Define license for changes developed by NRCan

[florianesser]

Several recent contributions, especially the updates required for being compliant with ISO 19111:2019, are being developed under a contract with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). NRCan needs to specify what license applies to these contributions.

cc: @ronaldtse

[ronaldtse]

@florianesser thanks for the ping! Will await @maccraymer 's response.

[maccraymer]

By default, all work performed by Canadian government (NRCan) employees and contractors is owned by “Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as Represented by Natural Resources Canada”. This is the same as for the work Florian did for Kartverket. Kartverket owns that code but has made it open source after the fact. I (NRCan) will do the same for the code developed by Florian under contract to NRCan. However, I will need to inquire if this is necessary if the code is already open source. The problem is Ottawa is in COVID-19 lockdown starting today and gov’t employees have been told to stay home and work from home if possible. But many NRCan employees do not have access to email at home so it will be difficult to get feedback or begin making the code officially open source. I will provide an update as soon as I can.

[maccraymer]

@florianesser, how did Kartverket make their code open source. What steps/procedure did they take to make it officially open source?

[ronaldtse]

@maccraymer I worked with Morten with Kartverket's lawyers to arrive at an open source license that Kartrverket agreed to, and we made the code open source carrying that license.

[ronaldtse]

@maccraymer for clarity, the code currently carries these licenses stated here:

https://github.com/ISO-TC211/iso-geodetic-registry/blob/master/LICENSE.adoc

I would recommend following the BSD 2-Clause license adopted by Kartverket.

[maccraymer]

@ronaldtse Can I get a copy of the Kartverket open source license agreement so NRCan can do the same?

[ronaldtse]

@maccraymer here it is:

Kartverket's BSD 2-Clause License

The graphical user interface of the ISO Geodetic Registry has been developed by Kartverket.

Copyright (c) 2016-2019, Kartverket. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

[maccraymer]

Got it, thanks.

[maccraymer]

It's going to take a while to get the open source license now that the pandemic response is the highest priority. However, there is an "Open Government Licence" for "information":

http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada

It might be a stretch to refer to software as information although, strictly speaking, I suppose it is information technology. I will need to talk to our IP people about it.

[ronaldtse]

I think the Open Government License technically covers source code as well, so if the NRCan can get this license applied it should already work.