BSD licenses are a family of free software licence with minimal requirements about how the software can be redistributed. There are two variants of BSD license which include BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License (BSD-3-Clause) and BSD 2-Clause "Simplified" or "FreeBSD" License (BSD-2-Clause) listed on the page http://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical.
The 2-Clause License must met the following two conditions:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
The Skype Terms of Use is the agreement between user and Skype. In order to download or use Skype, user must first accept the agreement.
Compare with BSD license, the first thing strikes me is the “Acceptance of The Terms” of Skype EULA.
2.2 You cannot accept these Terms if: (a) you are not lawfully entitled to use the Software, Products and/or Skype Websites in the country in which you are located or reside or (b) if you are not of legal age to form a binding agreement with Skype.
Only adults are allowed to accept the Skype EULA, and could be granted permission to download and use Skype.
Secondly, the “Changes To The Terms” of Skype license is not fair for users.
3.1 Skype may make changes to these Terms from time to time. Skype will publish the changes at www.skype.com/go/tou. Changes to the fair usage policies and/or Additional Terms will be posted on the applicable Skype Website. The changes will be effective when published. Please review the Terms on a regular basis. You understand and agree that your express acceptance of the Terms or your use of the Software, Products and/or Skype Websites after the date of publication shall constitute your agreement to the updated Terms. If you do not agree with the amended Terms, you may terminate your relationship with Skype in accordance with paragraph 11 below.
As a Skype user, you must review the changes of terms on a regular basis. Otherwise, you might infringe one of Skype’s rights. Finally, I am worried about the products licensed under BSD. Basically, BSD allows you to do anything with the products without any warranty and liability because the License tells us that:
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.
That could be a disaster for the open source community. User should choose and use the BSD software wisely and carefully.
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