Intel Clears Up Microcode Licensing Controversy - Simpler License, Allows Benchmarking

Over the past day online there has been lots of controversy following some high-profile sites reporting about Intel's "un-friendly microcode license update" and its "ban on benchmarking", among other catch phrases. It's now been officially cleared up by Intel with a simpler license that doesn't forbid benchmarking, allows distribution vendors to re-distributed these binary files to their users, and doesn't have any other nastiness integrated into the legal text.

There were some three dozen or so tweets and emails to me today asking about it, but wasn't somehow something I didn't see, but knew would be corrected and didn't feel like reporting the hype train (some even suggesting Intel CPUs now couldn't be benchmarked at all...). The short-lived microcode licensing update had actually been out there for several days now done up by some overzealous Intel legal folks. Following all of the public attention and pressure, Intel was quick to clear up the situation.

Intel's Imad Sousou, the GM of Intel's Open-Source Technology Center, has confirmed they have put the CPU microcode updates under a corrected license.

We have simplified the Intel license to make it easier to distribute CPU microcode updates and posted the new version here: https://t.co/x5JByIv3j9. As an active member of the open source community, we continue to welcome all feedback and thank the community. #IAmIntel

— Imad Sousou (@imadsousou) August 23, 2018

The license can be found on Intel's 01.org. This license is short and sweet and does away with any benchmarking restrictions, allows redistribution assuming their copyright is respected, and just doesn't allow reverse-engineering/disassembly.