The GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) is an important tool for
protecting user freedom on the network. Detractors have criticized it
for being both too weak and too strong/demanding. In 2018, it was in
the news more than ever. Are the interests of corporations that are
afraid of their free code being turned into network services run by
competitors starting to align with users losing their freedom to such
services? Historically, the AGPL has been the target of criticism from entities
that want to extinguish it. Some companies have banned it from their
premises, sowed fear about how it operates, and propagated a myth that
nobody is using it.
Others claim that the AGPL is being used primarily by companies
seeking to strong-arm downstream users into purchasing a proprietary
version of the covered software -- by catching those users being out
of compliance with the AGPL, and telling them that they must buy the
software under a proprietary license to avoid being taken to court for
copyright infringement.
A third group of companies is now claiming that the AGPL doesn't go
far enough to protect their software against being turned into
services that deny users freedom -- though freedom may not be their
primary concern.
In fact, the AGPL is being used today by a variety of interesting and
important projects, including ones started by governments, nonprofits,
and even businesses. I'll highlight some illustrative examples. I'll
also do my best to separate understandable concerns that people have
about using the AGPL from attacks on user freedom masquerading as
concerns, and see if there is any synergy between the concerns of the
third group above and those of individual users.
While not a full solution to the problems raised when users replace
software running on their own machines with software running on
someone else's machine, the AGPL is a tool that is being embraced and
should be embraced even more. |