Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin encourages the crypto industry to adopt "copyleft" open-source licenses, expressing concern that the industry is losing its collaborative foundation.
In a recent blog post published on Monday, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that he previously supported a "permissive" approach to software licensing, which allows free sharing with everyone, but is now leaning towards the "copyleft" method.
There is a subtle difference between the two. Permissive licenses allow the public to freely modify or distribute source code files. Copyleft licenses do the same but require users to also open source any derivative works that use the original code.
"I generally philosophically dislike copyright and patents," Vitalik said.
"I don't like the idea that two people sharing data privately could be seen as a crime against a third party, even when they haven't even interacted with or communicated with that third party," he added.
Vitalik indicated that he began to support "copyleft" because open source has become mainstream, making it "more practical to push companies to adopt it."
However, he acknowledged the potential downsides of the "copyleft" approach, namely that it can be overly restrictive or coercive, especially in cases where the code is not publicly distributed but still needs to be shared.
Why I used to prefer permissive licenses and now favor copyleft https://t.co/aPGhY0Y0kX
Vitalik emphasized the changes in the crypto space, which has become more competitive and less collaborative, undermining the traditional open-source ideal of voluntarily sharing code.
He stated that voluntary sharing is no longer sufficient and must be accompanied by "hard power"—granting access to certain code only to those who open their own code.
He added that copyleft licenses in the crypto space enforce reciprocity, ensuring that innovation benefits the entire community, not just a few closed-source participants.
He concluded that copyleft creates a "large codebase" or other creative products that can only be legally used if users are willing to share the source code of anything they build upon it.
Vitalik noted that when the incentives for open source are neither unrealistic nor guaranteed, it is most valuable, adding that the benefits of copyleft are much greater today than they were 15 years ago.
Crypto venture capitalist Adam Cochran agreed, writing, "Copyleft can be problematic in some practical edge cases, but I generally agree with the idea."
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Original: “Vitalik Buterin Advocates for the Adoption of 'Copyleft' Licenses in the Crypto Space”
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