--On Thursday, March 12, 2015 11:40 -0400 Sam Hartman
<hartmans-ietf(_at_)mit(_dot_)edu> wrote:
I'm disappointed that the trust chose to remove the right to
modify template text.
This makes it impossible to write open-source software for
filling in templates in these RFCs; I am disappointed the
trust has chosen to take this step.
Sam,
This may go back to our earlier (apparent) disagreement on the
subject. IANAL or nearly a good enough approximation to one to
be competent to assess the details, but my presumption continues
to be that the basic rules about RFCs, plus this language,
allows the type of application you are concerned about as long
as the version of the template in the application is an exact
copy. Given that language, one would certainly have to
acknowledge where the template came from, but that would
probably be necessary for practical reasons (independent of
legal considerations).
Given that the issue has been raised and is important, I'm
disappointed that the Trust didn't choose to make the intent and
limits absolutely clear whether they intended the narrow
interpretation you infer or the broader one that I do. In
particular, if the intent is that someone building such an
application be required to ask permission (which I think would
be silly as well as damaging), it would be good for the text to
be clear about that).
best,
john