It looks like we're back at some Open Source Licensing-like schema : an implementer should only be able to "extend" an open protocol if its extensions are themselves open !
I'm not sure how it can be done legally binding... Maybe with IP on the protocol himself (as a technology) or with TradeMark (any reference to the protocol is forbidden without strong conformance to the protocol). OSS really need to level up the legal game
Things like these are a liability for open source volunteers. I wouldn't want to volunteer in open source for no payment if I could be sued for changing anything. It needs to define open. Are third party captchas open? Is requiring facebook account open? Is closed AI based spam control open?
Actually, it would be exactly the same as some kind of (viral) Apache Licence: you can extend the protocol ONLY if your extension is open source too
It already worked (more or less) for software... why wouldn't it work for open protocol ? And it would avoid the "embrasse, extend, extinct" strategy used by Microsoft or Google to transform an open protocol into a closed proprietary using extension and the size of their user base...
I am not sure open source licenses would help, because the value of various platform came more from the data that they run with, and not so much the code. Especially with the increase use of AI, where there is a lot of value in the models, and those are not necessarily subject to redistribution clauses of open source licenses.
And if there were a license that says "you must also share all your data", it would imply compliant services can not hold private data, which makes it undesirable to companies and users alike.
Because it doesn't really make any sense. I can make my software compatible with yours completely against your will, and I can extend my software as I wish.
I'm not sure how it can be done legally binding... Maybe with IP on the protocol himself (as a technology) or with TradeMark (any reference to the protocol is forbidden without strong conformance to the protocol). OSS really need to level up the legal game