Apache did not join the JCP right away, but joined after
the JCP's
JSPA (Java Specification Participation
Agreement, aka bylaws) was revised to
permit independent
implementations under FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-
Discriminatory) licensing terms.
Apache then started working on
Harmony and eventually
sought to test it to prove compatibility, which is
required
by the JSPA to call Harmony "Java". You could argue also
that,
according to the JSPA, passing the compatibility test
is required for Apache to
benefit from grants to
intellectual property licenses (IE patents, copyrights
and
trademarks) that come with being called "Java".
I suspected
as much, but did not know. I also suspect that the JSPA is the legal licence to
implement the Java API Specification. Rights that come from running the TCK have
to be additional to the rights conferred to the JSPA. If the TCK licence terms
are not accepted then they are not binding, but the JSPA contractual terms
are.
Also the JSPA is a licence to join the development of the Java API
Specification. (I suspect it is wider than that.) An unavoidable part of that
licence is a handing over of the draft or initial specification rather than lots
of website documents.
Google copied the work based on the licenced
(JSPA) implementation of the Java API Specification. The copied copyright
document is the final version(s) released by the JCP. Harmony publishing under
the Apache licence is either licensed by the JSPA or not. The controlling
documents are the JSPA and the JCP Specification.p --- Regards
Ian Al
Software Patents: It's the disclosed functions in the patent, stupid! [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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