Hypothetical Business Plan

=0D=0ASuppose that I want to host Wikis. I write open source software (or=0D=
=0Aperhaps semi-open source software) to create the Wiki. As long as the=0D=
=0Acontent is freely accessible to all, then using the Wiki is free=0D=0A(p=
erhaps within certain limits of space and bandwidth) and I sell=0D=0Aadvert=
ising to pay for that part of the hosting business just like=0D=0AGoogle an=
d Geocities.=0D=0A=0D=0ANow suppose that some people want to use the Wiki t=
o communicate within=0D=0Aa group. Their Wiki is password protected. For th=
is priviledge, I want=0D=0Ato charge a monthly fee. Another way to make thi=
ngs easy for people and=0D=0Amaybe make a buck or two.=0D=0A=0D=0ASo far, s=
o good, but the question is how to discourage other people from=0D=0Adoing =
the same, and reducing the potential profitability of my hosting=0D=0Abusin=
ess=3F=0D=0A=0D=0AI could put a proprietary version of the software on my s=
erver that=0D=0Aadded the security features. I'm not sure that's allowed un=
der a lot of=0D=0Aopen source licenses, but it is for my "personal" use, ev=
en if it's=0D=0Ahosted on a web server that everyone can access. Does that =
work under=0D=0Athe GPL conditions of changing code for your own internal p=
ersonal use=0D=0Aas long as it isn't distributed or sold=3F=0D=0A=0D=0AI kn=
ow I couldn't keep anyone from changing the code themselves to add=0D=0Apas=
sword protection on their own servers, at least under any OSI=0D=0Aapproved=
 license. Anyone who wants to go to that extent is more than=0D=0Awelcome t=
o do so. But could I protect that feature by saying, "If you=0D=0Awant to a=
dd that feature, you're going to have to fork the project and=0D=0Agive it =
a new name. I'm not adding it to Project X."=3F=0D=0A=0D=0AIs this viable=3F=
 In keeping with the spirit of open source=3F I welcome=0D=0Ayour suggestio=
ns as to whether this is workable under the GPL, and any=0D=0Aalternative m=
echanism to keep the feature out of the main GPL code.=0D=0A=0D=0AI appreci=
ate the vibrant discussion on this list, and await the slapping=0D=0Aof fis=
h anxiously. :-)=0D=0A=0D=0A-Kelly=0D=0A=0D=0A=0D=0A=0D=0A=0D=0A=0D=0A=0D=0A=
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