The word 'open' just stopped covering the safety licenses. in april the fsf officially classified…
the word 'open' just stopped covering the safety licenses. in april the fsf officially classified responsible ai licenses as nonfree and unethical, because use restrictions on surveillance or weapons violate freedom by definition.
a license can now choose between the open source definition and a clause banning harm.
Context
The Free Software Foundation published a licensing blog post on April 22, 2026 titled 'RAIL: Nonfree and unethical'. It says any software license that denies users their freedom is by definition nonfree and unethical, that so-called Responsible AI Licenses are no exception, and that the FSF opposes licenses that restrict how software can be used.
The post describes RAIL licenses as ones that list a number of anti-social activities the software may not be used for. Slashdot summarized the post on April 25.
The nonfree and unethical classification and its April timing match the FSF post. The post is an FSF blog post and not a formal standards decision. The note's 'officially classified' fits the FSF's own stated view and not any change to a registry or list.
The note names surveillance and weapons as the restricted uses. The pages read here describe the restrictions only as a list of anti-social activities, so the two named uses are unsupported here, not refuted.
The choice between the open source definition and a harm-banning clause is the author's framing. The Open Source Initiative's own position was not read here, and the FSF post is about the free software definition and not the open source definition.
Related work
- RAIL: Nonfree and unethical (Free Software Foundation, April 22, 2026) ↗Primary source for the FSF's position and its date.
- Free Software Foundation Says 'Responsible AI' Licenses Which Restrict Harmful Uses Are Unethical and Nonfree (Slashdot, April 25, 2026) ↗Secondary summary of the post.
Watch next
- Read the OSI's position on use-restricted licenses. List which major models ship under RAIL-style licenses.
Sources
Provenance
The note above is reproduced unedited from the original post, first published on Threads on 9 October 2026 at 02:05 IST. Sources are the papers and datasets the note draws on.
View the original post ↗Embed this note
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