FAQ for Pinnacle 21 Open Source Software License

Thank you for your support of Pinnacle 21 suite of open source tools, including Pinnacle 21 Validator, Define.xml Generator, Data Converter, and ClinicalTrials.gov Miner (the “Pinnacle 21 Software,” for short). We’ve received a few questions about the Pinnacle 21 Open Source Software License (the “Pinnacle 21 OSS License,” for short) that governs the Pinnacle 21 Software, so we created a short FAQ page. Although we tried to fully explain the questions in plain English, we omitted a few details for clarity and brevity. This FAQ is only explanatory and not meant to amend or interpret the Pinnacle 21 OSS License or otherwise be legally binding (in other words, the Pinnacle 21 OSS License governs your use of the Pinnacle 21 Software, not this FAQ).

1. What am I permitted to do with the Pinnacle 21 Software under the Pinnacle 21 OSS License?
   You can download the Pinnacle 21 Software to your computers and use it, and you can make copies of it and distribute it to others (provided that you maintain the software’s copyright notices and branding). You can also download and use the source code to the Pinnacle 21 Software and make changes to it. There’s no limitation on the number of computers you can install it on, on the number of users who can use it, or on the amount of data you can process with it.
   To give you a few examples, if you are running a clinical trial you can install, run, and even modify the Pinnacle 21 Software to help analyze the data and do other things related to the clinical trial. If you’re a CRO or other service provider, you can use the Pinnacle 21 software to help you in providing your consulting services to a pharmaceutical or other business.
2. What am I prohibited from doing under the Pinnacle 21 OSS License?
   Although you can modify the Pinnacle 21 Software and use your modified version for your own needs, you can’t share with others or distribute your modifications to the software. You also can’t sell or use the Pinnacle 21 Software as part of or integrate it with any software-as-a-service or platform-as-a-service offerings or offer the software as a service to others. So, you and your business’s employees can use the Pinnacle 21 software (and your modifications to it), but you can’t make the  software modifications accessible to others or integrate it with a SaaS platform or other software.
3. Why did you change to the Pinnacle 21 OSS License from the Affero GPL?
   It has always been our goal to offer the Pinnacle 21 Software, and its source code, for free so that pharmaceutical companies, CROs, and others can use it to validate their clinical trial data (all of which you can still do). It was important to us to make the source code available so companies could look for and fix bugs, extend the usability of the software, or make other changes they needed. Some software companies, however, believe they have found an ambiguity in the interpretation of the Affero GPL and believe they have the right to sell technology services (like SaaS platforms) and software incorporating the Pinnacle 21 Software without providing their software as open source or paying us a licensing fee. Although we feel the Affero GPL prohibits such activities, we created a new open source license that leaves no doubts and is better tailored to meet the needs of our users while preserving our rights.
4. What should I do if I want to do use the Pinnacle 21 Software in a way not permitted under the Pinnacle 21 OSS License?
   We’re open to discussing other licensing arrangements, and you should contact us to discuss how we could work together.