.. meta:: :description: The Cyrus License (CyLi) is a planned license making StayVS institutionally reliable: what has been published cannot be revoked, but newer versions can be published. :keywords: Cyrus License, CyLi, StayVS, versioning, published versions, immutable record, license draft :author: LLoL as Laurence Loewe of Laodicea, ClaudeOp46-50Max, and Everyone :og:card:title: The Cyrus License
CyLi :og:card:description: A planned license for versioned stability: what has been published cannot be revoked, but newer versions can always be published. .. TODO AA: Page maturity --- update StayC when reviewed Page status: MMv0r1_draft_2026m08d03 .. TODO AA: All open questions and action items for this page go here. - [ ] LLoL to review scope statement below --- confirmed 2026m08d03 as "site content under StayVS versioning only". Widening it later (third-party contributions, reuse by other projects) is a real decision, not a detail. - [ ] The formal specification does not exist yet. NO operative license text may be added to this page until LLoL drafts it. Writing plausible-sounding legal language here would be invented authority. - [ ] Answer the open questions listed at the bottom of this page. - [ ] Review and update page status from MM to appropriate StayC level ************************** The Cyrus License: CyLi ************************** .. warning:: **This license does not exist yet.** This page states the *principle* CyLi is meant to protect and the questions still open. It deliberately contains **no license terms** --- the drafting work is genuinely not done, and text that merely sounded like a license would claim an authority nobody has granted. Nothing on this page may be relied on as a license. The license currently governing content on this site is the :doc:`Jonah License `. The core principle ==================== **What has been published cannot be revoked, but newer versions can be published.** That single sentence is the whole idea. Everything else is machinery for making it institutionally reliable. Why this needs a license at all ================================= :doc:`StayVS ` already does this *technically*: every published version (OOv1, PPv2, and so on) is a permanent record, superseded by later versions rather than overwritten by them. But a technical convention is only as durable as the person maintaining it. An institution deciding whether to build on this material has to ask a harder question: *what stops the author from quietly rewriting version 1 next year?* Today the honest answer is "goodwill and a git history." That is not enough to plan around. CyLi is intended to close that gap --- to make the StayVS guarantee something a third party can rely on rather than something they have to trust. What CyLi is intended to guarantee ==================================== For material published on this site under StayVS versioning: 1. Published contributions remain **accessible and attributable**. 2. **No one --- including the original author ---** can retroactively alter what was published under a given version number. 3. Improvements are always possible **through new versions**, with the versioning history itself being a public record. Point 2 is the one that costs something. It binds the author, not just everyone else. A license that only constrains readers would not solve the problem CyLi exists to solve. Scope ======= **Site content under StayVS versioning only.** (Confirmed by LLoL 2026m08d03.) CyLi is aimed at material published on Balospe.com that carries a StayVS version marker. It is *not* currently scoped to: - third-party or institutional contributions (those are covered by the :doc:`Jonah License `, as is all FeedbackFlow input); - reuse as a general-purpose license by other projects. Both of those are plausible later extensions. Neither is claimed now. Keeping the first version narrow is deliberate: a narrow license that actually works is worth more than a broad one that has never been tested against a real dispute. How CyLi relates to the Jonah License ======================================= They are **different layers, not competitors**, and they answer different questions: .. list-table:: :header-rows: 1 :widths: 22 39 39 * - - :doc:`JoLi ` - CyLi *(planned)* * - Question it answers - May I use and share this? - Can I trust that this version will still say the same thing later? * - Direction it binds - Frees the reader - Binds the author * - Status - In force (JoLi MMv1_2024m10d18) - Not drafted * - Applies to - All site content and all FeedbackFlow submissions - Site content carrying a StayVS version marker JoLi removes barriers to sharing. CyLi is meant to remove doubt about stability. A reader can need both answers at once, which is why CyLi is planned as a complement rather than a successor. Why "Cyrus"? ============== The name honors Cyrus the Great, who issued the first known declaration of human rights and enabled the return of exiled peoples to rebuild their heritage. CyLi aims to similarly protect the integrity of intellectual contributions while enabling continuous renewal. .. note:: Until 2026m08d03 this license was written as the "Cycrus License" across this site --- a typo, corrected everywhere on that date. The abbreviation ``CyLi`` was always correct and is unchanged. Open questions ================ Recorded so the gaps are visible rather than glossed over. These are genuine uncertainties, not rhetorical ones: 1. **What enforces it?** A license is a legal instrument, but the guarantee CyLi wants is closer to an archival commitment. Is the right mechanism a license, a public commitment, a third-party archive deposit, or some combination? 2. **What happens on error?** If a published version contains a factual error or a harmful mistake, "cannot be revoked" collides with "should be corrected." StayVS answers this with supersession plus a visible correction notice. Does CyLi need to say more? 3. **What happens if the site disappears?** An immutability promise that depends on one domain staying paid for is weak. Does CyLi require a mirror or deposit obligation? 4. **Does it bind successors?** If the material changes hands, does the guarantee travel with it? 5. **How does it interact with CC0?** JoLi is CC0-based, and CC0 waives essentially everything. Can a CC0-licensed work carry an additional author-binding stability commitment without contradiction? If you have experience with any of these --- especially question 5 --- the FeedbackFlow link at the bottom of this page is the fastest way to say so. Status ======== **Informal draft (CyLi MMv0r1_2026m03d31).** The formal specification will be developed as part of the broader :doc:`StayVS ` and POST System infrastructure. This page is offered not to be believed, but to be checked. .. ----- FOOTER FORM OOv1r2p1 ----- type open-std ----- START ----- .. |content-vvn| replace:: dv_ClaOp50Max_MMv0r1p0_2026m08d03 .. include:: /_templates/include-file/footer/separator/tidal-gradient.rst .. dropdown:: Notes :class-container: page-footer-form-notes :class-title: page-footer-form-title .. include:: /_templates/include-file/footer/page-footer-stability.rst .. dropdown:: See also on Balospe.com :open: :class-container: page-footer-form-refs-internal :class-title: page-footer-form-title - :doc:`/license/index` --- all licenses used on this site - :doc:`/license/joli/index` --- the Jonah License, in force today - :doc:`/stayvs/index` --- the versioning system CyLi is meant to make reliable - :doc:`/legal/index` --- legal information - :doc:`/ff/index` --- FeedbackFlow, if you can help answer the open questions .. only:: html .. include:: /_templates/include-file/footer/cta/researchcity.rst .. dropdown:: FF FeedbackFlow to improve this page: How you can contribute :class-container: page-footer-form-feedbackflow :class-title: page-footer-form-title .. include:: /_templates/include-file/footer/form-open-std/prelink.rst .. ----- PAGE-SPECIFIC FF (ff-email MailForm=OOv2r0p0) ----- START ----- .. raw:: html To: FF+license-cyli@balospe.com CC: FF+CompleteFeedbackFlow@balospe.com Subject: FF k2 s2 AIMS for [license-cyli] Replace_by_OneLineSummary Body: To make this page [license-cyli] more gentle kind reasonable for beginners, producers, andOr experts with a background in xyz: Please consider improving this: -- By sending this email, I agree that its content may be published under the Jonah License (balospe.com/en/license/joli/) unless I state otherwise above. MailForm=OOv2r0p0 .. ----- PAGE-SPECIFIC FF ----- END ----- .. include:: /_templates/include-file/footer/form-open-std/postlink.rst .. ----- FOOTER FORM OOv1r2p1 ----- END -----