Make current ArIED licensing unambiguously GPL

NOTICE

@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 ArIED 61850
 Copyright (C) 2026 Mas Ari / masarray
 
-Current public license: GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.
+Current main branch and current public release packages:
+GNU General Public License v3.0 or later only.
+
 Commercial licensing may be obtained separately from the copyright holder.
 
-License transition effective 2026-07-14:
-- Last Apache-2.0 revision: 0df1007d9538b978edba67218136bc5c4f8019ad
-- Historical branch: archive/apache-2.0-final
-- Historical license copy: LICENSE-APACHE-2.0
+Historical license transition effective 2026-07-14:
+- Last historical Apache-2.0 revision: 0df1007d9538b978edba67218136bc5c4f8019ad
+- Historical source branch: archive/apache-2.0-final
+- The historical license text is retained on that archive branch only.
+- Historical Apache-2.0 rights do not apply to later revisions or current release binaries.
 
 The ARIEC61850 engine and third-party components remain governed by their own applicable licenses. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

README.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 ArIED 61850 is a Windows desktop engineering tool for IEC 61850 MMS discovery, multi-IED monitoring, reporting diagnostics, sequence-of-events viewing, project caching, and native IEC 61850 control through the ARIEC61850 Smart Control service.
 
-> **Licensing:** the public community edition is `GPL-3.0-or-later`. A separate commercial license is available for proprietary integration, OEM/white-label distribution, and contractual engineering support. See [docs/LICENSING.md](docs/LICENSING.md).
+> **Licensing:** the current public community edition and current release packages are licensed **only** under `GPL-3.0-or-later`. A separate commercial license is available for proprietary integration, OEM/white-label distribution, and contractual engineering support. See [docs/LICENSING.md](docs/LICENSING.md).
 
 ## Core workflow
 
@@ -170,13 +170,13 @@ Static source validation was completed in the packaging environment. A full Wind
 
 ## License
 
-The public community edition is licensed under the **GNU General Public License v3.0 or later** (`GPL-3.0-or-later`). See [LICENSE](LICENSE).
+The current `main` branch and current public release packages are licensed **only** under the **GNU General Public License v3.0 or later** (`GPL-3.0-or-later`). See [LICENSE](LICENSE).
 
 A separate negotiated commercial license is available for proprietary integration, OEM/white-label distribution, closed-source redistribution, warranty, maintenance, priority support, training, and engineering services. See [COMMERCIAL-LICENSE.md](COMMERCIAL-LICENSE.md).
 
 Names, logos, icons, and official-release branding are not granted under the software license. See [TRADEMARK.md](TRADEMARK.md).
 
-Revisions through `0df1007d9538b978edba67218136bc5c4f8019ad` remain available under Apache-2.0 on branch `archive/apache-2.0-final`. The former license is preserved in [LICENSE-APACHE-2.0](LICENSE-APACHE-2.0).
+Revisions through `0df1007d9538b978edba67218136bc5c4f8019ad` were previously released under Apache-2.0 and remain available on branch `archive/apache-2.0-final`. Those historical grants apply only to those earlier revisions; they do not apply to later changes or current release binaries. See [docs/LICENSING.md](docs/LICENSING.md).
 
 ## Copy Diagnostic
 

docs/LICENSING.md

@@ -1,16 +1,22 @@
 # Licensing Model
 
-## Community edition
+## Current community edition
 
-The current public source is licensed under **GNU GPL v3.0 or later** (`GPL-3.0-or-later`). Anyone may run, inspect, modify, and redistribute it subject to the GPL. Distribution of object code must satisfy corresponding-source obligations.
+The current `main` branch and current public release packages are licensed **only** under **GNU GPL v3.0 or later** (`GPL-3.0-or-later`). Anyone may run, inspect, modify, and redistribute the current community edition subject to the GPL. Distribution of object code must satisfy the GPL corresponding-source obligations.
+
+The presence of historical repository records does not give recipients a choice to apply an earlier license to current revisions or current release binaries.
 
 ## Commercial licensing and services
 
 A separately negotiated commercial license is available for proprietary integration, OEM/white-label distribution, private product branches, and contractual support. See [COMMERCIAL-LICENSE.md](../COMMERCIAL-LICENSE.md).
 
-## Historical Apache boundary
+This commercial path is separate from the public GPL community license. It does not make the current public source dual-licensed under GPL and Apache-2.0.
+
+## Historical release boundary
+
+Revision `0df1007d9538b978edba67218136bc5c4f8019ad` and earlier public revisions were released under Apache-2.0 and remain available on branch `archive/apache-2.0-final`. Existing rights previously granted for those historical revisions are not withdrawn.
 
-Revision `0df1007d9538b978edba67218136bc5c4f8019ad` and earlier public revisions remain available under Apache-2.0 on branch `archive/apache-2.0-final`. Existing Apache rights are not withdrawn. The historical text is in [LICENSE-APACHE-2.0](../LICENSE-APACHE-2.0).
+The historical Apache license text is retained on that archive branch, not in the current `main` branch or current release package. Apache-2.0 does **not** apply to changes made after the historical boundary.
 
 ## Engine dependency
 

scripts/publish-windows-portable.ps1

@@ -57,14 +57,23 @@ if (-not (Test-Path $exe)) {
 }
 
 Copy-Item (Join-Path $root "README.md") (Join-Path $publishDir "README.txt") -Force
-# ARIED_LEGAL_FILES: include licensing and attribution documents in every distributed package.
-$legalFiles = @("LICENSE", "LICENSE-APACHE-2.0", "COMMERCIAL-LICENSE.md", "TRADEMARK.md", "COPYRIGHT.md", "THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md", "NOTICE")
+
+# Current release packages carry one public software license: GPL-3.0-or-later.
+$legalFiles = @("LICENSE", "COMMERCIAL-LICENSE.md", "TRADEMARK.md", "COPYRIGHT.md", "THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md", "NOTICE")
 foreach ($legalFile in $legalFiles) {
     $sourceLegalFile = Join-Path $root $legalFile
-    if (Test-Path $sourceLegalFile) {
-        Copy-Item $sourceLegalFile (Join-Path $publishDir $legalFile) -Force
+    if (-not (Test-Path $sourceLegalFile)) {
+        throw "Required legal file was not found: $sourceLegalFile"
     }
+
+    Copy-Item $sourceLegalFile (Join-Path $publishDir $legalFile) -Force
+}
+
+$licensingGuide = Join-Path $root "docs\LICENSING.md"
+if (-not (Test-Path $licensingGuide)) {
+    throw "Required licensing guide was not found: $licensingGuide"
 }
+Copy-Item $licensingGuide (Join-Path $publishDir "LICENSING.md") -Force
 
 Compress-Archive -Path (Join-Path $publishDir "*") -DestinationPath $zipPath -CompressionLevel Optimal
 

scripts/verify-source-clean.ps1

@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 <#
 .SYNOPSIS
   Verifies that every Git-tracked ArIED path is free from prohibited binaries,
-  captures, confidential evidence, external-product identifiers, and proprietary assets.
+  captures, confidential evidence, external-product identifiers, proprietary assets,
+  and obsolete license files that could make the current release ambiguous.
 
 .DESCRIPTION
   The gate scans every Git-tracked file. Disallowed external identifiers are
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 $RepoRoot = (Resolve-Path (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot "..")).Path
 
 $ForbiddenFilePatterns = @(
+    "LICENSE-APACHE-2.0",
     "*.dll", "*.exe", "*.pdb", "*.deps.json", "*.runtimeconfig.json",
     "*.nupkg", "*.snupkg", "*.pcap", "*.pcapng", "*.etl", "*.binlog",
     "*.log", "*.tmp", "*.cache", "*.suo", "*.user", "*.rsuser",
@@ -143,4 +145,4 @@ if ($Problems.Count -gt 0) {
     throw "ArIED source tree failed clean-room validation with $($Problems.Count) problem(s)."
 }
 
-Write-Host "All Git-tracked ArIED content passed clean-room and external-IP checks." -ForegroundColor Green
+Write-Host "All Git-tracked ArIED content passed clean-room, external-IP, and current-license checks." -ForegroundColor Green