LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 
Download Current Issue
ISSUE 2/1/2010 PDF

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Receive the print Edition?


 
blogs tab
Visual Studio 2010 Release Candidate Available Today
A Visual Studio 2010 release candidate is available on MSDN.
02/09/2010 09:45 AM EST

Is Microsoft eyeing Office subscription pricing?
Microsoft may be preparing to offer a new Office pricing option called "union," which charges the same for cloud as on-premises.
02/01/2010 09:38 AM EST

Facebook rewrites PHP runtime
Facebook is about to open source its own PHP runtime, written from scratch for speed.
01/30/2010 08:53 PM EST

 

Events calendar tab
Macworld 2010
2/9/2010 to 2/13/2010
San Francisco
IDG World Expo

SPTechCon 2010
2/10/2010 to 2/12/2010
San Francisco
BZ Media

PyCon 2010 (Python Conf.)
2/17/2010 to 2/25/2010
Atlanta
Python Software Foundation

Southern Calif. Linux Expo
2/19/2010 to 2/20/2010
Los Angeles
SCALE

IBM Pulse
2/21/2010 to 2/24/2010
Las Vegas
IBM


 
print Printable version 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Facebook brings HipHop to PHP
HipHop compiles PHP to speed up the Web layer at world's most popular social networking si...

Adobe moves LiveCycle application platform to the cloud
Release gives developers just what they need to create targeted business process-oriented ...

Oracle acquires AmberPoint
Today's merger will probably affect most of AmberPoint's existing partnerships with other ...

Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter

Legal Primer for Free and Open Software


SFLC holds first-ever summit, releases book on copyrights, patents

By David Rubinstein
October 15, 2007 — 
The question of whether software should be patentable subject matter was one of several issues tackled Friday at the first Legal Summit for Software Freedom, sponsored by the Software Freedom Law Center at the Columbia Law School in New York City.

The meeting brought together developers, lawyers and open source software advocates. “We need to include all in our community,” said Daniel Ravicher, the SFLC legal director. “Our goal is to have people leave with an understanding of what software freedom is,” he added. To that end, the SFLC today put up on its Web site a primer for organizations that use open source software and the problems they could face.

Richard Fontana, SFLC counsel, argued that despite being seen as a settled issue, the debate over the patentability of software has been kept alive by the open source community. “Opposition to patents is universally held in this community,” Fontana said.

Fontana spoke of the “mental steps doctrine,” which holds that if software involves human decision-making, or simply computerizes that process, the software is not patentable. Early computer programs were seen in this way, but now there is concern in the community that patents are being given too freely by patent officers who do not have the technical skills to make decisions about what is unique and different, he said.

However, Fontana did note that there are ironic similarities between the patent camp and the free software groups: Both believe patents help avoid duplication of effort because of required disclosures, and both share the view that patents encourage innovation.

As to the proliferation of patents, he said there should be an idea of obviousness. “If it’s obvious to a person of ordinary skill and art, it shouldn’t be patented. The [U.S. Patent Office] issues patents that cover old technology.”

But patents shouldn’t be confused with copyrights, he said. Patents cover ideas and inventions; copyrights cover the implementation of those ideas. James Vasile, another SFLC attorney, discussed the importance tackling copyright issues early in an open source software project. “Managing copyrights as they come in and go out can make the difference between a project that’s commercially viable or not, or whether the adoption of a project grows,” Vasile said.

It is important for the project lead to centralize copyrights, Vasile said. This makes it easier to enforce the copyrights because the ownership is clear. When any developer contributes code to the project, the project lead should require a copyright assignment at that time. Questions such as who the developer works for, what he does, what country he is in, and if he used his employer’s resources to write the code, all can help with understanding whether the code might be encumbered. “If someone asks where the code in your codebase came from, you want to be able to say with assurance that you have that information. A hazy memory won’t be sufficient,” he said.

On the issue of reverse engineering and end-user license agreements that ban it, Ravicher said it would be hypocritical for an open source project to use a EULA to prevent the practice.

Eben Moglen, founder of the SFLC, wrapped up the summit by discussing how software patent lawyers face challenges brought on by the internationalization of the industry. “By nature, lawyers are localists. They are licensed to practice in a state. But [open source] projects are subject to law in multiple jurisdictions,” Moglen said. Software patent lawyers, he said, need to be “longitudinal specials in law related to free software. Our expertise is industrially organized rather than geographically organized.”


Share this link: http://www.sdtimes.com/link/31238
 

Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
  • Preview
Loading