[wp-hackers] Plugin License Excluding Spam

[Christopher O'Connell]

I must confess, I don't really see what the problem is. Unless your software
has features specifically designed to make spamming easier, and you
advertise it that way, I don't see how you could be held liable for spam
that other people use your software to send. For instance, I don't think
that postfix or sendmail could be sued if someone used them for spam.

Furthermore, this is, in some ways, more appropriate for the warranty
section or a note. For instance after I got several emails for my uAudio
plugin asking (essentially) how to hotlink to audio on other's domains, I
made a little note at the end of my license file indicating that it was only
to be used to lawful purposes and that the user needed to obtain the
permission of the creator before posting any audio files. A little CYA, but
hopefully enough.

~ Christopher

I'm not a lawyer, and this isn't legal advice, results may vary, refrigerate
after opening, don't consume while driving, . . .

On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 8:36 AM, Jennifer Hodgdon <yahgrp at poplarware.com>wrote:

> Otto wrote:
>
>> - WordPress is licensed under the GPLv2. The GPLv3 is not compatible,
>> because of the additional restrictions it imposes. There's no code or
>> documentation I'm aware of that allows you to up-version with
>> WordPress and the license, so AFAICT, the GPLv3 is not an acceptable
>> license for WordPress plugins and/or themes.
>>
>
> I think you are wrong there. The readme.html file in the WordPress distro
> says:
>
> "WordPress is released under the GPL (see license.txt)."
>
> license.txt says:
>
> "If the Program does not specify a version number of this License, you may
> choose any version ever published by the Free Software Foundation."
>
> WordPress does not specify a version number (except I do see a GPL v2
> reference in xmlrpc.php, and there are specific licenses on some individual
> 3rd-party files that are included in WordPress), as far as I can see.
>
> So you may choose any version of the GPL, by my reading. I'm not an
> attorney...
>
>  --Jennifer
>
> --
> Jennifer Hodgdon * Poplar ProductivityWare
> www.poplarware.com
> Drupal, WordPress, and custom Web programming
>
>
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