Community website Terms of Use update
Introduction
The existing open-source web resources have a ToU that is designed to cover the scope of commercial products and needs to be updated. This page contains a proposed update to these terms that more directly reflects the open-source nature of OpenVPN and its associated web community (such as the wiki, trac, and forums.)
Discussion
Add any discussion points here.
The license text follows this line:
Community Website Resources Terms of Use
Informal Introduction
This agreement covers your use of open-source community resources on the community.openvpn.net site that surround the OpenVPN project, which is under a GPL license. Please note that these terms apply to community resources only, which covers the GPL OpenVPN project and any community resources including the bug tracker and wiki.
The open-source community resources are separate from the commercial products developed by 'OpenVPN Technologies, Inc' which include Access Server, OpenVPN Connect, Private Tunnel, and all components related to these products. These products are not maintained by the open-source community, and these are subject to the OpenVPN Technologies, Inc terms and licensing you can find here: FIXME: LINK NEEDED.
The OpenVPN name is a registered trademark of OpenVPN Technologies, Inc. Please note that the open-source code itself is available under a GPLv2 license and is free to use, copy, and distribute under these terms. Please consult the included licensing documentation for additional details.
Your use of online services provided by the OpenVPN community can be revoked at any time if use is determined to be disruptive. Please be a responsible member of the community and promote collaboration in the open-source spirit.
None of the community-provided web resources are guaranteed accurate or free of defects, bugs, or other flaws. The resources are provided to the community at large to promote discussion and improvement of the OpenVPN product.
Legalese
1. Acceptance of Agreement
By using any of the community Web Resources (defined below as "Web Resources") you are agree to these terms. If you do not agree, you should not use any of the Web Resources or its contents.
2. Definitions
- A. "Web Resources" includes any of the open-source community resources related to the OpenVPN product, notwithstanding any exceptions listed under "Exceptions." This includes the community.openvpn.net site resources such as the community-based wiki, bug trackcer, and community-centric forums.
- B. "OpenVPN Product" refers to the open-source, GPL-licensed OpenVPN codebase and the associated compiled product resulting from this code.
- C. "Commercial Products" refers to any non-open-source products, services, offerings, and associated material belonging to OpenVPN Technologies, Inc. These are laid out under "Exceptions" below and are not governed by this agreement.
3. Exceptions
The following components and products are copyrighted to OpenVPN Technologies, Inc and are not governed by this agreement. Each of these are subject to their own license agreements and/or EULA documents:
- A. The "OpenVPN" name and logo is trademarked OpenVPN Technologies, Inc
- B. Access Server
- C. OpenVPN Connect
- D. Private Tunnel
Additionally, any website resources related to the aforementioned Commercial Products and any related materials are property of OpenVPN Technologies, Inc.
4. Software Licensing
The OpenVPN Product version 2 and associated code, software, and compiled programs are available under a GPLv2 license.
5. Access to Web Resources
Your use of the Web Resources is allowed so long as you are not negatively disrupting the ability of this service to be provided to the community in general. The maintainers of the Web Resources reserve the right to disable, remove, revoke, or block access that is in violation of this condition. Disruptive network traffic or abusive use of the Web Resources is not allowed.
6. Redistribution of Web Resources
Notwithstanding the Commercial Product restrictions listed above in "Exceptions," you are free to use the information on the Web Resources for your own use on an as-is basis. The maintainers of the Web Resources make no claim as to the validity, correctness, or legal status of user-provided content; you should verify you are allowed to use such user-provided content before redistributing any of it yourself.
By nature of the OpenVPN Product being GPL-licensed, code contributions to this project must also be published under a GPL license. Your use of any such patches, such as from the bug tracker, must comply with the GPL license. This includes redistribution of these contributions.
Linking to the Web Resources is allowed so long as performed in a manner that makes it clear these resources are provided by OpenVPN Product and maintainers.
7. Content Provided to the Web Resources
Notwithstanding the Commercial Product restrictions listed above in "Exceptions," you are free to upload content to the Web Services that further the OpenVPN Product goals. These include sharing ideas and methods, code contributions to the OpenVPN Product, or related contributions to components associated with use of the OpenVPN Product.
Content that is governed by its own license, such as code patches to the OpenVPN Product, must comply the the relevant licensing; in the case of the OpenVPN Product, this is the GPLv2.
You further agree that the content you are providing to these Web Services is allowed to be published to an online service and that the content does not infringe on anyone else's copyright.
Uploaded content should conform to the guidelines set out in "Access to Web Resources" above, and the maintainers of the Web Resources reserve the right to remove content that is deemed to violate these conditions.
