I’m not a lawyer but I agree that section 13 doesn’t appear to be against the sprit of the AGPL and does appear to simply make it clearer that when running the software as a service the associated code should also be open, this is it in full:
13. Offering the Program as a Service.
If you make the functionality of the Program or a modified version available to third parties as a service, you must make the Service Source Code available via network download to everyone at no charge, under the terms of this License. Making the functionality of the Program or modified version available to third parties as a service includes, without limitation, enabling third parties to interact with the functionality of the Program or modified version remotely through a computer network, offering a service the value of which entirely or primarily derives from the value of the Program or modified version, or offering a service that accomplishes for users the primary purpose of the Program or modified version.
“Service Source Code” means the Corresponding Source for the Program or the modified version, and the Corresponding Source for all programs that you use to make the Program or modified version available as a service, including, without limitation, management software, user interfaces, application program interfaces, automation software, monitoring software, backup software, storage software and hosting software, all such that a user could run an instance of the service using the Service Source Code you make available.
However as was pointed out on debian-legal in the initial discussions around the SSLP and MongoDB in 2018:
They are essentially trying to force one of a few possible actions out
of Amazon:
- publish part of its proprietary infrastructure
- stop providing mongodb
- pay mongodb for a different license
- fork it and continue providing an old version
- purchase MongoDB Inc and use it against MS/Google
The driving force behind the adoption of the SSPL is competition between capitalists, it isn’t the greater good or a desire to expand the commons and co-operation, however, rather ironically, it might be that the winner is the commons and co-operation if liberally licensed forks become the main focus of development.