diff --git a/rtenets b/rtenets
index 8005fdf..01d6f99 100755
--- a/rtenets
+++ b/rtenets
@@ -191,8 +191,12 @@ READMEMSG
     local licence="COPYING"
 
     if ! [ -f "${licence}" ]; then
-        info "setting licence to GPL by default, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses for more options"
-        curl "https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt" > "${licence}"
+        if has_command curl; then
+            info "setting licence to GPL by default, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses for more options"
+            curl "https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt" > "${licence}"
+        else
+            warning "please choose a free software licence, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses"
+        fi
     fi
 }