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> The ethical license category applies to licenses that allow commercial use of the component but includes field of endeavor and/or behavioral use restrictions set by the licensor.

I don’t love the name, “ethical license” sounds like a description of the license: this license is ethical. Really this sort of license imposes a particular ethical framework on the user.

Not to throw shade, though. It is actually hard to come up neutral sounding name for this sort of license I think. I keep thinking of things like “morality encumbered license,” but that sounds ridiculously euphemistic in a weird way.



"Opinionated" is how I think about it.


That might be a good pick, IMO the word has negative connotations elsewhere, but in tech circles seems basically neutral.


Yes I was going to say the same thing. It's a branding that has been applied by the license's proponents, and I personally reject a lot of what they call "ethics" as well as the idea of whatever monitoring and enforcement the restrictions entail - maybe calling it a religious license would be better.


I'd argue any licensing of IP is unethical. I'd use the word "conditional"




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