Hi Folks: [I have tried to include everyone that was involved in the discussions on the JasPer software license on the distribution list for this email. Quite a number of people were involved. I hope that I did not miss anybody.]
I have some potentially good news. Image Power seems to be agreeable to revising the JasPer software license to address the concerns raised by you and other members of the open-source community. I have appended the first preliminary draft of the new license to this email for your feedback. I would very much appreciate your comments, as it would be a waste to go through the trouble to change the license for you folks if the result will not meet your needs. BTW, the new license was largely copied from the open-source-certified X11 license. Image Power has added condition 3 and I wonder if this is alright. The IBM Public License (certified by the Open Source Initiative) also seems to have a similar type of clause. So, this appears not to go against the spirit of open source. Thanks, Michael --- Michael Adams, Assistant Professor Dept. of Elec. and Comp. Engineering, University of Victoria P.O. Box 3055 STN CSC, Victoria, BC, V8W 3P6, CANADA E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Web: www.ece.uvic.ca/~mdadams --- cut here --- JasPer License Version 2.0 Copyright (c) 1999-2000 Image Power, Inc. Copyright (c) 1999-2000 The University of British Columbia Copyright (c) 2001-2003 Michael David Adams All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person (the "User") obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: 1. The above copyright notice and this permission notice (which includes the disclaimer below) shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. 2. The name of a copyright holder shall not be used to endorse or promote products derived from the Software without specific prior written permission. 3. If User breaches any term of this license or commences an infringement action against any copyright holder then the User's license and all sublicenses that have been granted hereunder by User to other parties shall terminate. THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS LICENSE. NO USE OF THE SOFTWARE IS AUTHORIZED HEREUNDER EXCEPT UNDER THIS DISCLAIMER. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, OR ANY SPECIAL INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. THE USER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT NO ASSURANCES ARE PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS THAT THE SOFTWARE DOES NOT INFRINGE THE PATENT OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF OTHER PARTIES. EACH COPYRIGHT HOLDER DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY TO THE USER FOR CLAIMS BROUGHT BY ANY PARTY BASED ON INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OR OTHERWISE. AS A CONDITION TO EXERCISING THE RIGHTS GRANTED HEREUNDER, EACH USER HEREBY ASSUMES SOLE RESPONSIBILITY TO SECURE THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS NEEDED, IF ANY. THE SOFTWARE IS NOT FAULT-TOLERANT AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN MISSION-CRITICAL SYSTEMS, SUCH AS THOSE USED IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, DIRECT LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES, OR WEAPONS SYSTEMS, IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE OR PRODUCT COULD LEAD DIRECTLY TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE ("HIGH RISK ACTIVITIES"). THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR HIGH RISK ACTIVITIES.