[wp-hackers] WordPress and 'LinkWare'

[Roy Schestowitz]

Not so long ago, links that are embedded in themes were discussed.  
Particularly, links that went beyond crediting the author got flagged  
as a possible 'grey area'. I just wanted to draw your attention to the  
following item which has just reached NewsForge.

Linkware licenses can go awry

,----[ Snippet ]
| The other day I was browsing WordPress Planet and noticed a link to 31
| free WordPress themes from WordPress Diva. Of course, the "free" is as
| in beer, and the license requires that you display two links embedded in
| the theme "as long as the theme is in use." I don't mean to pick on Diva
| in particular, but I would like to illustrate why these sorts of
| "linkware" licenses, or licenses requiring reciprocal links, can be a
| bad idea.
|
| On the surface, it's not particularly onerous to ask a user to provide a
| link back to the person(s) who developed a theme or Web application.
| WordPress Diva, for example, is providing some nice-looking themes,
| and is only asking for a link back to theme's Web page and to another
| site promoting furniture. They're tiny, unobtrusive links at the bottom
| of the page, well out of the way. Why would this be a bad thing?
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http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/09/18/1558244&from=rss