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* [9fans] Redistribution
@ 2000-06-15 18:51 rob pike
  2000-06-16  9:15 ` Eric Lee Green
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 19+ messages in thread
From: rob pike @ 2000-06-15 18:51 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: 9fans

Several people have asked about how the license affects their ability
to make the sources available on their own sites, such as through
cross-referencing services or as archives on non-Plan 9 systems
that present the source for browsing.

I talked to our lawyers to make sure I understood the rules, and I did.

The rules are simple:

	1. Everyone who sees the material provided by the service must
	have agreed to the terms of the license. The simplest way to do
	this is, as we did in the distribution, is to require people to click a
	check box agreeing to the license. The license should be made
	available to users so they can read it before clicking.

	2. The export restrictions on cryptography are nasty to implement.
	We worked quite hard to do reverse DNS and all that stuff to
	determine the country of origin - and you need to do a lot more
	than that to meet the U.S. Commerce department requirements.
	The easiest way to deal with the issue is to avoid presenting the
	cryptographic code, and that's why I recommend.
	If all your users are known to you, that is, if you don't have outside
	visitors to your site, this is not an issue for American sites.

	Reiterating, if you make the crypto sources available to outsiders
	without these restrictions in place, you are violating Federal law.
	To avoid this, just don't make the crypto sources available, but
	require people to get them from us.

-rob



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] Redistribution
@ 2000-06-16 13:52 rob pike
  2000-06-16 15:29 ` Lutz Donnerhacke
  2000-06-17 18:21 ` Eric Lee Green
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 19+ messages in thread
From: rob pike @ 2000-06-16 13:52 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: 9fans

	But note that these export restrictions only apply to compiled binaries.
	If you want to, e.g., provide a CVS archive of the Plan 9 source code,
	all you have to do to comply with the export regulations is notify the
	appropriate folks (I suggest going through the crypto registration tee
	at crypto.com so that other people know that you have cryptographic
	source code for download).

If you know how to honor the government requirements on crypto
stuff, then feel free to provide the crypto sources to your users.
I don't claim to understand the rules; I just know how we met them.

You still have to honor our license, and that includes making
people agree to it.

	I won't comment on the whole license restrictions thingy, except to note
	that dozens of other major corporations have no problem with providing
	their software via a Mozilla-type license like the Plan 9 license
	without having to go through some sort of license front end.

Requiring a clicked check box next to a link to our license before you
let users at the source does not strike me as an onerous burden.
It's what happens with just about every piece of software I download
nowadays.

-rob



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] Redistribution
@ 2000-06-17 18:48 rob pike
  2000-06-22 16:50 ` Damien Raphael Sullivan
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 19+ messages in thread
From: rob pike @ 2000-06-17 18:48 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: 9fans

	Today you can
	export cryptographic "mass market" binaries via the Internet and via
	CD-ROM or other media to all but 10 nations, as long as they go through
	a "click-wrap" license ...
	It is sad that Lucent's lawyers have not caught up with the
	changes in cryptographic export regulations.

Not that I'm one to speak up for lawyers, but I believe the Lucent
lawyers are up to date and the evidence is that the structure on the
download site is exactly what you describe.

	"under Lucent control"

I'm confused by your posting.  Plan 9 is available to all and sundry
to enjoy, change, and play with.  The Plan 9 Open Source license says
so.

As for going to outside repositories to manage stuff, that's
ultimately what will happen.  But It's only been out for 10 days, and
we've been issuing updates to try to make sure that everyone's
starting point is the best we have to offer.  You're right, we don't
have the manpower to maintain this thing for the world.

Lucent already waited 10 years for return on investment in Plan 9.  It
got it in a number of ways, but in the form of 'operating system for
research', the best likelihood for more return is to let it go Open
Source, which is what we did.

I must admit I find the fissiparous nature of the Open Source/FSF
community a little dispiriting.  We're just trying to make stuff
available.  Please accept it in the spirit in which it's offered.

-rob



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] Redistribution
@ 2000-06-19 13:25 Lukas Petrlik
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 19+ messages in thread
From: Lukas Petrlik @ 2000-06-19 13:25 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: 9fans


In article <200006171848.OAA23776@cse.psu.edu> you wrote:

> I'm confused by your posting.  Plan 9 is available to all and sundry
> to enjoy, change, and play with.  The Plan 9 Open Source license says
> so.

I am eager to play with the system, but it seems to be unavailable to me.
Perhaps I missed something?

I am not a US citizen.

--
Lukas Petrlik  <luki@kiv.zcu.cz>


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] Redistribution
@ 2000-06-23 18:27 forsyth
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 19+ messages in thread
From: forsyth @ 2000-06-23 18:27 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: 9fans

>>because not a lot on info has been posted on the mailing list or the
>>Plan 9 web sites on the process that went into the new license, ...

quite a few people are at usenix.


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2000-07-24  8:42 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 19+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2000-06-15 18:51 [9fans] Redistribution rob pike
2000-06-16  9:15 ` Eric Lee Green
2000-06-16 15:05   ` Greg Hudson
     [not found]   ` <642A954DD517D411B20C00508BCF23B0012D14ED@mail.sauder.com>
2000-06-29  8:28     ` Jonathan S. Shapiro
2000-06-16 13:52 rob pike
2000-06-16 15:29 ` Lutz Donnerhacke
2000-06-17 18:21 ` Eric Lee Green
2000-06-17 19:54   ` Randolph Fritz
2000-06-17 18:48 rob pike
2000-06-22 16:50 ` Damien Raphael Sullivan
2000-06-22 18:08   ` Dave Burton
2000-06-22 23:09     ` Tom Glinos
2000-06-23  6:42       ` Richard
2000-06-23  7:27         ` Richard
2000-06-24 21:58           ` Tom Glinos
2000-06-29  8:29             ` Russell Nelson
2000-07-24  8:42               ` dawno5
2000-06-19 13:25 Lukas Petrlik
2000-06-23 18:27 forsyth

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