The wording is, obviously, not totally airtight (or we wouldn't be having this discussion on the lists to begin with), but the best sense I can make of Section 7 is:
"You agree not to Use any Product Identity"
It is probably useful to remind ourselves that the OGL does in fact have a specific definition for "Use" (as opposed to "use") - 1g - "Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content.
The slight limitation inherent in the definition, with those final four words ("of Open Game Content"), I think does not prohibit us from assuming that the same definition of (capitalized) "Use" applies to Product Identity.
This means to me that Section 7 prohibits you from copying someone else's Product Identity. It prohibits you from editing someone else's Product Identity. It prohibits you from formatting someone else's Product Identity. It prohibits you from translating someone else's PI. It prohibits you from creating Derivative Material from their PI.
But it does NOT prevent you from pulling in the exact terms from someone else's PI, provided you can find them elsewhere... to use the example from the OGF-L list, I can pull "Thor" from the public domain, so while I can't copy, edit, format, translate, or create a Derivative of "your Thor," you PIing "Thor" does not prohibit me from using the word "Thor" - because I have not copied, edited, formatted, translated, or created a Derivative of your Product Identity.
I have to think that is what Ryan is referring to when he talks about "alternately sourcing" something... in other words, PIing "Thor" doesn't protect "Thor" in its entirety - it merely protects "your Thor," though nothing can prevent someone from creating "their Thor" even if they cite your work... because they didn't copy, edit, format, translate, or create a Derivative of "your Thor" (which is protected as part of a Copyrighted Work that, as PI, is not Open Game Content licensed for Use under the OGL).
It's because of that capitalized "U" in "Use" that I think the OGL does in my view support the reading of "white-out" and not of "forbidden terms" with respect to Section 7. If the "Use" were a lower-case "use," or better yet, if the phrase read, "You agree not to use any term designated by another as Product Identity," then I would be more inclined to entertain a "forbidden terms" list.
I hope that made sense. With the reminder that "Use" has a meaning specific to the OGL that is *narrower* than "use," Section 7 seems much clearer.
--Spencer "The Sigil" Cooley
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