This would give too much power to Bitcoin Core, and implies falsely that Bitcoin and Bitcoin Core are the same thing.
On Tuesday 13 February 2018 12:25:53 PM JOSE FEMENIAS CAÑUELO via bitcoin-dev wrote: > Hi, > > Bitcoin is licensed under the MIT license > (https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/COPYING > <https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/COPYING>) which is one of > the most permissive licenses widely in use. While this almost > restriction-less license has proved useful to many software projects, I > think it could be wise to question its current suitability for this > project, given the recent history. > > The difficulty among the general population to distinguish between Bitcoin > (the protocol and software) and bitcoin (the currency) arises > spontaneously from the intimate entanglement of both. The current list of > Bitcoin lookalikes includes: Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond, > Bitcoin God, Bitcoin Clashic, Super Bitcoin, Bitcoin Hot, Bitcoin X, Oil > Bitcoin, Bitcoin World, Lightning Bitcoin... > > This recent flurry of hard forks is, IMHO, exacerbating the confusion about > the very nature of the project, and harming it in many ways. > > Although the liberal MIT license is (rightfully) beneficial to many other > projects, companies and individuals, it is my belief that several projects > are unfairly taking advantage of this generous license to attack Bitcoin > (both the software and the currency), confuse the public, and gain > personal profit in a way that is severely harming the Bitcoin ecosystem. > > Therefore, I’d like to raise the possibility of amending the MIT license in > a simple way, by adding a line such as: > > > *** > NO PART OF THIS SOFTWARE CAN BE INCLUDED IN ANY OTHER PROJECT THAT USES THE > NAME BITCOIN AS PART OF ITS NAME AND/OR ITS MARKETING MATERIAL UNLESS THE > SOFTWARE PRODUCED BY THAT PROJECT IS FULLY COMPATIBLE WITH THE BITCOIN > (CORE) BLOCKCHAIN *** > > (This is just an approximation. A final version would probably have to > include a restriction to some soundalikes like BITKOIN, BIITCOIN,…) > > This way, I could legitimate use this software to create my own crypto > coin, or use it in Ethereum, Litecoin or any of the other legitimate > cryptos, but I could not make my “Bitcoin Whatever” fork and keep using > this software as the basis for it. I could also fork the bitcoin > blockchain to create “Bcoin lightspeed” but not “Bitcoin lightspeed” for > instance. > > I know this would probably not prevent the explosion of forks in the > future, but maybe it could help mitigate the confusion among the users and > the harm to this community. Even if its enforceability is dubious, at > least any infringing project would be exposed to some liability. I see > myself some possible loopholes the way the license addendum is written. My > intention is not to arrive immediately to a final wording but to know if > there is some value to the idea of changing the license with this purpose. > > > Jose Femenias > _______________________________________________ > bitcoin-dev mailing list > bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org > https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev _______________________________________________ bitcoin-dev mailing list bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev
