An epitaph for license-based software: Here lies the illusion that legal licenses could defend publicly available source code. This idea flourished in an era wh
The author argues that legal licenses are no longer effective in protecting publicly available source code. This shift is attributed to the rise of AI coding agents that can internalize code logic and bypass traditional licensing restrictions. The piece suggests that the era of relying on licenses for code defense is over, particularly in the context of AI-driven development. AI
IMPACT Suggests AI's ability to internalize code logic may necessitate new approaches to intellectual property and software distribution.