On Thu, Mar 15, 2007 at 01:10:05AM +0900, Clifford Heath wrote:
> 
> I've always released things under BSD-style licenses, because I
> think that if a gift is given, it should be free of obligation
> of any significance, i.e. more than mere acknowledgment. I'm
> releasing code in Ruby, and I'm happy if that code gets used
> without any other obligations.
> 
> However, in this case, I think it's quite likely to get cloned
> into other languages, and some of those clones will be sold in
> their own right, and get used as "proprietary tools of dubious
> provenance" that cost both the developer and the end-user... a
> lot. If that's going to happen, I want a slice. Perhaps I really
> need a patent with some free rights... but I hate that idea too.
> 
> Bit of a quandary really... but your message helped. Is there
> a license that allows free use and extension of an item, but
> restricts other derivations?

I'm not entirely sure what sort of restrictions you want, but you might
want to check out the options at Creative Commons.  If you find
something pretty similar to your intent but not quite perfect, just
create a derivative license of your own.  You may want to call them up
to verify that there aren't any legal entanglements (I did that once,
when I wanted a license almost but not exactly like one of theirs), but
otherwise, Creative Commons might serve as a handy place to get ideas
for licensing.

You might also want to check out the OSI list of licenses to see if
anything gets close to what you want.

At first glance, it looks like you're trying to restrict what cannot be
legally restricted (easily) while giving away rights that are more
easily restricted by law.  As I said, though, I'm not entirely clear on
what you're trying to accomplish.

-- 
CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ]
"The measure on a man's real character is what he would do
if he knew he would never be found out." - Thomas McCauley