CA Technologies, Cisco, HPE, Microsoft, SAP,
and SUSE commit to providing a cure period for correcting license
compliance issues in GPLv2 software
Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT) today announced that six additional
companies have joined efforts to promote greater predictability in
open source licensing. These marquee technology companies – CA
Technologies, Cisco, HPE, Microsoft, SAP, and SUSE – have committed
to extending additional rights to cure open source license
noncompliance. This will lead to greater cooperation with
distributors of open source software to correct errors and
increased participation in open source software development.
The GNU General Public License (GPL) and GNU Lesser General
Public License (LGPL) are among the most widely used open source
software licenses covering many important software projects,
including the Linux kernel. GPL version 3 (GPLv3) introduced an
approach to termination that offers distributors of the code an
opportunity to correct errors and mistakes in license compliance.
This approach allows for enforcement of license compliance
consistent with a community in which heavy-handed approaches to
enforcement, including for financial gain, are out of place.
In Nov. 2017, Red Hat, Facebook, Google, and IBM each committed
to extending the GPLv3 approach for license compliance errors to
the software code each has contributed under GPLv2 and LGPLv2.1 and
v2. With today’s announcement, there are now 10 companies that have
publicly committed to providing greater predictability to open
source users. The large ecosystems of projects using the GPLv2 and
LGPLv2.x licenses will benefit from adoption of this more balanced
approach to termination derived from GPLv3.
Common Cure Rights Commitment
The commitment language adopted by each company is:
Before filing or continuing to prosecute any
legal proceeding or claim (other than a Defensive Action) arising
from termination of a Covered License, [Company] commits to extend
to the person or entity (“you”) accused of violating the Covered
License the following provisions regarding cure and reinstatement,
taken from GPL version 3. As used here, the term ‘this License’
refers to the specific Covered License being enforced.
However, if you cease all violation of this
License, then your license from a particular copyright holder is
reinstated (a) provisionally, unless and until the copyright holder
explicitly and finally terminates your license, and (b)
permanently, if the copyright holder fails to notify you of the
violation by some reasonable means prior to 60 days after the
cessation.
Moreover, your license from a particular
copyright holder is reinstated permanently if the copyright holder
notifies you of the violation by some reasonable means, this is the
first time you have received notice of violation of this License
(for any work) from that copyright holder, and you cure the
violation prior to 30 days after your receipt of the notice.
[Company] intends this Commitment to be
irrevocable, and binding and enforceable against [Company] and
assignees of or successors to [Company]’s copyrights.
[Company] may modify this Commitment by
publishing a new edition on this page or a successor location.
Definitions
‘Covered License’ means the GNU General
Public License, version 2 (GPLv2), the GNU Lesser General Public
License, version 2.1 (LGPLv2.1), or the GNU Library General Public
License, version 2 (LGPLv2), all as published by the Free Software
Foundation.
‘Defensive Action’ means a legal proceeding
or claim that Red Hat brings against you in response to a prior
proceeding or claim initiated by you or your affiliate.
‘[Company]’ means [Company] and its
subsidiaries.
Read the individual commitments:
- Red Hat:
https://www.redhat.com/en/about/gplv3-enforcement-statement and
https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/ability-correct-errors-gplv2-compliance-right-thing-do
- CA Technologies:
https://www.ca.com/us/legal/gpl-commitment.html
- HPE:
https://news.hpe.com/hpe-joins-other-community-leaders-in-protecting-developers-and-enabling-innovation/
- Microsoft: https://aka.ms/GPLv3
- SUSE:
https://www.suse.com/licensing/gplv3-enforcement-statement/ and
https://www.suse.com/c/gpl-enforcement-statement/
Supporting Quotes
Michael Cunningham, executive vice president and general
counsel, Red Hat“We are encouraged to see leading companies join in
promoting greater fairness and predictability in license
enforcement. We see this as an important statement that license
enforcement activities should foster greater development
participation and adoption of open source software.”
Christopher Herbst, vice president and assistant general
counsel, CA Technologies“Open source software is an important
component of the modern software factory. As an active participant
in open source and open standards, and consistent with our mission
to eliminate the barriers between ideas and business outcomes, we
are happy to join in this Commitment to bring greater
predictability to open source licensing.”
Willie Hernandez, vice president and deputy general counsel,
HPE“HPE has been a supporter of and leader in open source and Linux
for more than 15 years. We remain committed to open source and open
standards as important ways to encourage collaboration across the
industry. To that end, we hope incorporating the cure period into
additional flavors of GPL licenses provides users the comfort to
utilize open source software as they strive for innovation.”
Eileen Evans, Micro Focus deputy general counsel and board
member of the Linux Foundation“It is heartening to see such a
diverse group of companies standing behind the common cause of
promoting fairness in license compliance. This initiative will both
further confidence in open source and support its future
growth.”
Erich Andersen, corporate vice president and chief IP counsel,
Microsoft“We want to make it easier for developers to build great
products using licenses popular in the community without having to
worry that they will not be afforded a cure opportunity if they
miss a step in license compliance. We believe that today’s
announcement will help advance an industry norm on this important
issue and help increase collaboration and innovation in the Linux
community.”
Janaka Bohr, head of Licensing Compliance, SAP"Increasingly
users of open source software are concerned about unintentional
noncompliance with associated license terms and inadvertent
exposure to legal risk. SAP believes that the initiative of
applying GPLv3’s non-compliance cure provisions to GPLv2 is a step
in the right direction to protect the principles of open
source.”
Nils Brauckmann, CEO, SUSE“SUSE believes promoting more
equitable and consistent practices in open source license
enforcement will increase both participation in the open source
community and actual value derived from open source software by
developers and users. As other GPLv2 copyright holders embrace this
licensing approach, the resulting growth in development and
adoption will, in turn, fuel greater innovation and
opportunity.”
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About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat is the world's leading provider of open source software
solutions, using a community-powered approach to provide reliable
and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and
virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning
support, training, and consulting services. As a connective hub in
a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source
communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies
that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the
future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements provide current expectations of future events based on
certain assumptions and include any statement that does not
directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results
may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking
statements as a result of various important factors, including:
risks related to the ability of the Company to compete effectively;
the ability to deliver and stimulate demand for new products and
technological innovations on a timely basis; delays or reductions
in information technology spending; the integration of acquisitions
and the ability to market successfully acquired technologies and
products; fluctuations in exchange rates; the effects of industry
consolidation; uncertainty and adverse results in litigation and
related settlements; the inability to adequately protect Company
intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach
of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual
property; risks related to defects in our offerings and third-party
hardware upon which our offerings depend; risks related to the
security of our offerings and other data security vulnerabilities;
changes in and a dependence on key personnel; the ability to meet
financial and operational challenges encountered in our
international operations; and ineffective management of, and
control over, the Company's growth and international operations, as
well as other factors contained in our most recent Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q (copies of which may be accessed through the
Securities and Exchange Commission's website at
http://www.sec.gov), including those found therein under the
captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Results of Operations". In addition to
these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may
differ materially because of more general factors including
(without limitation) general industry and market conditions and
growth rates, economic and political conditions, governmental and
public policy changes and the impact of natural disasters such as
earthquakes and floods. The forward-looking statements included in
this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of
this press release and these views could change. However, while the
Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at
some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any
obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be
relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date
subsequent to the date of this press release.
Red Hat is a trademark or registered trademark
of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other
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View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180319005379/en/
Red Hat, Inc.Stephanie Wonderlick,
+1-571-421-8169swonderl@redhat.com
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