A draft third version of the GNU GPL released yesterday is no more complex than it needs to be, despite the addition of language to deal with threats posed by software patents and DRM (digital rights management), writes Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols at Linux-Watch.

The first draft of GPLv3 was unveiled yesterday by Richard M. Stallman, the license's original author. Stallman took the wraps off the new draft license at the First International Conference on GPLv3, held in Boston at the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) yesterday. The draft license is now expected to undergo a year of scrutiny, discussion, and possibly modification, before being finalized and released about this time next year.

The GPLv3 draft generally aims to increase the number of other free software licenses that are compatible with the GPL, according to Vaughan-Nichols. However, it also adds new language forbidding software encumbered with patent royalties or obligations from being released under the GPL 3, as well as software encumbered by proprietary DRM mechanisms.

Additionally, the license forbids plaintiffs in patent lawsuits from continuing to enjoy the right to use free software licensed under the GPLv3.

You can read Vaughan-Nichols's complete initial impressions to GPLv3 here. An eWeek story outlining details of the launch event can be found here.

For more details on GPLv3, including the latest draft, visit the project's website.

 
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