though some add-on widgets might be). Netscape and Mozilla do too.

This is rather unfortunate for two three reasons. One, because the OSD does not take into account the laws of the land in which the software is written. Two, because US export law sucks. Three, because those of you who claim to be running fully-Open-Source systems actually aren't.

My proposal: either amend the OSD so that the law can be taken into account, or renew the fight to change US export law. Both should be done, actually (the first as a temporary measure until the second can be done). The only other option is to move all Open-Source projects overseas.

By the way, when I mean "written by a US author" I mean "maintained by a US author"; the maintainer would be considered to be the primary author and therefore (probably) the one responsible under US law.

Export restrictions in the US

[Taral]

This is yet another example of the US export restrictions causing problems with software. The whole idea of software as some kind of material object which can be restricted by laws is entirely out of date.

I have to deal with this problem daily in my work with encryption, since the export restrictions are even tighter for software of that type. And it is wholly absurd to me that the only thing keeping me from releasing my software is a bunch of short-sighted legislators who are too afraid to acknowledge that they have lost control.

I find it equally hard to believe that companies are still, after all this hubbub about open source licensing, relying on the license to protect their collective butts. The only reason that the GPL is so successful is that it ensures freedoms, and the one restriction is enforceable (if someone decides to add new restrictions, then someone can always hunt down the original author, theoretically). Companies persist in thinking that they can get away with mixing old licensing restrictions with new open source licenses.

It doesn't work.

good arguments on a serious matter...

[wmeyer]

Not being an attorney, I cannot claim competence to comment on the technicalities of law, but the case as presented is as valid and as real as any other discrimination case I have ever heard. As ignorance of the law is not an excuse for violation of that law, it would not seem necessary for a licensor to restate existing law in a license agreement.

Neither, as has been stated, is it the responsibility or right of a licensor to self-deputize for the enforcement of local law. And, folks, U.S. law is local law, in the context of the planet.

U.S. policy on encryption has already damaged U.S. business, and it cannot be demonstrated to have increased U.S. security. It's past time for the U.S. to develop an intelligent foreign policy (of which export laws are a component). Meantime, licenses should reflect the valid concerns of the licensor, and not of the home country of that licensor.

As to the ultimate bottom line: If Apple chooses to word an agreement in any particular way, that is a business decision appropriate for them to make. But if it leaves them non-compliant with the terms of the OSD, then they need to stop co-opting that jargon. And after all, it is difficult to make the case that they have written the APSL for any reason but to jump on the Open Source bandwagon.

Just as cheap a tactic as their claim to have invented the personal computer.... I'm old enough to know better.