[mikekchar]

From this page: https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/NonCommercial_interpre... they explain that the NonCommercial part is triggered on use. I believe that the intent is that you can not use the work for commercial advantage or monetary compensation. So if you write a play using CC-NC, it would be against the license to perform that play for money. Similarly, if you have software under CC-NC, it is against the license to use it for the purpose of making money.

The problem with NC (IMHO) is that it's too loose. Everything is up to interpretation. It's clear that you don't have a license to use the software, except the CC-NC license, but I think you probably would have to go to court to really determine if the usage was "commercial" or not. For this reason, I won't touch CC-NC works with a 10 foot pole. If you get sued, you are almost certain to go to court. There is probably a good chance that an injunction will be granted while they decide whether or not the usage is "commercial". By the time it's all over, you would have been much better off not using the code. For me, this means that using CC-NC code is pretty much a gamble on whether or not someone will attempt to sue me -- which is pretty darn close to just forgetting about licenses and hoping I don't get sued for infringement.