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What The New GPL Means For Enterprise IT: Page 2 of 3

No Web Services Clause
Early drafts of GPLv3 had included an optional clause requiring that networked applications make their source code available to remote users. This has now been removed, thanks to concerns that it placed an undue burden on developers and users. Though intended to ensure that customers who obtain software as a service have the same rights as those who get it as binaries, it could potentially have had a much wider impact.

The clause was only ever an option, so it probably wouldn't have affected regular Linux servers. However, its absence should make server administrators' lives easier, as it means that any GPL program can be freely used without having to check whether any of it is covered by the extra requirement.

The goal of source code for SaaS users hasn't been abandoned altogether, though. The FSF still endorses the Affero
license
, which is based on the GPL but includes the extra clause. It is likely to appeal to vendors who have a dual-licensing strategy, as it gives their service provider customers a fairly strong incentive to pay up for a commercial license rather than use the open source version.

Limitations On DRM
The most controversial provisions of GPLv3 deal with digital rights management. The new GPL doesn't forbid DRM, but does limit it in two important ways.

The first is a statement that DRM based on GPL code does not constitute an "effective technological measure." This is intended to ensure that breaking the GPL-based DRM is not illegal under the DMCA and similar laws that criminalize reverse-engineering of DRM systems. This is aimed mostly at consumer applications, but could also benefit enterprise users if it prevents DRM from being used to restrict interoperability.