ISC license

Publisher	Internet Systems Consortium
SPDX identifier	ISC
Debian FSG compatible	Yes[1]
FSFapproved	Yes[2]
OSIapproved	Yes[3]
GPL compatible	Yes[2]
Copyleft	No[2]
Linking from code with a different licence	Yes
Website	www.isc.org/licenses/

TheISC license is apermissive free software license published by the Internet Software Consortium, now calledInternet Systems Consortium (ISC). It is functionally equivalent to thesimplified BSD andMIT licenses, but without language deemed unnecessary following theBerne Convention.^{[nb 1][nb 2]}

Originally used for ISC software such asBIND anddig, it has become the preferred license for contributions toOpenBSD^[6] and the default license fornpm packages.^[7] The ISC license is also used forLinux wireless drivers contributed byQualcomm Atheros,^[8] as well as by theLV2 plugin system.^[9]

ISC LicenseCopyright <YEAR> <OWNER>Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

— ^[10][11]

When initially released, the license did not include the term "and/or", which was changed from "and" by ISC in 2007.^[12]Paul Vixie stated on the BIND mailing list that the ISC license started using the term "and/or" to avoid controversy similar to the events surrounding theUniversity of Washington's refusal to allow distribution of thePine email software.^[12] Both versions of the license are compatible with theGNU GPL.^[2]

The OpenBSD project began using the ISC license in 2003, before the 2007 addition of the term "and/or" to the license.^[13]

Copyright (c) YYYY YOUR-NAME-HERE <user@your.dom.ain>Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for anypurpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the abovecopyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIESWITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OFMERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FORANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGESWHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN ANACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OFOR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

— ^[6]

Theo de Raadt of OpenBSD chose to retain the original wording, stating that he "disagrees with what ISC did" and is "not confident that their change is good" because "some country's legal systems might not understand 'and/or' in the way the old 'or' was used in the sentence".^[5]

In 2015, ISC announced they would release theirKeaDHCP Software under theMozilla Public License 2.0, stating, "There is no longer a good reason for ISC to have its own license, separate from everything else".^[14] They also preferred a copyleft license, stating, "If a company uses our software but improves it, we really want those improvements to go back into the master source". Throughout the following years, they re-licensed allISC-hosted software, including BIND in 2016^[15] and ISC DHCP Server in 2017.^[16]

The Publications Office of the European Union advises using the MIT license instead of the ISC License in order to reducelicense proliferation.^[17]

The GNU project states the inclusion of "and/or" still allows the license to be interpreted as prohibiting distribution of modified versions. Although they state there is no reason to avoid software released under this license, they advise against using the license to keep the problematic language from causing trouble in the future.^[18]

• Comparison of free and open-source software licenses
• Software using the ISC license

• Internet Systems Consortium's License Text
• License template at the Open Source Initiative

• Free and open-source software licenses
• Permissive software licenses

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