Licensing

The following reflects discussions on the type of license that is to be used when publishing the TID+ software.

The TID+ software is made available under GPL license, with no limitations concerning the right of anyone to adapt, add, implement and otherwise use, other than that the result of this activity needs to be made available under the same permissive conditions. It is equally important to this project that no third party can commercialise the TID+ software, or use it to create a commercial software without communicating the source code.

A worry exists concerning the consequences of the use of GPL license where it comes to software made available online. What is based on GPL licensed elements can be used as long as the end result is published under a license that is at least as permissive as GPL. There is however discussion whether or not this also entails the online publishing of software. Summarised, the question is as follows: if you create a service through adapting elements which are themselves published under GPL, does this mean that you have to publish the software you have created under GPL too? Apparently; the requirement to publish the source code only exists if the software itself is distributed, and not if a service is made available through running a software remotely. Legally speaking, this may not be regarded as distributing the software. The discussion, which goes under the name "the ASP loophole" seems to be sufficiently serious to consider.

This worry, which exists under GPL, seems to be solved in the European Union Public License (EUPL), as this carries a different and more enlarged notion of software communication.

The suggestion is to publish the source code of TOM and TID+ under GPL license and to publish it under EUPL license. This retains the benefit of an established license, while leaving the possibility of remedying its problems via the EUPL. As neither license is revocable, the more permissive one will prevail. Whether, in legal discourse to-be-developed, GPL or EUPL turns out to be the most permissive therefore carries no further importance to the TID+ project.

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