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Vicidial Licensing

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 3:39 pm
by voipvip
Can any body let me know what it takes to have vicidial application branded on a company name?

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:21 pm
by mflorell
Could you be a little more specific?

Anyone can change the name that appears on the pages from VICIDIAL to anything else. However, the GPL license must still be in effect and the disclaimers and copyright notices must stay in the code.

hello guys

PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:31 am
by akib
i have modified vicidial in all way
lyk in
look
added billing module
added outbound IVR
so can i sell it as my own product by taking licensing fee

PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 5:23 am
by mflorell
akib- you cannot charge a license fee for ViciDial or the alterations you have made to the ViciDial code. And if you alter the code of ViciDial in any way for a client you HAVE TO release the code.

You can charge licensing for separate applications you have developed.

Outbound IVR is already built into ViciDial as of 2.0.5.

PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:46 am
by akib
so i can charge for billing module
n other module n do i have to release source code& iwould like to ask u one more thng tht the people who rebranded vicidial
& are charging per agent for it wht abt them

PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:57 am
by Op3r
then what they are doing is kinda wrong akib.

Tell matt who are the people charging on per agent fee.

PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:37 am
by mflorell
You can charge for your billing solution if it is not integrated into the code of ViciDial.

As for people charging per seat, they can only do this if it is a hosted service, not for an on-site install. Also, they too must release any changes they have made to the code.

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 12:08 pm
by d0rk
There's one company in the Philippines that's charging per seat to their customers and they are one of the Authorized Partners of Vicidial. The Company is Next I.X., inc.

SHAME ON THEM! :x

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:44 pm
by gardo
There's nothing wrong charging on a per seat basis (as stated in the GPL). That's their business model. Here's a snippet from the GPL:

When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for them if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs, and that you know you can do these things.

To protect your rights, we need to prevent others from denying you these rights or asking you to surrender the rights. Therefore, you have certain responsibilities if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it: responsibilities to respect the freedom of others.

For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must pass on to the recipients the same freedoms that you received. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.


Based from the statement above, it really doesn't matter if you charge per seat or on a per project basis. As long as they don't claim that the software their using is theirs nothing is being violated.

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:37 pm
by d0rk
Oh really? :D So everybody here can charge per seat as long as you give the source code to the customer. Am I right?

I know a center that uses NextIX system "Vicidial" :roll: and they didn't receive any source code from the said company.

Im really confused. Matt the Creator of Vicidial said that its wrong to charge per seat but Gardo the Creator of VicidialNOW said that its ok to charge per seat. :shock:

PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:18 am
by gardo
It's all about the GPL and not who's the creator of what software and system.

I'm saying that there's nothing illegal with charging on a per seat basis since that's their business model. Other companies have different marketing strategies and business models.

The center that uses NextIX system's "Vicidial" can ask for the source code from NextIX itself. They are bounded by the GPL since they're using Vicidial.

PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:02 pm
by ykhan
The basis is that if you charge for anything, it should be services rendered and not the application, i.e. you can charge for a per seat installation as long as you are charging for the services you provide in installing etc.

Matt and other moderators, correct me if I am wrong, but since the applciation runs in a web based environment, I don't really think its possible not to provide a client the source code.

I believe its just unethical to go to a client ans say that you can give them a dialing solution and call it your own just to charge exorbitant amounts of money for it.

PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:47 pm
by gardo
You can charge them for the software itself or for anything else. Check the snippet from the GPL above.

ykhan wrote:The basis is that if you charge for anything, it should be services rendered and not the application, i.e. you can charge for a per seat installation as long as you are charging for the services you provide in installing etc.

Matt and other moderators, correct me if I am wrong, but since the applciation runs in a web based environment, I don't really think its possible not to provide a client the source code.

I believe its just unethical to go to a client ans say that you can give them a dialing solution and call it your own just to charge exorbitant amounts of money for it.

PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:54 pm
by gmcust3
Can someone change the Vicidial Logo to ABC , keeping all and everything same ?

PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:04 pm
by gardo
Short answer. Yes.

Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for them if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs, and that you know you can do these things.

To protect your rights, we need to prevent others from denying you these rights or asking you to surrender the rights. Therefore, you have certain responsibilities if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it: responsibilities to respect the freedom of others.

For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must pass on to the recipients the same freedoms that you received. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.




gmcust3 wrote:Can someone change the Vicidial Logo to ABC , keeping all and everything same ?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:00 am
by williamconley
The way I read that, and *i'm not a laywer or a judge*, you CAN change it, but you have to give the client the original source code and your changes if it released under the quoted GPL. Which means, they'll know it was Vicidial. They'll know you made changes to it so it's not ORIGINAL Vicidial any more.

Also, as an extension, Vicidial will get the credit and copyrights for THAT CODE, and you will get the credit and copyrights for YOURS (or the changes you made to theirs).

Each reputation being separate in case there's a problem with either set of code, the reputation and copyrights are maintained by those who own them, and the blame (or kudos) land on the right heads.

You don't get to claim you wrote it (or imply it), except for the sections you DID write.

And you are required to "pass on" the Rights (pricing is not a right, that is COMPLETELY separate and not regulated). You are required to pass on this "Freedom" (they get to do to YOUR software just like you got to do to Vicidial, that is distribute it FREE if they choose, or for a Fee, and either modified or otherwise, you can't stop that, just require that all your original code and the GPL is available to the NEXT recipient as well).

This would apply, of course, ONLY to the changes made to Vicidial. If you have a completely new module (new files) not actually part of Vicidial, that could be a different story and handled differently.

PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:20 am
by mflorell
One more point to mention, from version 2.0.5 and up the license is now the AGPLv2. It has some extra provisions in it as compared to the GPL, for more information please read the LICENSE.txt file.

PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:25 am
by williamconley
And it is a very interesting read. There should be an official link directly to a copy of it available via http, though, without a full download being required for these types of discussions.

PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:19 am
by mflorell

PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:22 pm
by williamconley
there should also be money falling from the sky in front of my house.

PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:21 pm
by williamconley
Funny. I didn't get a "here you go" on that one. Bummer.

Charging Per Seat or for anything

PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 1:25 am
by enterux
Hello,

As far as I know, GPL doesnt restrict anyone to charge anything provided the 4 freedoms are passed on.

Also that the 4 freedoms are only to the customers and not to everyone in the world (so you cant ask for source code unless you are my customer) and I am not liable to give you the source code unless you buy anything from me.

You can modify the source code, change name, charge per seat, charge seperately for the modifications or charge one lumpsum fee, the business model and decision is completely yours, GPL doesnt restrict any of these, as long as the freedom to modify the code is passed on.

So my dear friend, welcome to GPL :)

Regards,
Mitul Limbani

PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:44 am
by mflorell
The AGPLv2 has an extra provision that the end users can demand the source code, not just the customer, so anyone that has any direct interaction with your altered code on any level can demand the source code if it is AGPv2 licensed.

If you have a hosted model and a customer leases two seats from you, one of the agents can demand the source code from you and you have to supply it.

PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:06 am
by williamconley
you wouldn't want to post a link to that direct passage (or excerpt for easier searching through the license). i think that would be extremely explanatory, especially since there are a LOT of per-seat licenses out there for Vicidial that have been renamed but are OBVIOUS. And WHEN the switch to AGPLv2 went into effect (version, not date, of course).

May be less arguments, more clarity, and no catfights. LOL

PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:41 pm
by Op3r
We had discussed this before

http://www.vicidial.org/VICIDIALforum/v ... php?t=1168

:D

As far I know you can charge them on a per seat basis (for support and system capability of course) provided you give the source code.

NEXT IX I believed cleaned up their acts. I think Matt already talked to them. As per being authorized distributor of VICIDIAL here in the philippines, I and them had a long winding email that resulted in a great ending. They are not the AUTHORIZED Distributor of VICIDIAL here in the philippines just a partner like me. see http://www.vicidial.com/partner/partners.html

PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:52 pm
by williamconley
That post is from 2006, and contains an "assertion" based on the licensing from that period, but no excerpts to demonstrate the points made.

The licensing has changed since then. Since it is old and does not contain an excerpt demonstrating that "leased seats" would require releasing the source code to the individual agents upon request or in any other manner ... it may not help as an "informative deterrent". Which is what I'm after.

The concept here (I would hope) would be to make this thread an EASY way to show everyone that this (code release to individual agents in a leased environment) is required and the map to why. So the next schmuck who tries to break the rule can simply be pointed to the license AND here for simplification and explanation.