I'm sure I've failed to take into account lots of good advice, and I apologize for that. We'll get it straightened around. Really, I'd rather be working on code right now. Anyhow, here's a more informal version of my objectives and the licensing and policy terms I'd like to apply.
OBJECTIVES 1. The OpenShader GPU hardware design (OGA2H) is an open-architecture GPU, intended to facilitate any scientific or academic pursuit that would benefit from having a complete hardware-implementable GPU. Scientists and engineers are encouraged, for instance, to download this design, make modifications pursuant their hypotheses, and synthesize and simulate the baseline and modified designs to test those hypotheses. Those modifications can be shared under the terms of the GPL and contributed back to the main project by explicit agreement and copyright assignment. See Policies for details. 2. OGA2H may be licensed commercially, such that the terms of the GPL do not apply, in exchange for royalties. The same applies to any patentable technologies therein. These royalties will be invested primarily in this and other open hardware and free software projects. Indeed, the sole purpose behind leveraging legal IP protections (copyrights, patents, and trademarks) is to earn revenue that can be used to further the goals of Free Software and the free exchange of scientific advancements. This is assumed to be reasonable on the basis that hardware (i.e. chip) manufacturing currently cannot be done without significant monetary expenditures. LICENSES This and derivative works are available under two licenses: 1. Commercial: In exchange for licensing fees, a licensee may use this work under the terms of a negotiated contract. 2. Copyleft: This work is available under the terms of the GPLv2. If the trademark "OpenShader" is present in any source files, then both licenses apply. If "OpenShader" is absent from all source files, then only the GPLv2 applies. POLICIES 1. To make contributions that the the Commercial license does not apply to, you must fork the project by explicitly removing "OpenShader" from all source files. 2. Contributions to the main project are accepted from individual developers only by explicit prior arrangement. In such cases, copyright must be assigned to the original licensor so that the Commercial licensing terms can be applied. 3. Contributions to a fork will not be pulled into the main project. Ambiguous cases (e.g. where the contributor neither entered into an agreement with the Open Graphics Project nor removed OpenShader) will also be considered off-limits. However, a contributor may contribute his/her own original changes separately under the terms of Policies 1 and 2. 4. Periodically, GPL-only snapshots will be made available, with specially-marked version numbers. These releases are recommended for use in cases where commercial licensing is not relevant (e.g. academic or scientific pursuits). Those wishing to contribute their modifications to the main project must do so under Policy 2. 5. The original licensor is free to file for "defensive" patents pertaining to technologies in the main work (to which the Commercial license applies). The original licensor is barred from pursuing royalties for uses where the Copyleft also applies but may leverage the patents in pursuit of violations of either license. Royalties received will be invested primarily in this and other open hardware and free software projects. 6. Technologies patented by third-party contributors and then contributed to the main project are defensible by the third party under the same terms as Policy 5. Any such patents or intentions to file for patents must be disclosed prior to acceptance of any contribution, and the existence of the patent may be grounds for rejection of the contribution. Any contributor who fails to make this disclosure or files for patent rights subsequent to the acceptance of a contribution forfeits their right to any share of royalties earned by the licensing of THIS work under Commercial terms. However, they retain their rights to defend their patents against any other infringements, unrelated to this work or in violation of licensing terms. -- Timothy Normand Miller, PhD Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Binghamton University http://www.cs.binghamton.edu/~millerti/<http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~millerti> Open Graphics Project
_______________________________________________ Open-graphics mailing list [email protected] http://lists.duskglow.com/mailman/listinfo/open-graphics List service provided by Duskglow Consulting, LLC (www.duskglow.com)
