Post Open Definitions

Version 0.1.3, January 25, 2025.

These definition are meant to be included by reference in multiple legal documents of the Post Open Administration. They must apply only when they are explicitly included by reference in a document.

Definitions

Version 0.1.1, January 25, 2025.

Advisory Note

Text contained within square brackets ("[" and "]") indicates an Advisory Note. It is advisory in nature, and not part of these terms. These terms will not be invalidated or otherwise impaired if advisory sections are incorrect or become out-of-date. [This is an example of an advisory section.]

Aggregation

The assembly of multiple works on a storage medium solely for the purpose of permitting access to the individual works for the purpose of transferring them to another medium, for example computer memory or another storage medium; or the provision of those works via a method of access, for example a web site, for the purpose of transferring the individual works to another medium.

Assembly of a working system from multiple Works, for example a Linux distribution, or provision of a Compilation (Meaning 2) including the Work for Remuneration are not Aggregation, those actions are the creation of a derivative of the Work.

Apportionment

The process of paying a for the use of Contributions by paid licensees. The Contributor themselves or another entity that they designate, called the Beneficiary, for example their employer or a charity, can be the recipient. [The algorithm for Apportionment involves instrumenting git revisions, by default uses the email of the author of the revision (a Post Open ID in newer code, otherwise an email address mapped to a Post Open ID), and should be able to detect additions, deletions, and white-space-only changes. It is still in development, and is expected to evolve. ]

Beneficiary

An entity other than the Contributor to which Apportionment is directed. This can be:

1. An entity that contracts or employs one or more Contributors to produce a work for hire.
2. An entity that exists to facilitate the activity of one Contributor or a group of Contributors. An example applicable to United States would be a Limited Liability Company.
3. Estates and successors of a Contributor.
4. A government-recognized charity (for example: in the United States, an organization granted status by the Internal Revenue Service under Title 26, Section 501[c]3 of the United States Code) that Contributors designate to receive funds related to their Contribution.
5. The Post Open Administration.
6. A Post Open ID created by the Post Open Administration to designate a particular direction of funds, for example a fund for the welfare of Contributors.

One of the reasons for limiting the definiton of a Beneficiary is to prevent strife among developers when a Contribution is publicly marked for a political party or another organization likely to cause argument. Nothing stops the Contributor from donating revenue that they receive through Apportionment to such entities.

The definition of Post Open ID includes how to specify a Beneficiary as part of a Post Open ID.

Combinable License

A license which does not apply terms to a work that would make that work incompatible with the Post Open License, and does not make requirements that are not present in the Post Open License. Examples are the BSD, MIT, and Apache licenses. Combinable Licenses is the plural form of Combinable License. LGPL and GPL are not Combinable Licenses because they include requirements for source-code distribution that are dissimilar with the Post Open License. This can be resolved by dual-licensing the LGPL or GPL work with the Post Open License. [This doesn't mean we don't approve of LGPL or GPL, simply that their terms collide and require legal measures like dual-licensing to resolve the issue. We may publish a list of Combinable Licenses.]

Compilation (Meaning 1)

The creation of an executable form of the Work from Source Code. Compilation (Meaning 1) generally involves multiple tools, for example a compiler, an assembler, and a linker. Compilation (Meaning 1) may include the use of conditional compilation facilities provided by the developers of the Work, and configuration of the options of the aforementioned tools.

Compilation (Meaning 2)

A "work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship." (from Title 17 of the United States Code, Section 101).

Contributor

The creator of a Contribution, usually a software developer or documentation writer, and may be a real person or another legal entity. Contributors is the plural form of Contributor.

Contribution

A Work which is made part of the Post Open Collection under the terms of the Post Open Operating Agreement. This may be a portion of a larger Work, or an entire Work. This would usually be source code or other text, but is not limited to these forms. [A common way to make a Contribution is to check in code to the Post Open git repository or make a "pull request" using that repository.]

Draft

A version of a document that is released for comment and revision. It is not recommended for use. If it is a legal document, its review and revision by legal professionals may be incomplete. Final is the opposite of Draft.

Embedded System

A hardware device containing a Work in the Post Open Collection.

Export Controlled Use

1. Any use or Modification of the Work that could make the Work subject to export control law, for example: in the USA ITAR (Title 22, sections 120 to 130 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations), and EAR (Title 15, chapter VIII, subchapter C of the United States Code of Federal Regulations).

2. Offering of or performance of service regarding the Work to any entity for military or defense purposes, or to weaponize the Work. [This is referred to in USA export control law as provision of defense services, and potentially makes the work subject to export control laws when it otherwise would not be.]

We note that both ITAR and EAR have carve-outs to protect publicly-disclosed information from their regulations. These are at Title 22, section 120, subsection 34 and Title 15, chapter VIII, sections 734.7 and 734.8 of the United States Code. This protection applies to the Post-Open Collection, since it is published [We intend to publish the Post Open Collection as a periodical, and deposit each edition in the United States Library of Congress.], information in the public domain (in a trade-secret rather than a copyright sense), or the result of fundamental research, as specified in those sections. Those carve-outs are protective of work that may be listed as a munition or otherwise controlled under export control law but also has peaceful use.

Final

A version of a document that is intended for use. It may have been subject to editing, approval (possibly by a large community) and review and revision by legal professionals. If it is a legal document, a Final version is approved, subject to its own terms, for use as the terms of, or inclusion by reference in, a license or legal agreement. Draft is the opposite of Final.

Force Majeure

A Party affected by Force Majeure will not assume any liability under these terms. However, subject to the Party affected by Force Majeure having taken its reasonable and practicable efforts to perform these terms, the Party claiming for exemption of the liabilities may only be exempted from performing such liability as within limitation of the part performance delayed or prevented by Force Majeure. Once causes for such exemption of liabilities are rectified and remedied, all parties agree to resume performance of these terms with their best efforts. [This text comes from a list of examples at https://afterpattern.com/clauses/force-majeure , but we don't have any other information regarding its origin.]

Grant of Permissions

The grant in the Post Open License, currently with the title "GRANT OF RIGHTS" [This will be changed to Grant of Permissions], which grants permission to perform some acts which otherwise would be restricted by copyright, moral rights, and other law.

Machine Learning Model

A computational program or device that makes use of data to influence its future logical operations, with or without inclusion of that data textually or in any recognizable form. Other names for Machine Learning Model are artificial intelligence (abbreviated "AI"), and large language model.

Modification

1. Any alteration or transformation of the WORK other than Compilation (Meaning 1).
2. The combination or inclusion of the Work or any portion of it with another work other than through a Public Interface or Aggregation, such that the two works are combined into a single program or application, regardless of the means of such combination or inclusion, whether or not such combination or inclusion is considered the creation of a derivative work under copyright and moral rights law. For example, dynamic linking, or the provision of a program through any interface that is integrated into a second program, such that the functionality of the first program is added to the combination of both programs. Aggregation is not Modification.
3. Production of a work with the purpose of producing a Modification, even when the modification is done remotely, or at a later date, or where there is no attribution indicating a Modification. For example: producing a file to be provided to the "patch" utility to cause the production of an altered version of the Work; producing a program that modifies the Work; Training of a Machine Learning Model with the Source Code or any transformation of the Work so that the Machine Learning Model may later produce any output which is influenced by that input.
4. Production of a Shim.

Post Open Administration

The entity which, through the Post Open Operating Agreement with all of the Contributors of works in the Post Open Collection, manages the Post Open project and may represent itself and any of those Contributors in certain lawsuits, including (but not limited to) copyright infringement and breach of contract.

[The Post Open Administration maintains a web site at https://postopen.org/ with current information on how to contact it, the canonical and most up-to-date copies of these agreements, an online copy of the Post Open Collection, and other data.]

Post Open Code of Conduct

The document at https://postopen.org/documents/code-of-conduct . It is a set of required behavior standards for members of the Post Open project and its management, and the procedures for handling violations of those standards. Besides issues of conduct, speech, and action, it spells out in detail how handicapped persons are to be accommodated. The document is generalized so that it can be used by multiple projects and organizations.

Post Open Collection

A compilation of Works distributed by the Post Open Administration, all of which are under the Post Open License. Each Work is a Contribution.

Post Open Definitions

The document at DEFINITIONS.html, it contains definitions for all of the legal documents of the Post Open project. External definitions are specified the the definition of US English.

Post Open General Conditions

The document at GENERAL_CONDITIONS.html, it contains terms applicable to multiple legal documents of the Post Open project, and is included by reference in those documents.

Post Open ID

A datum in the form of an email address, provided by the Post Open Administration, which is used for identification, including identifying the Contributor of a Work; to provide access to computing facilities, and for email. The Post Open Operating Agreement includes significant terms regarding the proper use and handling of a Post Open ID.

Technically, it is an email address as specified in IETF RFC 5322. Post Open IDs may contain ASCII and UTF-8 in the local portion (this is RFC 5322 parlance for the part before the "@"). The period (".") is used to separate first, middle (if present), and last names. The underbar ("_") is used to indicate when parts of a name are two separate words, for example: "von_Neumann". Other information connected to the name, for example an honorific, indication of an academic degree, a nickname, or an Amateur Radio callsign may be included in a "display name" datum associated with the Post Open ID, but not the ID itself.

The domain name portion must always be "postopen.org" in ASCII.

Combined IDs specifying a Beneficiary include the Post Open ID without the "@postopen.org", portion, a "+" sign, and the the Beneficiary Post Open ID. for example John.von_Castell-O'[email protected] .

Post Open License

The document at http://postopen.org/documents/license . It grants permissions and specifies obligations for users of Works in the Post Open Collection.

Post Open Operating Agreement

The document at OPERATING.html . It specifies the relationship between all Contributors and the Post Open Administration, including (but not limited to) how they can be paid, and how they make their Contributions to the Post Open Collection.

Public Interface

An interface that is part of a fundamental purpose of the work to provide services to other works without those works becoming Modifications or causing the combination of works. For example, the command-line processor in a command-line program, the input of a language interpreter which processes the intended language, the HTTP interface of a web browser, or the system call interface of an operating system kernel. The fundamental nature of the interface within the work is important. A developer may not unilaterally add a Public Interface to an existing program or remove such an interface without the agreement of the other Contributors. The simple existence of an API does not automatically make that API a Public Interface. Public Interfaces means one or more of a Public Interface. Where it could be unclear, the declaration of a public interface, or that a particular interface is not a public interface, may be stated in the CONTACT.txt file.

Remediation Process

The process by which an infringer of one or more Works in the Post Open Collection remediates that infringement and comes back into compliance with the Post Open License. These terms are to be written, but include at least explicit consent to the Post Open License, including (but not limited to) any responsibility for future payment.

Remuneration

The collection of Revenue in exchange for something, regardless of whether an action is performed directly by You or on Your behalf. This includes (but is not limited to) be payment for a service (for example Software as a Service), for rights or privileges for example a software license, or property (for example an Embedded System).

Restricted Rights

Any rights regarding the WORK that are protected by copyright, patent, or moral rights law; and additionally any acts which are specifically restricted or granted by these terms; with this exception: you may perform the actions necessary to examine the Post Open License, the Post Open Definitions and the CONTACT.txt file and provide them to others to examine, however you must not take advantage of other files revealed by those actions.

Restricted Rights include (but are not limited to) ephemeral, non-literal, or other copying; reading or examining the Work other than to read the Post Open License the Post Open Definitions and the CONTACT.txt file; use, redistribution, modification, performance of the Work, Training of a Machine Learning Model with Source Code or any transformation of the Work. and exercise of any of the aforestated rights or acts upon a Machine Learning Model Trained thusly.

Revenue

All money collected and the monetary equivalent of any non-monetary value collected, including (but not limited to) taxation, donations, grants, bequests, property, barter, a non-government currency (for example cryptocurrency), a valuable negotiable instrument (for example stock), a legal instrument (for example a deed), the grant of rights or privileges. Where there are payments between different legal entities constituting YOU, these amounts are to be subtracted from Revenue of the payee such that they will be counted as Revenue to You once.

Where there is ambiguity regarding equivalence in value, currency exchange rates regarding Revenue are to be calculated according to the last report of the United States Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange (established by Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2363, Subsection b) released on or before the end-date of your fiscal Year. [Currently at https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/treasury-reporting-rates-exchange/treasury-reporting-rates-of-exchange We are aware of the differences in official and unofficial currency exchange rates, we selected one source to reduce the potential for dispute.]

Shim

An adaptation of a Public Interface or any other part of the Work to a different interface, which may have the effect of circumventing these terms, even if it has another technical purpose. Shims is the plural of Shim.

Small Capital Letters

A font variation used to point out defined terms, it is rendered This Way. [Pop-up definitions of defined terms are available in the web version of this document. An equivalent facility is provided for visually-impaired users, and visually-impaired users are provided the ability to disable the pop-ups if they are troublesome. Some of these facilities are provided using JavaScript. If Javascript is disabled, links to the definitions of defined terms are present.]

Software as a Service

1. The performance of one or more Works in the Post Open Collection for Revenue.
2. The provision of a computing facility for Revenue, when that facility is specifically equipped to perform one or more Works in the Post Open Collection.

Source Code

The human-readable, unobfuscated and preferred form of a work for modification. In the case of a compiled or interpreted computer language, this would be the language used as input to the compiler or interpreter. Compiled software is derivative of its Source Code. A Machine Learning Model Trained with Source Code is derivative of that Source Code.

Termination

The immediate discontinuation of Your Grant of Permissions to all works in the Post Open Collection but all other terms continue to apply and Your consent to these terms survives Termination. Termination is never ended automatically, or simply by the cure of the condition causing Termination. You must enter into the Remediation Process and successfully complete that process to cure Termination. Terminates is the act or past-tense of Termination.

Train

To input data for the purpose of producing or improving a Machine Learning Model. Trained is the past tense of Train.

US English

The dialect of the human language English commonly used in legal documents in the United States, with terms defined by the LexPredict Legal Dictionary [currently at https://github.com/LexPredict/lexpredict-legal-dictionary . That dictionary is under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 license]. The version of that dictionary to be used is the last version released by the LexPredict project before the release of the applicable version of these terms by the Post Open Administration. Where a definition is absent in the above reference, or where definitions conflict, the parties may agree upon a definition, or the court or arbitrator will determine the applicable definition.

Voting Member

A living natural person with contractual capacity, who has gone through the process of being identified, is a party to the Post Open Operating Agreement, and has made Contributions of more than 20,000 lines of human-written source code or documentation, counted using an algorithm provided by the Post Open Administration. or another body of work judged equivalent to such a contribution by the Post Open Administration, for example graphical illustration or electronic schematics. Translations of human or computing languages, tables and other code and documentation that can be generated without human effort are to be identified correctly as such using the appropriate Post Open ID and are not to be considered for this count.

Work

A computer program, data, or other information; or portion thereof, to which the terms of the Post Open License are applied by one or more Contributors, any derivative of the Work under copyright or moral rights law, any Modification of the Work, any transformation of the Work (for example Compilation [Meaning 1], text processing, non-literal copying), any work which has the intended use of producing a Modification (for example a text produced as input to the patch program), any work combining or incorporating the Work other than through its Public Interfaces, any work which creates a new Public Interfaces for the Work, including through its Public Interfaces (for example, adding a graphical user interface means of using the Work when the work is a command-line program, or adding a web service interface to the work when the work is a command-line program); or a Machine Learning Model Trained with the Source Code or any transformation of the Work are all considered to be the Work. For example: a compiled program; a modified program; a program, system or device containing the Work; a program produced by connecting another program and the Work together except through a Public Interface a version of the Work translated to a different computer language; a version of the texts of the Work translated to another human language;

Working Note

Text contained within angle brackets ("<" and ">") is a Working Note, and is not intended to be present within a Final version of these terms. Working notes are of relevance to the terms authors only, and will have no effect. <This is an example of a working note.>

Year

Your fiscal year which is accepted by Your national tax authority and which You routinely use for accounting purposes, otherwise the first day of January through the last day day of December of the Julian calendar in Your time zone.

You

The maximal group of related legal entities as specified below:

1. The entity exercising Restricted Rights under Post Open License.
2. The entity entering into, or having entered, the Post Open Operating Agreement.
3. An entity with power of attorney or legal responsibility for the entity of subsections a or b, when the entity of subsection a or b does not have contractual capacity or when their civil rights have been abridged. [Contractual capacity is the legal ability to enter into a binding contract. The entity of subsection a or b might be a legal minor, a mentally ill or mentally disabled person, or an incarcerated person. The entity of subsection b might be a parent or guardian, a family member or other person who the party of subsection a has granted a written power of attorney, a court-ordered conservator, a lawyer, or a correctional official.]
4. Any other entity, when the entity of subsection a exercises Restricted Rights on their behalf, directly or through other entities.
5. Any other entity in which the entity of subsection a exercises significant control or ownership, directly or through other entities, and receives benefit from those entities exercise of Restricted Rights.
6. Any other entity which exercises significant control or ownership of the entity of subsection a directly or through other entities, and receives benefit from those entities exercise of Restricted Rights This includes (but is not limited to) the national branch of a local entity.

[This is meant to pierce the corporate veil, where allowable, and to properly classify that many small local entities of a deep-pockets worldwide organization belong under the Post Open License as an aggregate.]

Where the above definition contains multiple legal entities, all are subject to these terms, including the sections regarding Termination. This is to avoid the situation in which a company or companies create a legal entity specifically for the purpose of entering into these terms while insulating other parts of the company, or some asset, from their effect. [One example is an entity that we believe Qualcom created to make contributions to Open Source without exposing their patents to terms in the GPL and other Open Source licenses.]

Your is the possessive or adjective form of You. Yours is the second-person possessive pronoun form of You.