Changes to the open source GNU General Public Licence
will not be “huge”, according to licence author Richard
Stallman.
GPL version 3 is currently being written to reflect changes in
the software market. The GPL is used to cover the distribution of
most open source software.
Stallman, speaking at a recent Free and Open Source Software
Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM) in Brussels, said GPL version
3 would be completed some time between this autumn and early
2007.
He said two of the most important changes in the licence would
address digital rights management (DRM) and software patents.
Stallman said new DRM systems could hamper open source
development. To solve this problem, GPL v3 will require software
distributors to supply authorisation signature keys to users when
required.
The licence will also add a provision granting patent rights to
users in some cases, said Stallman.
But large companies like IBM, for instance, that have blanket
cross-licensing agreements, and who don’t use a particular licence
for a specific patent, will not be affected by this GPL v3
requirement, Stallman said.
The new GPL will also be made compatible with other licences
with which it currently doesn’t work.