I propose that we keep developing the Loomio app under the MIT license for now. Meanwhile we will continue to evaluate as we go along whether or not we think it makes sense to migrate to a more restrictive license (such as GPL Affero).

I propose this for the following reasons:

• I've been told that it's easier to transfer from MIT to GPL than it is from GPL to MIT (in case we change our minds)
• As a general principle, the Loomio project favors openness and freedom wherever possible (unless it's obvious that a particular action will harm the community)
• The MIT license is ubiquitous in the Rails community

So yeah, my point is... I'm thinking that we should hold off on changing to something like the GPL until someone does more research and presents a strong case.

That said, I do think it would be wise of us to get someone (preferably a lawyer) to do some more investigation soon about the details of the GPL and MIT and what the respective vulnerabilities of each license are.

From the progression of comments in the discussion thread, it seems a consensus has emerged to change the free code license covering Loomio source code to the GNU Affero General Public License version 3:
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html

Unlike the current license (MIT), the AGPL has a 'copyleft' provision. This would oblige anyone distributing customized versions of Loomio to share their code changes back to the Loomio development team, and prevents other groups building proprietary software around Loomio without negotiating a commercial license from the copyright holders.

However, older versions of the code which have been published under the MIT license will continue to be legally reusable under the terms of this license. The license can be changed again at any time by consensus of all contributors (ie the copyright holders).