bitboxer / do-not-harm

The do not harm license
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Do-Not-Harm License

This license is a modified MIT license. It adds a clause that the software should not be used to harm humans or living beings.

Do-Not-Harm-Humans

Copyright (c) year copyright holders

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

  • No human must purposefully be harmed using this software

  • The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Do-Not-Harm-Living-Beings

Copyright (c) year copyright holders

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

  • No living being must purposefully be harmed using this software

  • The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

FAQ

But this breaks Freedom 0!

Yes, this license breaks freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose.

It breaks it on purpose. In lots of countries freedom of speech does not include hate speech. And I don't think that the freedom to run my code should also mean that it's totally okay to use software I create in a predator drone to kill people.

Is this license compatible with the GPL?

No, it breaks Freedom 0. On purpose.

But you can't enforce the "do not harm"

It depends. But I want to make a stand and show where I draw the line what I think is okay.

Can't you clarify what "harmed" means?

No. I don't want that. Everyone should know what that means.

Why two different licenses ?

Some people don't want to harm every living being. Some just care about humans. It's up to you what you want to use.

But there is already a Do no Evil License!

The Do-No-Evil License is not specific enough for my taste. What is evil? In some countries death penalty or torture is not considered evil. I wanted to be more precise because of that. But be aware that there are cases who could be considered "evil" and do not harm people. It's up to you what you want to use.

But what if harming one saves thousands?

Yes, ethics is difficult. I am aware of that. There is a reason why something like the Trolley Problem exists. This license is here to start a discussion. To raise awareness about the problems we are facing right now. This question is part of that discussion.

I have questions about this!

Feel free to open an issue here on Github!