Mozilla's Trademark Policy Goes Too Far

Authors Jason Self

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jxself.org

Mozilla's Trademark Policy Goes Too Far Home

I was recently reading the Mozilla Trademark Policy after a discussion on gnu-linux- Linux-libre
libre raised questions about whether it makes Mozilla software proprietary.

The problematic part seems to be: GitWeb

"If you want to distribute the unchanged official binaries using the Mozilla Marks, How To
you may do so, without receiving any further permission from Mozilla, as long as
you comply with this Trademark Policy and you distribute them without Articles
charge."

The added emphasis is mine. This means I can't include it in a collection on CD where RSS Feed
I charge $5 to cover my costs because that's not "without charge."
About Me
Mozilla even has a "fraud report" page (based on the name in the URL) where you
can "report" people that charge money for software. Contact Me
Calling it a "fraud report", along with what they write in the Introduction part of their
GPL enforced
trademark policy, is very telling about Mozilla's view on this. The majority of free
software is available without cost, but that's not what really matters. It seems that
Mozilla has confused the two meanings of the word "free" and doesn't understand that If you appreciate any of the things I
the Free Software Movement has always been about freedom, not price. am doing you can make a donation.
Free software doesn't mean noncommercial, although I understand that some people
also confuse that term as well.

Requiring unmodified versions to be distributed noncommercially seemed to conflict
with what the FSF says in their Free Software Definition. Specifically, that you should
be able to redistribute copies, either with or without modifications, either gratis or
charging a fee for distribution, to anyone anywhere.

Brett Smith later confirmed that requiring people to rebrand the software before
distributing it commercially makes it proprietary.

I hope that Mozilla will learn to separate the two meanings of the word "free" and
update their trademark policy accordingly. I would also like to see them address their
other freedom-related issues, like the fact that some of their programs suggest
installing proprietary software through plugins. A program that is truly freedom-
respecting doesn't steer people toward proprietary software, and at least two Mozilla
programs do just that.