Microsoft bans free software from Windows Phone Marketplace (The H)

The H looks at the terms of Microsoft's Windows Phone marketplace and finds that it bans software released under various free software licenses. "The ban, in section 5.e of the terms, forbids any software which is subject to an "Excluded Licence"; it defines that in section 1.l as any licence which requires, as a condition of distribution, that the source code for the application be made available, or allow the creation of derivative works or redistribution at no charge. It specifically names GPLv3 licences and includes the General Public [License] (GPL) version 3, the GNU Affero GPL version 3, and the GNU Lesser GPL version 3 as examples of excluded licences." Microsoft's "open source friendly" stance only goes so far, it seems.

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