5. External Deployment

OSL

AFL

The term "External Deployment" means the use or distribution of the Original Work or Derivative Works in any way such that the Original Work or Derivative Works may be used by anyone other than You, whether the Original Work or Derivative Works are distributed to those persons or made available as an application intended for use over a computer network. As an express condition for the grants of license hereunder, You agree that any External Deployment by You of a Derivative Work shall be deemed a distribution and shall be licensed to all under the terms of this License, as prescribed in section 1(c) herein.

(This section is deleted in its entirety.)

Because the AFL does not include the section 1(c) reciprocity provision, there is no need for it to include an expanded definition of distribution. Under the AFL, distribution of software does not result in any additional obligations.

The reciprocity provision of the OSL requires licensees to use the OSL for "copies of the Original Work or Derivative Works that you distribute." (OSL section 1[c].) The word distribute was not defined there, although it certainly includes such activities as selling or giving copies of software away to others.

The Internet and high-speed data connections have made it possible now for companies to make software available to third parties for execution even though it is not physically distributed to them. This section 5 of the OSL makes it clear that these activities are, for purposes of OSL license interpretation, to be treated as a distribution .

This expanded definition of distribution is to prevent companies from escaping the reciprocity obligation by avoiding a physical distribution while still allowing third parties to use the software over a network.

Consider, for example, open source software that is a component of an electronic mail system. Under typical reciprocity provisions (such as are found in the GPL, MPL, and CPL licenses), there is no distribution unless third parties actually receive copies of derivative works of that software to run on their computers. Mere use of that email system software over a network is not a distribution.

Under section 5 of the OSL, if a derivative work of an OSL-licensed component is used for an electronic mail system that has third party users, that derivative work must be licensed under the OSL. It is subject to the reciprocity obligation.

Comparison to Other Licenses

The section 5 definition of external deployment is a modified version of a provision originally found in the Real Networks Public Source License. That license reads:

"Externally Deploy" means to Deploy the Covered Code in any way that may be accessed or used by anyone other than You, used to provide any services to anyone other than You, or used in any way to deliver any content to anyone other than You, whether the Covered Code is distributed to those parties, made available as an application intended for use over a computer network, or used to provide services or otherwise deliver content to anyone other than You. (Real Networks Public Source License section 1.7.)

This definition is far broader than the one in the OSL. In particular, it includes as an external deployment the use of the software "to deliver any content to anyone other than You." If a derivative works of a Real Networks “licensed component is used for an email system that delivers mail (i.e., content ) to third parties, that derivative work is subject to the Real Networks reciprocity provision even if third parties don't actually use the email system. The OSL/AFL are much narrower in effect.

None of the academic licenses described in this book deal at all with restrictions or conditions on distribution. For that reason, as in the AFL, a definition of external deployment is unnecessary.

None of the reciprocal licenses described in this book (the GPL, MPL, and the CPL) contain a similar definition of external deployment . Under those licenses, only the distribution of a physical or electronic copy would invoke the reciprocity obligation.