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RE: IETF Last Call for two IPR WG Dcouments

2008-03-28 07:01:47
Simon Josefsson wrote:
To give the Trust something concrete to work with I propose to add the
following:

  To make sure the granted rights are usable in practice, they need to
  at least meet the requirements of the Open Source Definition [OSD],
  the Free Software Definition [FSD], and the Debian Free Software
  Guidelines [DFSG].

+1

/Larry




-----Original Message-----
From: ietf-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org 
[mailto:ietf-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org] On Behalf Of
Simon Josefsson
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 3:02 AM
To: Russ Housley
Cc: ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
Subject: Re: IETF Last Call for two IPR WG Dcouments

Regarding -outbound section 4.3:

   IETF contributions often include components intended to be directly
   processed by a computer.  Examples of these include ABNF definitions,
   XML Schemas, XML DTDs, XML RelaxNG definitions, tables of values,
   MIBs, ASN.1, or classical programming code.  These are included in
   IETF contributions for clarity and precision in specification.  It is
   clearly beneficial, when such items are included in IETF
   contributions, to permit the inclusion of such code components in
   products which implement the contribution.  It has been pointed out
   that in several important contexts use of such code requires the
   ability to modify the code.  One common example of this is simply the
   need to adapt code for use in specific contexts (languages,
   compilers, tool systems, etc.)  Such use frequently requires some
   changes to the text of the code from the IETF contribution.  Another
   example is that code included in open source products is frequently
   licensed to permit any and all of the code to be modified.  Since we
   want this code included in such products, it follows that we need to
   permit such modification.  While there has been discussion of
   restricting the rights to make such modifications in some way, the
   rough consensus of the IETF is that such restrictions are likely a
   bad idea, and are certainly very complex to define.

   As such, the rough consensus is that the IETF Trust is to grant
   rights such that code components of IETF contributions can be
   extracted, modified, and used by anyone in any way desired.  To
   enable the broadest possible extraction, modification and usage, the
   IETF Trust should avoid adding software license obligations beyond
   those already present in a contribution.  The granted rights to
   extract, modify and use code should allow creation of derived works
   outside the IETF that may carry additional license obligations.
...

I believe the intention here is good, but it leaves the IETF Trust with
no guidelines on how to write the license declaration that is likely to
work well in practice with actual products.  There are no reference to
what "open source" means in this context, and references to "free
software" is missing.

I believe it would be a complete failure if code-like portions of RFCs
cannot be included into open source and free software products such as
the Debian project.

To give the Trust something concrete to work with I propose to add the
following:

  To make sure the granted rights are usable in practice, they need to
  at least meet the requirements of the Open Source Definition [OSD],
  the Free Software Definition [FSD], and the Debian Free Software
  Guidelines [DFSG].

For those who fear that this will lead to complexity: releasing
something that is compatible with those requirements is simple.  The
modified BSD license meets those requirements, as does a number of other
methods, including releasing the work into the public domain.

The references being:

[OSD] "The Open Source Definition",
      http://opensource.org/docs/osd

[FSD] "The Free Software Definition",
      http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html

[DFSG] "The Debian Free Software Guidelines",
      http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines

Thanks,
Simon

Russ Housley <housley(_at_)vigilsec(_dot_)com> writes:

During the Wednesday Plenary at IETF 71, I gave the IETF community a
"heads up" on two documents from the IPR WG that were nearing IETF
Last Call.  Both of the documents have now reached IETF Last
call.  The Last Call announcements are attached.  Please review and
comment.

Russ

== == == == == == == == == ==

To: IETF-Announce <ietf-announce(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org>
From: The IESG <iesg-secretary(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org>
Subject: Last Call: draft-ietf-ipr-outbound-rights (Advice to the
         Trustees of the IETF Trust on Rights to be Granted in IETF
         Documents) to Informational RFC
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:15:56 -0700 (PDT)
Cc: ipr-wg(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org

The IESG has received a request from the Intellectual Property Rights WG
(ipr) to consider the following document:

- 'Advice to the Trustees of the IETF Trust on Rights to be Granted in
    IETF Documents '
    <draft-ietf-ipr-outbound-rights-06.txt> as an Informational RFC

The IESG plans to make a decision in the next few weeks, and solicits
final comments on this action.  Please send substantive comments to the
ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org mailing lists by 2008-04-02. Exceptionally,
comments may be sent to iesg(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org instead. In either case, 
please
retain the beginning of the Subject line to allow automated sorting.

The file can be obtained via
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ipr-outbound-rights-
06.txt

This document is closely related to draft-ietf-ipr-3978-incoming.
The two documents should be considered as a set.  IETF Last Call for
draft-ietf-ipr-3978-incoming will begin as soon as the next update is
posted.

IESG discussion can be tracked via

https://datatracker.ietf.org/public/pidtracker.cgi?command=view_id&dTag=14
518&rfc_flag=0

== == == == == == == == == ==

To: IETF-Announce <ietf-announce(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org>
From: The IESG <iesg-secretary(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org>
Subject: Last Call: draft-ietf-ipr-3978-incoming (Rights Contributors
         provide to the IETF Trust) to BCP
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:19:57 -0700 (PDT)
Cc: ipr-wg(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org

The IESG has received a request from the Intellectual Property Rights WG
(ipr) to consider the following document:

- 'Rights Contributors provide to the IETF Trust '
    <draft-ietf-ipr-3978-incoming-08.txt> as a BCP

The IESG plans to make a decision in the next few weeks, and solicits
final comments on this action.  Please send substantive comments to the
ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org mailing lists by 2008-04-07. Exceptionally,
comments may be sent to iesg(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org instead. In either case, 
please
retain the beginning of the Subject line to allow automated sorting.

The file can be obtained via
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ipr-3978-incoming-08.txt

This document is closely related to draft-ietf-ipr-outbound-rights,
which is already in Last Call.  The two documents should be considered
as a set.

IESG discussion can be tracked via

https://datatracker.ietf.org/public/pidtracker.cgi?command=view_id&dTag=15
855&rfc_flag=0
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