Trusted computing
Among other things, trusted computing is designed to permit execution only of software that has been cryptographically signed -- but that signature process could be at odds with the goals of sharing and modification at the heart of the GPL, Fink says.
Another specific hitch is that the GPL isn't clear about what exactly "distribution" means, Fink says. How should GPL software be treated that's distributed from a corporation to a subsidiary? Or from one machine to another as the program executes? "We're dealing in a world where a program entity is not confined to a machine. You can have bits and parts of a program that are highly distributed," Fink says, as in the widely embraced Web services concept.
Attorney John Ferrell of Carr & Ferrell would like to see a better indication of the use of derivative works -- software based on the original GPL product. Is it a derivative work to include a GPL component unmodified as part of a larger software suite?
Derivative works, copyrights and other concepts are central to the GPL but those concepts vary by country and state. Radcliffe of Gray Cary would prefer precise definitions that are more absolute.
GPL improvements are crucial to the open source software realm, Fink says. Improvements could help the licence become more popular and better understood, which in turn would mean a larger body of GPL software that could be shared among projects.
"I'm trying to stop people from creating new licences," Fink says. "To the extent we can create a licence that has a broader buy-in, that stops proliferation of more licences, that to me is goodness."
