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The GNU Affero General Public License is a free, copyleft license for
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software and other kinds of works, specifically designed to ensure
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cooperation with the community in the case of network server software.
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The GNU General Public License is a free, copyleft license for
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software and other kinds of works.
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13
The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed
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14
to take away your freedom to share and change the works. By contrast,
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our General Public Licenses are intended to guarantee your freedom to
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the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to
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share and change all versions of a program--to make sure it remains free
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software for all its users.
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software for all its users. We, the Free Software Foundation, use the
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GNU General Public License for most of our software; it applies also to
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any other work released this way by its authors. You can apply it to
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When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
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price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
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want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new
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free programs, and that you know you can do these things.
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Developers that use our General Public Licenses protect your rights
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with two steps: (1) assert copyright on the software, and (2) offer
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you this License which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute
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and/or modify the software.
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A secondary benefit of defending all users' freedom is that
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improvements made in alternate versions of the program, if they
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receive widespread use, become available for other developers to
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incorporate. Many developers of free software are heartened and
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encouraged by the resulting cooperation. However, in the case of
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software used on network servers, this result may fail to come about.
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The GNU General Public License permits making a modified version and
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letting the public access it on a server without ever releasing its
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source code to the public.
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The GNU Affero General Public License is designed specifically to
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ensure that, in such cases, the modified source code becomes available
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to the community. It requires the operator of a network server to
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provide the source code of the modified version running there to the
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users of that server. Therefore, public use of a modified version, on
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a publicly accessible server, gives the public access to the source
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code of the modified version.
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An older license, called the Affero General Public License and
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published by Affero, was designed to accomplish similar goals. This is
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a different license, not a version of the Affero GPL, but Affero has
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released a new version of the Affero GPL which permits relicensing under
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To protect your rights, we need to prevent others from denying you
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these rights or asking you to surrender the rights. Therefore, you have
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certain responsibilities if you distribute copies of the software, or if
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you modify it: responsibilities to respect the freedom of others.
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For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether
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gratis or for a fee, you must pass on to the recipients the same
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freedoms that you received. You must make sure that they, too, receive
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or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they
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Developers that use the GNU GPL protect your rights with two steps:
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(1) assert copyright on the software, and (2) offer you this License
42
giving you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify it.
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For the developers' and authors' protection, the GPL clearly explains
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that there is no warranty for this free software. For both users' and
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authors' sake, the GPL requires that modified versions be marked as
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changed, so that their problems will not be attributed erroneously to
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authors of previous versions.
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Some devices are designed to deny users access to install or run
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modified versions of the software inside them, although the manufacturer
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can do so. This is fundamentally incompatible with the aim of
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protecting users' freedom to change the software. The systematic
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pattern of such abuse occurs in the area of products for individuals to
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use, which is precisely where it is most unacceptable. Therefore, we
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have designed this version of the GPL to prohibit the practice for those
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products. If such problems arise substantially in other domains, we
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stand ready to extend this provision to those domains in future versions
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of the GPL, as needed to protect the freedom of users.
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Finally, every program is threatened constantly by software patents.
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States should not allow patents to restrict development and use of
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software on general-purpose computers, but in those that do, we wish to
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avoid the special danger that patents applied to a free program could
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make it effectively proprietary. To prevent this, the GPL assures that
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patents cannot be used to render the program non-free.
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The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
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modification follow.
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the Program, the only way you could satisfy both those terms and this
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License would be to refrain entirely from conveying the Program.
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13. Remote Network Interaction; Use with the GNU General Public License.
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Notwithstanding any other provision of this License, if you modify the
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Program, your modified version must prominently offer all users
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interacting with it remotely through a computer network (if your version
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supports such interaction) an opportunity to receive the Corresponding
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Source of your version by providing access to the Corresponding Source
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from a network server at no charge, through some standard or customary
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means of facilitating copying of software. This Corresponding Source
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shall include the Corresponding Source for any work covered by version 3
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of the GNU General Public License that is incorporated pursuant to the
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13. Use with the GNU Affero General Public License.
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Notwithstanding any other provision of this License, you have
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permission to link or combine any covered work with a work licensed
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under version 3 of the GNU General Public License into a single
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under version 3 of the GNU Affero General Public License into a single
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combined work, and to convey the resulting work. The terms of this
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License will continue to apply to the part which is the covered work,
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but the work with which it is combined will remain governed by version
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3 of the GNU General Public License.
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but the special requirements of the GNU Affero General Public License,
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section 13, concerning interaction through a network will apply to the
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14. Revised Versions of this License.
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The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of
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the GNU Affero General Public License from time to time. Such new versions
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will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to
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the GNU General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will
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be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to
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address new problems or concerns.
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Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the
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Program specifies that a certain numbered version of the GNU Affero General
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Program specifies that a certain numbered version of the GNU General
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Public License "or any later version" applies to it, you have the
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option of following the terms and conditions either of that numbered
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version or of any later version published by the Free Software
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Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of the
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GNU Affero General Public License, you may choose any version ever published
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GNU General Public License, you may choose any version ever published
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by the Free Software Foundation.
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If the Program specifies that a proxy can decide which future
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versions of the GNU Affero General Public License can be used, that proxy's
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versions of the GNU General Public License can be used, that proxy's
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public statement of acceptance of a version permanently authorizes you
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to choose that version for the Program.
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Copyright (C) <year> <name of author>
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This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
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it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
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it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
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(at your option) any later version.
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This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
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MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
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GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
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GNU General Public License for more details.
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You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
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You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
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along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
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Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.
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If your software can interact with users remotely through a computer
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network, you should also make sure that it provides a way for users to
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get its source. For example, if your program is a web application, its
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interface could display a "Source" link that leads users to an archive
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of the code. There are many ways you could offer source, and different
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solutions will be better for different programs; see section 13 for the
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specific requirements.
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If the program does terminal interaction, make it output a short
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notice like this when it starts in an interactive mode:
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<program> Copyright (C) <year> <name of author>
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This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details type `show w'.
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This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
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under certain conditions; type `show c' for details.
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The hypothetical commands `show w' and `show c' should show the appropriate
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parts of the General Public License. Of course, your program's commands
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might be different; for a GUI interface, you would use an "about box".
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You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or school,
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if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the program, if necessary.
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For more information on this, and how to apply and follow the GNU AGPL, see
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For more information on this, and how to apply and follow the GNU GPL, see
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<http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
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The GNU General Public License does not permit incorporating your program
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into proprietary programs. If your program is a subroutine library, you
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may consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with
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the library. If this is what you want to do, use the GNU Lesser General
673
Public License instead of this License. But first, please read
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<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-not-lgpl.html>.