MPLS License

MPLS Principled Libre Software — Version 1.1 (Draft)

A principled software license for the agentic era. From Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The MPLS License grants explicit rights to use, copy, modify, and distribute software while preserving attribution, requiring reciprocity from large organizations, protecting creator ownership, and prohibiting specified harmful uses.

• Free for individuals, small organizations, nonprofits, educators, researchers, students, and qualifying community projects
• Large organizations ($1M+ gross annual revenue or 100K+ direct Active Users) must contribute MPLS-covered modifications back or obtain a commercial license
• Independent works stay independent — using an MPLS compiler, editor, linker, analyzer, or build tool does not place your work under MPLS
• Creators keep ownership — including human-directed work made with AI assistance
• Third-party licenses remain intact — MPLS does not attempt to relicense Rust, LLVM, GPL components, proprietary SDKs, or other external software
• Prohibited uses remain absolute under MPLS — nonconsensual surveillance, weapons, oppression, undisclosed mass manipulation, unauthorized commercial AI-training extraction of MPLS-covered material, and secret government compromise

MPLS intentionally contains field-of-use restrictions. It is therefore not presented as an OSI Open Source license.

“Principled Libre Software” describes the model more accurately: broad source access and modification rights combined with explicit ethical-use boundaries.

• LICENSE.txt — operative MPLS v1.1 license text
• PHILOSOPHY.md — values, reasoning, compatibility model, and design intent
• TOOLCHAIN_OUTPUT_EXCEPTION.md — optional exception for compilers, linkers, build systems, analyzers, editors, and developer tools

The Toolchain Output Exception can be applied to an MPLS-covered development tool when a project wants to make it explicit that user output does not inherit MPLS merely because the tool compiled, linked, generated, analyzed, packaged, or processed it.

It does not relicense third-party components and does not waive MPLS prohibited-use restrictions on the tool itself.

A separate Runtime Exception may be published later for projects that embed MPLS-covered runtime or compiler-support code into user binaries.

If you share these values, you are welcome to use the MPLS License for your own project.

At minimum, identify the exact MPLS version governing your work and include LICENSE.txt. Include PHILOSOPHY.md when practical so users can understand the license’s intent.

For a toolchain project using the optional exception, also include TOOLCHAIN_OUTPUT_EXCEPTION.md and state clearly which files or components receive that exception.

Third-party material must retain its own license and notices.

Projects may choose either:

MPLS-1.1

or, if they intentionally permit later MPLS versions:

MPLS-1.1-or-later

These identifiers are descriptive project shorthand; MPLS is not currently an SPDX-listed license.

GNU  — GNU's Not Unix         (1983, software freedom)
GIMP — GNU Image Manipulation (1995, creative tools)
MPLS — MPLS Principled Libre  (2025, the agentic era)

This is a philosophical lineage, not a claim of license compatibility or endorsement by those projects.

Version 1.1 is currently marked Draft pending professional legal review. The public text records the intended permissions, restrictions, and compatibility boundaries in the meantime.

For commercial licensing, questions, or to report violations: mp.ls

MPLS License v1.1 — Draft
Copyright © 2025–2026 MPLS LLC, Minneapolis, Minnesota