<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size:large;font-weight:bold">Forwarded conversation</span><br><div class="gmail_quote">Subject: <b class="gmail_sendername">Possible Violation</b><br>------------------------<br><br><span class="undefined"><font color="#888">From: <b class="undefined">Bryan Hadaway</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bhadaway@gmail.com">bhadaway@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
Date: Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 8:22 PM<br>To: <a href="mailto:license-violation@gnu.org">license-violation@gnu.org</a><br></font><br></span><br><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div>This would actually be a case of the developer abusing the rights of the user instead the user abusing the rights of the developer. Not sure if that's something you guys are interested in looking into?<br>
<br></div>Before I make a formal complaint here are the issues that are present for the software that the developer claims to be 100% GPL:<br><br></div>1. There are 3 licensing options for how many sites you're allowed to use the software on, 1, 6 or unlimited. It's always been my understanding that you cannot restrict usage at all. That once the code is in the user's hands they're free to use it on as many websites as they need, both for personal and commercial sites.<br>
<br></div>2. There is no option to outright buy the software. You're forced into monthly fees and if you stop payment at any time (meaning that you're suppose to pay forever) the "pro" features of the software are crippled. It's my understanding that a developer cannot put such restrictions in place or force a user to pay for the same software more than once.<br>
<br></div>If my understanding of the GPL in these issues is correct and you would like to discuss more, please let me know.<br><br></div>Thanks, Bryan<br></div>
<br>----------<br><span class="undefined"><font color="#888">From: <b class="undefined">Donald R Robertson III via RT</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:license-violation@fsf.org">license-violation@fsf.org</a>></span><br>
Date: Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 1:34 PM<br>To: <a href="mailto:bhadaway@gmail.com">bhadaway@gmail.com</a><br></font><br></span><br>Hello,<br>
<br>
Thank you for taking the time to file this report. You can see full<br>
instructions on what to do when you have a suspected violatoin at<br>
<<a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-violation.html" target="_blank">http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-violation.html</a>>.<br>
> [<a href="mailto:bhadaway@gmail.com">bhadaway@gmail.com</a> - Wed Sep 25 22:22:43 2013]:<br>
<div class="im">><br>
> This would actually be a case of the developer abusing the rights of the<br>
> user instead the user abusing the rights of the developer. Not sure if<br>
> that's something you guys are interested in looking into?<br>
><br>
> Before I make a formal complaint here are the issues that are present for<br>
> the software that the developer claims to be 100% GPL:<br>
><br>
> 1. There are 3 licensing options for how many sites you're allowed to use<br>
> the software on, 1, 6 or unlimited. It's always been my understanding that<br>
> you cannot restrict usage at all. That once the code is in the user's<br>
hands<br>
> they're free to use it on as many websites as they need, both for personal<br>
> and commercial sites.<br>
<br>
</div>That is correct, the user is free to install, copy, and share as much as<br>
they like. Sometimes, however, companies offering service/support will<br>
word their plans in such a way that it appears that you are limited,<br>
when in fact, it is only that their service/support is limited to a<br>
certain number of installs. For example, they could offer hosted GPLed<br>
software and the limit is actually on the number of hosted instances.<br>
<div class="im"><br>
><br>
> 2. There is no option to outright buy the software. You're forced into<br>
> monthly fees and if you stop payment at any time (meaning that you're<br>
> suppose to pay forever) the "pro" features of the software are crippled.<br>
> It's my understanding that a developer cannot put such restrictions in<br>
> place or force a user to pay for the same software more than once.<br>
<br>
</div>This is also correct, there cannot be any ongoing restriction such as<br>
this. Again, however, sometimes companies can be misleading about what<br>
is restricted. There can also be instances where there is GPLed software<br>
involved, but also proprietary software which they can restrict.<br>
Determining whether a violation is occurring requires looking at the<br>
actual facts involved in the case.<br>
<br>
With all that said, the GPL is a copyright license, and it is the<br>
copyright holder who is empowered to enforce the terms of the license.<br>
Sometimes companies will nominally release GPL software, but fail to<br>
live up to its terms. As long as they are the sole copyright holder,<br>
there is no one with the power to force them to change their wrongful<br>
ways. There are other ways to gain compliance, however. Even if they<br>
can't be forced by law to follow the terms, people can still send in<br>
requests, publicly call them out for their bad practices, or even<br>
campaign against them for being bad community members.<br>
<br>
Thanks again for filing this report, and I hope this helps.<br>
<div class="HOEnZb"></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">--<br>
Sincerely,<br>
<br>
Donald R. Robertson, III, J.D.<br>
Copyright & Licensing Associate<br>
Free Software Foundation<br>
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor<br>
Boston, MA 02110, USA<br>
Phone <a href="tel:%2B1-617-542-5942" value="+16175425942">+1-617-542-5942</a><br>
Fax <a href="tel:%2B1-617-542-2652" value="+16175422652">+1-617-542-2652</a><br>
<br>
---<br>
<br>
</font></span><br>----------<br><span class="undefined"><font color="#888">From: <b class="undefined">Bryan Hadaway</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bhadaway@gmail.com">bhadaway@gmail.com</a>></span><br>Date: Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 1:50 PM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:license-violation@fsf.org">license-violation@fsf.org</a><br></font><br></span><br><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>Thank you, I wanted to be sure. The issue is with a WordPress theme:<br><br><a href="http://wordpress.org/themes/dms" target="_blank">http://wordpress.org/themes/dms</a><br>
<br></div>Since this theme is hosted on WordPress it is scrutinized under WordPress policy as well so in this instance it actually can be forcefully removed.<br>
<br></div>WordPress policy is that in order to accept a free theme version into its repo, it's pro version, if one exists must also be 100% GPL, not part GPL, part proprietary. The issues that break the GPL/WP policy are found here:<br>
<br><a href="http://www.pagelines.com/pricing/" target="_blank">http://www.pagelines.com/pricing/</a><br><br></div>When the developer was asked about the site limitations, if it was just a support limitation they clarified that no, it actually was a usage restriction on the software itself outside of PageLines, they don't offer hosting.<br>
<br></div>Thank you.<br></div></div></div>