The first draft of the new General Public License (GPL) 3.0 version came out at a conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earlier this year. The new version addresses issues relating to license compatibility, software patents, and Digital Rights Management (DRM).
Compatibility refers to whether two programs may be combined to form a larger work. In order for two programs to combine, permission to combine both programs is needed from the programs’ licenses. Currently, a program not licensed by the GPL and a program licensed by the GPL are compatible when the larger program can be released under the GPL.
On the patent issue, prior versions of the GPL do not contain explicit language on patent license grants, or reversion rights in the event of patent litigation. For instance, there are questions relating to whether the assertion of a patent would terminate a user’s use of the open source product, or if use of the open source product means that the user is not able to assert any patents.
DRM refers to technologies used to enforce pre-defined limitations on software, music, or other digital data.
More can be read about the GPL 3.0 version at the Free Software Foundation (FSF) website. The FSF was established in 1985 to promote the development and use of free software.
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