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"On Tuesday a consortium of technology companies, including IBM (IBM), will launch a new initiative designed to help shield the open-source software community from threats posed by companies or individuals holding dubious software patents and seeking payment for alleged infringements by open-source software products. The most novel feature of the new program, to be known as Linux Defenders, will be its call to independent open-source software developers all over the world to start submitting their new software inventions to Linux Defenders (Web site due to be operational Tuesday) so that the group’s attorneys and engineers can, for no charge, help shape, structure, and document the invention in the form of a “defensive publication.”"

Tags: OB, Linux, legal, OIN, patents on 2008-12-09 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromlegalpad.blogs.fortune.cnn.com

"The key effect of Thomson’s suit, if it succeeds, would be to create a legal doctrine that enables software developers to restrict the Semantic Web’s potential to promote data interoperability and data integration. The legal issue at bar has to do with reverse engineering and the enforceability of EULAs, both of which are important questions. And, there’s a lot of say about whether or not the compliant will stand up to legal scrutiny. That said, the Web community, as well as the scholarly community, ought to pay careful attention to this case because its outcome could have real bearing on how free we will all be in the future to exchange information and realize the knowledge-enhancing benefits of the Web through collaborative research."

Tags: OB, Thomson, Zotero, semantic web, legal, lawsuit on 2008-12-09 -All Annotations (0) -About

more frompeople.w3.org

"Lindberg starts with the basics, explaining how copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets work. He then dives into the details that are most likely to be of interest to software developers: employment agreements, software licenses, copyleft, reverse engineering, and formalizing a project by creating a non-profit organization. No book could replace the advice of competent legal counsel, but reading Intellectual Property and Open Source from cover to cover will give the average free software developer a clear understanding of the legal terrain she will have to navigate as she creates, improves, or uses free software."

Tags: OB, open source, legal, books on 2008-09-18 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromarstechnica.com

"Ruling on an appeal brought by software developer Robert Jacobsen, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said Wednesday that open source users that do not comply with the software's strict licensing terms can, in fact, be sued for copyright infringement -- even if the software is free."

Tags: OB, open source, legal on 2008-08-19 and saved by 2 people -All Annotations (0) -About

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