The Free Software Foundation and the Software Freedom Law Centre released the second discussion draft of the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) version 3 (GPLv3) this week.
GPL is a free software licence, originally written by Richard Stallman, for the GNU project to create an operating system such as Windows, but comprising free software, explains Pria Chetty, lawyer at IT law firm Buys.
"There are tens of thousands of software programs licensed under GPL, including some for cellphones and PDAs. This means you are more than likely a user of free software and you are directly or indirectly impacted by the changes to the licence terms," she adds.
GPLv2 - the version in use - was released more than 15 years ago.
Changes
"The changes as contained in v3 were prompted by legal developments internationally in the treatment of software - since v2, for instance, countries other than the US now allow the patenting of software," explains Chetty.
In addition, the success of digital rights management means some distribution of free software does not allow a user to modify the software, but merely run the software in its entirety. "This is regarded as a threat to the principles of free software, and more specifically the freedom to modify it."
The anticipated version, however, has a more express statement that guarantees the rights granted under GPL in the event that the free software concerned is patented, setting out to exclude the use of digital rights management tools denying these rights.
"Another important reason for revising v2 is the terminology used had specific interpretation in the US, and did not necessarily have the same meaning in other countries. So GLPv3 'denationalises` the terminology in response to the growth of free software users worldwide."
More revisions are expected before the final release of GPLv3, which is scheduled for next year, Chetty adds.
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