Simon Josefsson writes:

> Ok.  Mixing GPL licensed code and BSD licensed code is perfectly
> legal, and is done in many large GPL projects (e.g., the Linux
> kernel).
> 
> Derivative works of the combined BSD+GPL work will have to follow the
> terms in both licenses, of course.  You can't combine something and
> only follow the license for one piece of the work.

The important case for IETF is derivative works of the IETF work alone
(BSD-licensed in the above discussion).  This was Bill Sommerfeld's
original second point:

> 2) any or all of a derivative spec must be fair game for inclusion
> in a future IETF spec.

I agree with Bill that this is important.

If an RFC extract is placed under GPL, and then modified under the GPL,
the result is not "fair game for inclusion in a future IETF spec" because
the IETF is not going to be able to place GPL (or similar) conditions
on RFCs, and tracking down the original authors of the modifications
to obtain permission outside the GPL is not a sure thing.  That's still
a potential problem even if the authors can be located and are willing
- see the example I posted earlier where the lawyers got in the way.

To achieve the "fair game" goal, something like the following should
work;
- All RFC extracts are licensed under an IETF license (perhaps a
	modified version of BSD) that grants the IETF permission to use
	any modifications in the IETF's standards processes without
	further conditions/permissions/restrictions/etc.
- The IETF license would prohibit use of licenses on RFC extracts that
	would impair that grant of permission to use modifications.  GPL
	is an example of a license that would impair that grant, it
	appears to be necessary to prohibit placing RFC extracts under
	GPL - this avoids the modifications being only GPL-licensed, and
	hence not "fair game" for the IETF to use.

Note that the latter prohibition is only a prohibition on placing text
that invokes GPL or similar license terms in a file containing an RFC
extract - it does not (and had better not) prohibit combination of that
file with GPL-licensed files and distributing the result under GPL.

This approach may require isolation of RFC extracts into separate source
files (e.g., put the ASN.1 in a separate file that is IETF-licensed) in
order to avoid mixing RFC extracts with GPL-licensed code (#include and
the like are your friends ...).  The combination of the RFC extracts and
GPL-licensed code would only be distributable under the GPL, but the
modified RFC extract file could be put into an Internet-Draft without
having to deal with the GPL's terms and conditions.

While not what might be wanted in a perfect world, this doesn't look
like a particularly burdensome inconvenience.  It also has the benefit
of clearly separating modifications to RFC extracts that the IETF may
want back from related source code and the like that the IETF is
probably not interested in.

Does this sort of approach appear to be workable?

Thanks,
--David
----------------------------------------------------
David L. Black, Senior Technologist
EMC Corporation, 176 South St., Hopkinton, MA  01748
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black_david@emc.com        Mobile: +1 (978) 394-7754
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