Rationale document for the new version states that, it is changes in law, not computer technology, that pose the principal challenges to the free software community. It addresses software patents by making a redistributor of a GPL'd work automatically grants a nonexclusive, royalty-free and worldwide license for any patent claims held by the redistributor, if those claims would be infringed by the work or a reasonably contemplated use of the work.

Additional concerns regarding compatibility with other open source licenses as well as issues such as safety issues such as modified versions for mission critical or medical usage are also addressed.

The license also introduces new clauses to prevent perceived loopholes such as use of GPL software in embedded systems for which source code has not been released.

Users and developers are currently invited to comment and provide feedback on this draft at the GPLv3 website http://gplv3.fsf.org