AGPL (Affero General Public License)

The AGPL closes the SaaS loophole of the conventional GPL. It enforces source code disclosure even when software is not physically distributed, but merely offered via a network (as a service).

Core concept

Strong copyleft: if a modified version is run as a network service, its remote users must be offered the source code under the same licence (section 13). This prevents cloud providers from using OSS projects as the basis for proprietary services without contributing improvements back.

Assessment

• For organisations: High risk when integrating into proprietary products. AGPL components should be operated in strict isolation (e.g. via API).
• For OSS authors: Optimal protection against commercialisation by cloud giants without reciprocal contribution.

Related topics

• OSS Business Models, the business-model context for open software in AGPL.
• GPLv3 and Copyleft, the copyleft context for AGPL.