CATS Public License

[RussH]

The CATS public License is a modified Mozilla Public License v 1.1

The license itself can be viewed in the download for CATS (accessible through the homepage) but the key part is Exhibit B;

CATS Public License 1.1 Exhibit B

Additional Terms applicable to the CATS Public License.

I) You may not use the Licensed Software to operate in or as a
time-sharing, outsourcing, service bureau, application service provider
or managed service provider environment.

II) The following copyright notice must be retained and clearly legible
at the bottom of every rendered HTML document: Copyright (C) 2005 - 2006
Cognizo Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.

III) The "Powered by CATS" text or logo must be retained and clearly
legible on every rendered HTML document. The logo, or the text
"CATS", must be a hyperlink to the CATS Project website, currently
http://www.catsone.com/ .

This is the license that the last open source version from http://www.catsone.com left us with.

[genz]

Since the "CATS Project" website is no longer catsone.com - that URL in point 3 can be modified in this release to point to catsone.co.uk - right?

Also, for this project to go forward, we need a release that is absolved from points 1 and 2, and we need to make sure that no software is being distributed in this release that would violate the MPL.

Can we re-brand a 0.9.2 release with the updated URLs and an updated footer to explain that Cognizo no longer distributes nor supports CATS and that we just include their name because of licensing purposes? Plus throwing a nofollow on the outbound url?

[RussH]

The CATS Public License is still posted at http://www.catsone.com/?a=license_cpl

- and I've had some conversations with Asim (from CATSONE.COM) who'se confirmed that he doesn't have any issue with the Open Source version continuing - so long as we continue to comply with Exhibit B in the license.

However - there are a few things. The existing CATS 0.9.1 pages don't all have a Copyright Cognizo statement on the bottom - so I reckon we could accept the precedent and only provide the 'Powered by CATS' link. Additionally, the license seems to refer to 'rendered HTML documents' which require a 'Powered by CATS', and right now I'm looking at a Joomla plugin to provide the public website, and that'll be pulling the data directly from the CATS MySQL databases - therefore it's Joomla that's rendering the pages and not CATS. It may bear some debate - but at the end of the day I'm happy to credit CATSONE.COM on my public website - just in a way of my choosing and not theirs!

Once I get the Joomla plugin working, I'll post it here of course.

RussH

[MePHiSTY]

Could you give more details on how the modules Joomla work?

It would be interesting if we had a communication official from Cognizo,
about the discontinuity of the open source version.

Item III is debatable, but initially I agree that
The Project CATS, as Open Source does not have another official website.
I think that this transfer should also be in order for the official Cognizo.
With a license additive or in a communication official.

About the lack of Coprigth on pages.
I think it does not open precedent to make it as a rule.
What has to be met is what is on the license.

Even keeping the item I and II, I think that the project can be continued.
With some caveats, modules and features will be added, then:

The Modules will be Copyright according to which the author defined?

Improvements in existing codes, will occur.
These changes will Copyright own? Or will be incorporated automatically in the original Copyright?


Perhaps a more detailed reading in the MPL could help.


Hugging.

[RussH]

It would be interesting if we had a communication official from Cognizo,
about the discontinuity of the open source version.

The only communication that I think I can share - beyond some emails I've exchanged with them personally is to point at the http://www.catsone.com/forum page - which has the last communication from the catsone.com guys.

I'll see if I can get them to come onboard and make some kind of statement.

[Jos]

Cognizo knows this forum is up, they allready took a quick look at it. I think they will post some stuff here in the near future.

[RussH]

I had dropped most of them a mail to invite them to the fray.

Also - I'm continuing my discussions with Software Freedom Law Center about what we could change within the license and what we definitely cannot change. Watch this space!

[asimbaig]

Since the "CATS Project" website is no longer catsone.com - that URL in point 3 can be modified in this release to point to catsone.co.uk - right?

Also, for this project to go forward, we need a release that is absolved from points 1 and 2, and we need to make sure that no software is being distributed in this release that would violate the MPL.

Can we re-brand a 0.9.2 release with the updated URLs and an updated footer to explain that Cognizo no longer distributes nor supports CATS and that we just include their name because of licensing purposes? Plus throwing a nofollow on the outbound url?

You cannot change the footer's. CATS Project site IS http://www.catsone.com . It is clearly stated in the CPL. Any change that does not conform to the CPL is a violation of our license.

Asim
952-232-0880 x101
[email protected]

[skwdenyer]

Since the "CATS Project" website is no longer catsone.com - that URL in point 3 can be modified in this release to point to catsone.co.uk - right?

Also, for this project to go forward, we need a release that is absolved from points 1 and 2, and we need to make sure that no software is being distributed in this release that would violate the MPL.

Can we re-brand a 0.9.2 release with the updated URLs and an updated footer to explain that Cognizo no longer distributes nor supports CATS and that we just include their name because of licensing purposes? Plus throwing a nofollow on the outbound url?

You cannot change the footer's.

OK, so that would suggest that, where in 0.9.1 the footers don't currently include the copyright statement, you don't have to add it. I don't mind either way, personally, but clarity is important

CATS Project site IS http://www.catsone.com . It is clearly stated in the CPL. Any change that does not conform to the CPL is a violation of our license.

Asim, the point is that the CPL refers to the "CATS Project site, currently http://www.catsone.com ". I think what many were wondering (and again I don't mind either way, personally) was whether this could be changed to point to http://www.catsone.co.uk (or whatever) simply because right now catsone.com is not a "project site" in the usual meaning of the term for open source projects. Catsone.com contains nothing at all about the open source project, which would be a strange fit with it being referred to as the "project website" in the CPL. That decision is entirely yours to make, however, and nobody is suggesting otherwise, just putting the issue out there.

For everybody else, the CPL only applies to CPL-covered code. If, for instance, one were to code an entirely new (from scratch) login module, that could present the user with a splash screen pointing them towards a more useful "project site" from their point of view, without changing any of the CPL-covered code.

[vijayabhaskar]

can anyone explain about opencats code?pls pls