licensing

Apache and the future of open-source licensing

If most developers contribute to open-source projects because they want to, rather than because they're forced to, why do we have the GNU General Public License?

That's the question that hit me last night as I tried to sleep in the shadow of Richard Stallman's MIT. Stallman, of course, originated the GPL, a brilliant way to turn copyright on its head in order to force software to remain open.

But in the process, did Stallman simply create an alternative way to release proprietary software?

I'm not trying to be cute here. Think about it. If you … Read more

Open source gets its first legal journal

As a law student doing my thesis on open-source licensing (PDF), it was nearly impossible to find any substantive legal papers on the topic. In fact, the only one I can remember is Ira Heffan's excellent "Copyleft: Licensing Collaborative Works in the Digital Age" from Stanford Law Review in 1997.

This week, in a sign of just how far open source has come in the past decade, the International Free and Open Source Software Law Review (IFOSSLR) was launched, aiming to "bring the highest standards to bear in analysis and comment on all aspects of Free … Read more

Trent Reznor: 'So you want to make money on the Web'

For those who have yet to grok the Open Core business model, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame will sing it to you. In a series of forum entries, Reznor explains exactly how to build a music business on the Web and, in the process, classically defines Open Core, the primary business model for open-source software, too.

Reznor writes:

Forget thinking you are going to make any real money from record sales. Make your record cheaply (but great) and GIVE IT AWAY. As an artist you want as many people as possible to hear your work. Word of mouth … Read more

Google image search gets usage rights filtering

In an effort to keep people from incorrectly reusing or repurposing images found on its image search tool, Google has added new options that let users filter results by usage rights. Users can now filter photos by whether they're available for reuse, commercial reuse, reuse with modification, or commercial use with modification.

Google is including a variety of licensing methods including Creative Commons, GNU Free Documentation license, and items that are in the public domain. Its system for determining the rights on various shots is not foolproof though, and as such the company is recommending that those who are … Read more

GPL declines as open source moves to the Web

The GNU General Public License (GPL) used to dominate open-source licensing, but its hold appears to be slipping according to new research from Black Duck Software. While GPLv3 has seen a 400-percent increase in adoption, and though the GPL and its variants still claim over 65 percent of all open-source projects, Black Duck reports a 5 percent decline in GPL adoption.

This drop makes sense, given the GPL's decreasing relevance to the modern world of network-delivered software and the increasing value of data over software.

ZDNet's Dana Blankenhorn points out that there are no clear replacements arising for … Read more

Microsoft beating Mozilla...in open-source licensing

Microsoft's Internet Explorer continues to hemorrhage market share to Mozilla's open-source Firefox browser. But Microsoft is set to surpass Mozilla in one area: adoption of its open-source Microsoft Public License (MS-PL), according to research from Black Duck Software.

The MS-PL is now used by 1.02 percent of open-source projects. This is impressive given that it was only approved by the Open Source Initiative some two years ago. The Mozilla Public License (MPL), by contrast, has been around for many more years and is used by 1.25 percent of open-source projects, ranking ninth in terms of popularity. … Read more

Microsoft spins out software protection tech

Microsoft said on Tuesday that it is spinning out as a separate business a two year-old effort that licenses its software protection technologies to other companies.

In the past two years, Microsoft has signed up 120 companies to use the software activation and licensing technologies, including its own eHome unit. But it decided creating an independent company was the way to go.

The new venture, dubbed InishTech, will be based in Ireland. Microsoft will retain a stake in the company as well as an observer seat on its board of directors. Microsoft also plans to be a customer of the … Read more

Four states' DMVs frown on smiling

Do I detect the faintest hint of a smile in your driver's license photo? The smile that says, "Gee, I've been here for three days, it's amazing what popping a little E can do to help you through."

Well, perhaps you might rejoice that you don't live in Arkansas, Indiana, Virginia, or Nevada.

Those states--and perhaps more to come--have decided to enact a no-smiling policy on driver's license photos.

Their intentions are noble. You see, these states have invested in very fine software that compares photos on licenses to other photos already taken. … Read more

AMD shrugs off Intel cross-licensing threat

Advanced Micro Devices is "not concerned" over rival Intel's threat to pull out of a patent cross-licensing agreement between the two chipmakers, says an AMD Asia-Pacific executive, even as the Intel-issued deadline for supposed action looms.

According to Intel, GlobalFoundaries, AMD's manufacturing spinoff and a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi government, is not a subsidiary of AMD and cannot be accorded the same rights under the cross-licensing pact. Intel said it would terminate all rights and licenses under the agreement if AMD does not correct the "alleged breach" by the given deadline, which … Read more