BSL: Business Source License

Impermax V3 is protected by a BSL (Business Source License).

Key Components of a BSL

Grant of Rights

Specifies what you can do with the software. Typically includes:

• Use for non-commercial purposes.

• Use for development, testing, and debugging.

• Modifying the code.

Restrictions

Specifies what you cannot do without purchasing a commercial license. This is the heart of the license and often includes:

• Offering the software as a hosted service (SaaS).

• Distributing the software in a product that competes with the licensor's commercial offerings.

• Using the software for production in a high-revenue environment (a threshold may be specified).

Change Date and Additional Use Grant

Sets the date when the restrictions are lifted and the license converts to a standard open-source license (e.g., GPL). This also includes an "Additional Use Grant" clause which, if followed, can provide an exception to the Restricted Use.

Source Code Availability

BSL mandates that the source code must be available for everyone.

How Uniswap Labs Uses (or Has Used) the BSL

Uniswap Labs used the BSL 1.1 for its Uniswap v3 core code. This meant the code was publicly available but certain commercial uses (like creating competing interfaces or forks for commercial gain) were restricted for a period (initially two years, later extended). After the two-year period (or the extended period, if applicable), the code automatically switched to the GPL-2.0 license. Note: Uniswap has since modified its license approach. Uniswap V4 used BSL.

Conclusion

The BSL is a source-available license that provides a mechanism for software vendors to restrict certain commercial uses of their software for a defined period, while still allowing community use and contributions. It's a way to protect their intellectual property by creating a window of opportunity to build a business around the technology before it becomes fully open source. Its success depends on clear terms, careful management, and a positive relationship with the open-source community. However, it's important to remember that many in the open-source community do not consider this a true open-source license.