So, back in 2000 when Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition first came out there also debuted two innovative bodies of legal mumbo-jumbo: the Open Gaming License (OGL) and the d20 System Trademark License (d20 License or d20 STL). Under the OGL, companies besides the creators--Wizards of the Coast--can produce gaming material based on or derivative of the overarching rules of Dungeons & Dragon's 3E (a body called the System Reference Document). Heck, with the OGL, you can do pretty much anything you want, change the game how you like, and make the game you want on the foundations presented. It's a pretty flexible tool.

The d20 License takes that a step further, saying that you can even us the d20 logo on the back of Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks and a bunch trademarked words directly from the game, but you have to adhere to more rules and proprietary standards set down by WotC (No D20 for You Book of Erotic Fantasy!).

The general idea is that OGL means "I made this! You roll 20-sided dice maybe!," while d20 is a little more "This uses the same rules as Dungeons & Dragons (without saying D&D)! See the logo?" And, in the end, all of this drives the sales of D&D's core rulebooks. Pretty clever, huh?

Well, there's only one catch. In the years since the d20 License came around there have been so many companies and so many countless thousands of products (often of dubious quality) released with the d20 logo that many companies and retailers now kind of consider the logo the kiss of death for a product. That might be a bit harsh, and there are definitely good products out there with the d20 logo, but many of the most successful and popular games born from the OGL don't bear the d20 License (Mutants and Masterminds, Pathfinder, Castles and Crusades) cashing in the questionable worth of legitimacy for more creative freedom.

So, in short, the news that there's not going to be a d20 STL just means that a tired piece of legal metagame is going the way of the dodo, and Wizards of the Coast needs to worry less about policing the works of other companies. And there's going to be a 4E OGL, which, if it's as open and permissive as 3E's, is pretty much what everyone wants (Lots of finger crossing here)! So yay!