[ntp-legal] [ntpwg] Please license the NTPv4 MIB under the NTP Copyright

Dave Hart davehart_gmail_exchange_tee at davehart.net
Thu Sep 30 02:44:57 UTC 2010


Dr. Mills,

I respectfully disagree.  The NTP copyright statement distributed as
html/copyright.html and COPYING is also a license, granting permission
to use and copy under specific terms.  Granted, it does not call
itself a license agreement.  But I really don't want to get into a
semantic argument over this.

This issue I see is that the NTPv4 MIB is distributed in
ntpsnmpd/ntp4v-mib.mib, and I'd like to update it to the most recent
version (with the permanent "IANA" assigned SNMP OID).  And I am
concerned that would require those distributing the source, or the
ntpsnmpd binary, to comply with the IETF Trust's license covering the
MIB (as noted in RFC 5907, referring to "Code Components", defined
basically as elements which are formatted machine-readable).

Here's the text of the IETF Trust's Simplified BSD License which
applies to those extracting and using the MIB from RFC 5907, lacking
another license from the authors:

<quote>
Copyright (c) <insert year> IETF Trust and the persons identified as
authors of the code.  All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
met:

·    Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

·    Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

·    Neither the name of Internet Society, IETF or IETF Trust, nor the
names of specific contributors, may be used to endorse or promote
products derived from this software without specific prior written
permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
“AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
</quote>

I believe we can, with the permission of the MIB authors, bypass the
requirement to reproduce that license in documentation accompanying
NTP binaries.  The source is not an issue, the MIB itself points to
the license on the web.

Cheers,
Dave Hart

On Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 1:56 AM, David L. Mills <mills at udel.edu> wrote:
> Dave,
>
> Maybe there is a misunderstanding. The NTP reference implementation is not
> licensed; it is copyrighted. The copyright statement has been reviewed and
> approved by the UDel intellectual property attorneys. This has nothing to do
> with any license that the MIB might be encumbered with.
>
> Dave
>
> Dave Hart wrote:
>
>> This message is addressed to all three contributors listed in RFC
>> 5907, the NTPv4 MIB RFC, and to the ntpwg@ mailing list to preserve a
>> record for posterity.
>>
>> I've been swimming around in IETF trust legal documents trying to wrap
>> my head around the licensing issues associated with updating the
>> distribution source file ntpsnmpd/ntpv4-mib.mib to the final MIB
>> published in RFC 5907, triggered by this standard notice in the RFC
>> and the understanding that the NTPv4 MIB is a Code Component:
>>
>>  Code Components extracted from this document must
>>  include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
>>  the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
>>  described in the Simplified BSD License.
>>
>> I think that's the obvious approach and it would work, but it has a
>> downside in my view, namely, it complicates licensing of the NTP
>> Reference Implementation by adding yet another license to our
>> collection, so that those distributing the reference implementation
>> are bound to, for example, reproduce the IETF Trust Simplified BSD
>> License in accompanying documentation.
>>
>> After reading for quite a while, though, I think I see a way of
>> avoiding complication of the NTP Reference Implementation's licensing.
>> IETF trust own the copyright to RFC 5907 and controls publication _in
>> RFC form_, but BCP 78 makes it clear the original contributors retain
>> their copyright to their contributions in the original form, that is,
>> not presented as an RFC.  You are not restricted from licensing your
>> contribution separately, outside RFC form, so long as your licensing
>> does not interfere with the rights granted to the IETF Trust, as
>> explained in BCP 78.
>>
>> So, I am asking each of you to license your work, the NTPv4 MIB, under
>> the NTP Copyright statement,
>> http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/ntp/html/copyright.html, and also
>> asking each of you for permission to include your name and email
>> address in the list of contributors contained in the NTP Copyright
>> statement.  I suggest entries along the following lines:
>>
>> Chris Elliot <chelliot at pobox.com> NTPv4 MIB
>> Heiko Gerstung <heiko.gerstung at meinberg.de> ntpsnmpd, NTPv4 MIB
>> Brian Haberman <brian at innovationslab.net> NTPv4 MIB
>>
>> If you would prefer another email address, or have other changes you
>> would like to those suggested lines, please speak up.
>>
>> I notice that in the MIB header comment, Brian is not listed as an
>> author, but his contact information does appear a few lines later in
>> the MODULE-IDENTITY CONTACT-INFO.  I suppose this may mean we only
>> need ask Chris and Heiko to license the MIB under the NTP Copyright to
>> have the right to reproduce it outside the terms of the IETF Trust's
>> Simplified BSD License, but personally I would feel better if all
>> three agree to contribute the MIB to the reference implementation
>> under the NTP Copyright.
>>
>> Remind me never to pursue a second career in law.  My head hurts.
>>
>> Thanks to everyone for your time and attention to this matter,
>> Dave Hart
>> _______________________________________________
>> ntpwg mailing list
>> ntpwg at lists.ntp.org
>> http://lists.ntp.org/listinfo/ntpwg
>>
>
>


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