That would be a bold move. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 8:09 PM Subject: Mutual defence patent clause
I've looked at the proposed Apache License 2.0, and I'd like to suggest that you extend the patent defence clause to withdraw the license from anyone who tries to enforce a patent against *any* open source software. Open source software can be defined as any software available under a license approved by the Open Source Institute. If most open source software were licensed to include such clauses then anyone contemplating patent action against open source software would have to contemplate replacing open source software used anywhere in their organisation, and permanently losing the option of switching to open source solutions in the future. This would be a mighty stick to beat potential litigants. Individual defence clauses of the sort currently proposed (and common in Mozilla-style licenses) have the failing that only the package under attack is withdrawn. So a patent holder could sue one project while still continuing to use all other open source software. Paul.
