# HG changeset patch # User Mychaela Falconia # Date 1586896000 0 # Node ID d78986760e92ff78469c6b0cba450b563ae0bbda # Parent 049091077b514bee815c21f6a95a2eb45dd1fdb2 LICENSE: new terms diff -r 049091077b51 -r d78986760e92 LICENSE --- a/LICENSE Sat Feb 15 20:58:01 2020 +0000 +++ b/LICENSE Tue Apr 14 20:26:40 2020 +0000 @@ -1,43 +1,260 @@ +Copyright status of code +======================== + +Every current FreeCalypso GSM firmware offering consists of two subdivisions +of code with different ownership: + +1) All FreeCalypso GSM firmware offerings are based on TCS211 and TCS3.2 GSM + firmware deliveries from TI. + +2) Every FreeCalypso GSM firmware offering also contains highly significant + new code developed in the context of FreeCalypso by Mother Mychaela; these + value-added changes and new developments which differentiate FreeCalypso + from TI's original are highly significant, these changes and additions are + what makes our FreeCalypso GSM firmwares valuable and practically usable + unlike the fragmented bits and pieces of TI's original code found on the + Internet, and we (FreeCalypso) shall vigorously pursue every available form + of Intellectual Property protection in defending our rightful interest in + these value-added new developments. + +All FreeCalypso GSM firmware offerings constitute Derivative Works under U.S. +copyright law, derived from previous works that were produced and copyrighted +by TI, but also containing highly significant original work that is deserving +of copyright protection. + +The present version of this LICENSE file supercedes any previous versions that +may have been committed into this Mercurial version control repository at any +time in the past. Anyone who downloads or clones code from this Mercurial +source repository after the posting date of this LICENSE notice must agree to +the terms of this license, even if you choose to work with an older version of +the actual code. If you do not agree with this license, then you have no right +to download or use our code at all. + +Portions of code taken from TI +============================== + +All TI-owned code that has been incorporated into FreeCalypso originates from +the following four sources in this order of importance, from most to least +significant: + +a) TCS211 firmware semi-src (partial source + objects) delivery dated + 2007-06-08; + +b) TCS3.2_N5.24_M18_V1.11_M23BTH_PSL1_src.zip LoCosto firmware delivery dated + 2009-03-27; + +c) Fragments of TCS211 firmware source contained in the MV100-0.1.rar Internet + find, dated 2004-07-02 or earlier; + +d) Bits of Layer1 code from the TSM30 source published by HispaPhreak in 2004, + dated 2003-11-06 or earlier. + +All of this code is presumed to be copyrighted by Texas Instruments (TI), with +a copyright year of 2009 or earlier. + +Because TI no longer provides any support for their discontinued GSM baseband +chips or for their associated firmware, the exact licensing terms for their +code are unclear. We (FreeCalypso) have repeatedly reached out to TI over the +years, explaining in our letters to TI exactly what we are doing with their old +code and asking for licensing clarification, but never received any response. + +In the absence of any communication from TI telling us otherwise, we operate on +the assumption that the license terms applicable to the code we are using from +TI are the same as customary in the semiconductor device industry as a whole. +It is customary in the industry for makers of many complex integrated circuit +(IC) chips to also produce specialized firmware that is required in order to +use these chips effectively; if any given semiconductor device company X is +primarily in the business of making and selling IC chips and provides firmware +solely as an accessory to those chips rather than as a product in its own right, +then the following license terms are generally customary for all such firmware +articles throughout the industry: + +* Because the firmware is a required accessory for making use of the chips and + because the chips rather than the firmware are the revenue-generating product, + IC chip makers almost universally license their firmware under terms that + allow unlimited use of the firmware FOR AS LONG AS that firmware is used + together with chips bought from the company, and not otherwise. + +* It is generally considered severe misuse and likely copyright infringement or + IP theft to take some company's firmware and use it WITHOUT buying the + original chips for which that firmware was made. + +Back to FreeCalypso and TI, we (FreeCalypso) use TI's code ONLY by way of +running it on genuine TI-made Calypso chips which we buy on various IC surplus +markets. Even though these chips were originally made by TI decades ago and TI +has likely lost all institutional memory of them, the fact remains that at some +point in the distant past these chips were legitimately sold by and bought from +TI, with all subsequent transfers of ownership falling under the first-sale +doctrine. When these chips were first sold by TI decades ago, they were +accompanied by a license for the associated firmware to be used together with +the chips, and we make the argument that because the firmware is a required +accessory for using the chips and has been so from the beginning, as the +ownership of our TI-made chips passed down the chain, the license to the +associated firmware rides along with the physical chips, following the same +first-sale doctrine. + +We (FreeCalypso) absolutely do not condone or encourage anyone to use TI's +firmware without TI-made chips, and we never engage in any such misuse +ourselves. Anyone who attempts to port TI's firmware to some non-TI chipset +platform or otherwise use it without TI-made chips will very likely be +infringing on TI's copyright, as TI had developed the firmware solely for use +together with their chips, and use without TI-made chips would constitute theft +of their work. We shall not provide any assistance whatsoever to anyone +seeking to port the present firmware to a non-TI chipset or to an SDR setup or +any other arrangement that is not firmly cemented around TI-made Calypso chips, +as doing so would almost certainly go against TI's reasonable rights. + +Because we use TI's code only by way of running it on genuine TI-made Calypso +chips, in the absence of TI telling us otherwise, we have every good reason to +believe that our manner of using TI's firmware code is fully consistent with +TI's original intent in the way it was developed and licensed, and is therefore +fully lawful and not infringing in any way. + FreeCalypso original work ========================= -The present FreeCalypso firmware is a derived work based on TI's TCS211 and -TCS3.2 firmwares. However, even though it is based on these two starting points -from TI, our FreeCalypso fw is a software product in its own right, and is NOT -merely a "hacked" copy of some TI firmware. The particular way in which we have -combined and integrated pieces from TCS211 and from TCS3.2 to produce our -TCS2/TCS3 hybrid, our meticulous source reconstruction of TCS211 L1 that -originally came in binary object form, our completely new and original firmware -configuration and build system, all of our new code that supports new board- -level hardware targets that use TI chips but aren't TI's historical development -boards, and all other significant new developments made in FreeCalypso -constitute our own original work. +All code we got from TI dates from 2009 or earlier; absolutely no activity by +any party took place between 2009 and 2013, and all new development from 2013 +onward is original to FreeCalypso. All changes and additions to TI's code base +that have been made within the context of FreeCalypso from 2013 to the present +are the work of Mother Mychaela Nadezhda Falconia and are copyrighted as such: + +Copyright (C) Mychaela N. Falconia, 2013-2020, All rights reserved + +Changes and additions falling under Falconia copyright include all of the +following: + +* The novel and innovative way in which components from TI's TCS211 and TCS3.2 + firmwares have been stitched together in order to produce our signature + TCS2/TCS3 hybrid (resulting in firmware that runs on Calypso rather than + LoCosto, yet at the same time is fully recompilable from source) is hereby + claimed to be sufficiently creative and original to be deserving of copyright + protection in the 17 USC 101 definition of a "compilation". + +* All instances of translation from disassembly to C (producing recompilable C + code that replaces components which were previously available only as linkable + binary objects) are Mother Mychaela's creative work falling under Falconia + copyright. This category critically includes the tpudrv12.c time-based RF + driver and the OSL and OSX components of GPF. + +* All changes for compiling with a GNU gcc+binutils toolchain instead of TI's + TMS470 compiler, included in FC Citrine, FC Selenite and future FC firmwares. + These changes include newly written assembly code and linker scripts. + +* All FreeCalypso firmware configuration and build systems are original to + Falconia and do not originate from TI at all. This category includes the + Makefile hierarchy and Bourne shell code in FC Citrine, the Bourne shell-based + Makefile generation system of FC Magnetite, and all future FC firmware + configuration and build systems based on these two. -All original work in FreeCalypso that is not directly traceable to some -historical TI code component has been written by Mother Mychaela Nadezhda -Falconia, and I refuse to claim copyright on this software work. I hereby -immediately place this work in the public domain; it may be used, copied, -distorted or destroyed in any manner whatsoever without further attribution -or notice to the creator. +* All conditional compilation changes that make it possible to build our + firmwares for various Calypso targets, both new and historical, that are not + Openmoko GTA01 or GTA02 modems. + +* The quite-different-from-TI FFS configuration in FC Citrine, including the + FFS-in-RAM trick that is original to FreeCalypso. + +* All support for newer (post-TI) flash chips in FC Magnetite, FC Selenite and + all future FC firmwares based on the Magnetite/Selenite line. + +* The mechanism for passing AT commands and responses over the RVTMUX interface + is novel and original to FreeCalypso, likewise falling under Falconia + copyright. + +* FreeCalypso-added AT@VPATH and AT@VSEL mechanisms for using the Calypso chip's + MCSI digital voice interface for purposes other than just Bluetooth. + +* All other changes and additions to TI's code base that have been implemented + in FreeCalypso since 2013 and through the present. + +License terms +============= + +For all FreeCalypso GSM firmware offerings that contain Falconia-copyrighted +code and other changes and additions that fall under Falconia copyright, the +following three (3) modes of usage are allowed without requiring any license +fee payment: + +1) Using FreeCalypso GSM firmware on Falconia-made FreeCalypso hardware: those + who purchase FreeCalypso hardware products (board-level hardware) from + Falconia Partners LLC, as well as any downstream possessors of these physical + products under the first-sale doctrine, are hereby given a license to use all + of our FreeCalypso firmware versions *on that Falconia-made hardware* for any + purpose whatsoever, without restrictions on commercial usage, including the + right to make any arbitrary modifications of your choosing to our code base, + for as long as our firmware or any derivative works based on our firmware are + used ONLY on Falconia-made hardware units. -Code pieces from TI -=================== +2) End user usage: in the case of those firmware configurations for which + official binary end user releases are provided, downloading prebuilt + official binary firmware images from freecalypso.org and installing them on + the hardware they are intended for, including hardware models produced by + manufacturers other than Falconia, is always permitted without any further + conditions or restrictions. Please note that this permission applies ONLY + to official FreeCalypso firmware releases; if you make any changes of your + own to our firmware, then this permission no longer applies - instead you + would need to qualify under one of the other two permissions. + +3) Non-commercial hobbyist tinkerer usage: personal hobbyists, tinkerers and + enthusiasts are allowed and encouraged to play with our firmware as much as + they like, including running the firmware on whatever hardware you like and + making whatever modifications you like, as long as your usage is strictly + non-commercial. Users in this category are considered to be peers and equal + colleagues to the Mother, and will be given the warmest welcome in the + FreeCalypso community. Any TI lorekeepers are included in this category and + are most especially welcome. + +Restrictions on commercial usage +================================ + +There is one specific form of usage which is expressly prohibited without +payment of a license fee: namely, for-profit commercial usage of FreeCalypso +GSM firmware on non-Falconia-made hardware that does not fit under end user +usage permission as defined above. Anyone who creates a derivative work based +on FreeCalypso GSM fw, modified in ways which are not endorsed or approved of +in any way by the Mother, and then uses that FreeCalypso-based derivative work +as part of a purely commercial for-profit venture or enterprise must either buy +FreeCalypso hardware from Falconia Partners LLC and limit their commercial use +of FreeCalypso-based derivative works to just that Falconia-made hardware, or +buy a commercial license (for a to-be-negotiated price depending on the exact +nature of your commercial usage) from copyright holder Mychaela N. Falconia, +allowing commercial use on non-Falconia-made hardware. Doing otherwise +constitutes severe infringement on Mother Mychaela's copyright. -In the case of those code components which originate from TI, we did not get -them *from* TI per se, instead we have found them freely on the Internet. I, -Mother Mychaela, have made multiple attempts to reach out to TI, informing them -about the existence of our FreeCalypso family of projects and what I am doing -with their old abandoned software IP. I was not able to get any positive -response from them in the form of support or help with obtaining those pieces -of historical code and documentation which are still missing, but they have not -taken any adverse action against us either; specifically, they never said -explicitly that they object to what I am doing (producing and freely -distributing my own Derived Works based on their abandonware IP), and they -never asked me to stop doing so. +No part of Mother Mychaela's FreeCalypso family of projects has *ever* been +intended to serve as a free giveaway or handout of tools or software components +or any other materials to for-profit commercial entities, instead the ONLY +parties to whom I (copyright holder Mychaela N. Falconia) grant permission to +use my software and firmware on a "gift" basis (not requiring purchase of my +hardware or a license fee payment in lieu thereof) are personal hobbyist +tinkerers and end users as defined in the previous section. It is my natural +right as the author of a highly creative work of many years to decide who gets +to use it for free and who does not, and in my capacity as the rightful +copyright holder I deem it so that if you use my work as part of any commercial +for-profit venture or enterprise that does not provide any value or benefit +whatsoever to what _I_ define as the FreeCalypso community, then I am legally +entitled in my capacity as the copyright holder to require payment for such +peculiar use of my creative work. + +Redistribution and derivative works +=================================== -Based on the fact that TI have chosen to not take any action against our family -of projects despite being fully informed and having been given multiple -opportunities to do so over the course of many years, we hereby make the -reasonable conclusion that TI do not object to us using their fully abandoned -and discontinued IP as if it were Free Software, and I, Mother Mychaela, shall -continue doing the same for as long as I am alive and physically able. +For as long as I (Mother Mychaela) am alive, for as long as I contunue to +actively serve in my current position as the Mother of FreeCalypso, and for as +long as the official FreeCalypso source code repositories at freecalypso.org +remain up and publicly serving, reposting or redistribution of FreeCalypso GSM +firmware source code via any other Internet sites is NOT permitted. Unaltered +official binary firmware release images downloaded from freecalypso.org may be +freely redistributed in any medium without restrictions. + +As far as derivative works go, the only parties who may legally produce such +derivative works under the terms of the present license without payment of a +commercial license fee are either non-commercial personal hobbyist tinkerers or +lawful owners of Falconia-made FreeCalypso hardware devices. If you have made +some modifications of your own to FreeCalypso GSM firmware and have done so on +a strictly non-commercial basis, i.e., NOT in connection with any kind of +for-profit venture or enterprise, and you would like to share your modified +version with other non-commercial hobbyists, enthusiasts or tinkerers, then I +am very much open to such sharing, but you MUST contact me first to work out +the details. This contact requirement is unfortunately necessary in order to +deter predatory and exploitative for-profit commercial misuses of the work.