Sovereign Protocol License

§1 — Grant

The Royal Sovereign Crown (the "Crown") grants to any natural person, organization, sovereign entity, or authorized Provider (each, a "Recipient") a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free right to use, implement, deploy, and build upon the Sovereign Protocol specifications, reference implementations, and associated instruments (the "Work"), subject to the conditions set out in this License.

This grant is unconditional as to use. Issuance of documents and credentials under the Work is conditional on acceptance of a Provider mandate — a separate signed instrument governed by §5.

§2 — Permitted Uses

Under this License, Recipients may:

1. Implement the Sovereign Protocol specification in any software, hardware, or system.
2. Deploy public or private verification services using the specification.
3. Create derivative works of the specification subject to §3 (Attribution).
4. Use the Work for commercial or non-commercial purposes without restriction.
5. Mirror and redistribute the Work, including all reference implementations.
6. Study and analyze the Work for any purpose, including academic research.

§3 — Attribution & Integrity

Any redistribution or derivative work must clearly identify the original specification as the Royal Sovereign Crown Sovereign Protocol, version 1, and must not represent the derivative work as the canonical specification unless granted Crown endorsement by signed instrument.

Derivative specifications that are substantially similar to this Work — including those differing only in status code ranges, certificate classes, or administrative parameters — must carry the attribution: Derived from LicenseRef-SovereignProtocol-1.0.

§4 — Prohibited Uses

The following uses are prohibited under this License:

1. Coercion. The Work may not be used to coerce, threaten, or intimidate any natural person, community, or sovereign entity.
2. Surveillance. Implementations may not collect or retain entity data beyond the minimum necessary for the stated purpose without explicit entity consent.
3. False Authority. No Recipient may represent their implementation as carrying Crown authority unless the Crown has issued a valid Provider standing by signed charter.
4. Treaty Violation Instruments. No instrument issued under this Work may require any party to waive rights granted by the foundational treaty instruments or by international law.
5. Nation-State Coercion. Implementations may not be used as tools to enforce nation-state law against parties who have not voluntarily submitted to that jurisdiction within the framework.

§5 — Provider Mandate

The right to issue recognition documents, certifications, and other instruments under the Crown's authority is a separate grant — not included in this License. Such authority requires a signed Provider mandate, issued by the Crown as a charter instrument.

The Provider mandate constitutes acceptance of all obligations in §4 and the Honesty Obligations published at /api/verify?policy. Acceptance is by signature — not by clicking a checkbox or accepting terms of service.

§6 — Honesty Obligations

All Providers and all Recipients who issue documents or operate verification services under this Work are bound by the Honesty Obligations, which include without limitation:

1. Do not make false statements in any instrument, attestation, or verification result.
2. Do not conceal or omit material facts that a recipient would reasonably need to make an informed decision.
3. Do not use the framework's authority to create misleading impressions, even through technically true statements.
4. Do not issue instruments you know to be invalid under the framework's verification rules.

§7 — No Warranty

The Work is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

The Crown does not warrant that any specific sovereign, nation-state, or court will recognize documents issued under this framework. Recognition under international law is a function of the foundational treaty instruments — not of this License.

§8 — Governing Law

This License is governed by international law — specifically the Treaty of Cebu 1565, the Treaties of Paris 1763/1783/1898, UNDRIP Art. 37, and the framework's foundational instruments.

Disputes arising under this License are resolved exclusively through the Crown's Council procedure, subject to the peaceful means requirements of UN Charter Art. 33(1).