Maybe I'm uninformed, but Crafty, a computer chess program, is in the very near future going to have a licensing problem that is new to me. As of Crafty v16.5, Crafty meets the Debian definition of "free", but v16.6 (maybe) and v16.7 (for sure) will have a new license.
The problem is that persons other than the original author, Dr. Hyatt, have been entering Crafty into computer chess competitions. These persons are downloading the source *** maybe *** changing two or three lines, recompiling the source, giving it a different name like "voyager" or "bionic impakt", and then entering the resulting executable in chess competitions. If you've been following the Crafty mailing list, you know that the proposed modifications to the license are substantial, but for now I just want to get at the heart of the matter. Can Dr. Hyatt, the original author of Crafty, restrict use of the program such that he is the only person who can enter the original program into a chess competition and still have a license that is Debian free? Can Dr. Hyatt forbid any derived works from being entered into a chess competition and still be Debian free? Professor Hyatt's main objection is that new computer chess programmers will be at an unfair disadvantage and will give up because it seems to them that everyone's new program is beating their new program. My sense of "right" tells me that Professor Hyatt's restrictions are fair and reasonable. Furthermore, my reading of the "Debian Free Software Guidelines" (DFSG) ( http://www.debian.org/social_contract ) tells me that such a restriction does not change an otherwise Debian free license into a non-free one. Specifically, please consider the following: 3. Derived Works "The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software." The original software restricts tournament play. Thus, derived works are simply subject to "the same terms as the license of the original software." 5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups "The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons." I believe this is provision is also met. First, no one to whom Crafty is distributed can enter the program into a tournament. Thus, there is no class of discriminated persons. The author is simply reserving a right for himself much like the right an author can reserve to "require derived works to carry a different name" under paragraph 4 of the DFSG. Second, this restriction is simply in place to prevent unethical persons from defrauding the chess tournaments, and I have to believe the DFSG allows licenses that prohibit fraud. 6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor "The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research." I'm just including this paragraph so I can so that it is off point. A chess tournament is not a "field of endeavor." If someone would like to argue that a chess tournament is a field of endeavor then I would argue that Crafty passes muster for the same reasons it passes muster under paragraph 5 above. The other 7 paragraphs also seem to be off point, but check for yourself. Paul Serice
