My presentation on open source law 16 December 2009 at Danish Technical University (DTU) at a PhD seminar in the Informatics department

1. Open Source Jura
Advokat Martin von Haller Grønbæk
Partner, Bender von Haller Dragsted
DTU Informatics, 16-12-2009
onsdag den 16. december 2009 1

2. Martin von Haller Grønbæk
– Attorney-at-law, Bender von Haller Dragsted
– Co-founder, Open Source Vendors Ass. (OSL)
– Editorial board IFOSSLR
– Co-founder, Creative Commons DK
– Co-founder, Danish Internet Society Chapter
2
onsdag den 16. december 2009 2

3. Martin von Haller Grønbæk
– http://www.bvhd.dk
– http://openlife.dk
– http://www.vonhaller.dk
– http://www.linkedin.com/in/vonhaller
– http://www.23hq.com/mhg
– http://www.slideshare.net/vonhaller
– http://www.facebook.com/vonhaller
– mhg@bvhd.dk
– martin@groenbaek.net
– groenbaek@gmail.com
3
onsdag den 16. december 2009 3

4. Martin von Haller Grønbæk
–Legal500: “At IT boutique
Bender von Haller Dragsted,
Martin von Haller Grønbæk is
the Danish expert on open
source and emerging issues
around Web 2.0 and internet
law.”
4
onsdag den 16. december 2009 4

5. Agenda
– Intro to open source
– Open source law survey
– Licenses
– Patents og trademarks
– Businessmodels
– Questions
5
onsdag den 16. december 2009 5

6. Agenda
–Intro to open source
6
onsdag den 16. december 2009 6

7. Open
Sauce
onsdag den 16. december 2009 7

8. “Free not as in free
beer but as in
freedom”
onsdag den 16. december 2009 8

9. Four freedoms
onsdag den 16. december 2009 9

10. #1 Use the
program as you
please
onsdag den 16. december 2009 10

11. #2 Look into the source
code
onsdag den 16. december 2009 11

12. #3 Erase, change, add,
modify and whatever
onsdag den 16. december 2009 12

13. #4 Give, transfer,
transfer the code freely
onsdag den 16. december 2009 13

14. Communisme ?
onsdag den 16. december 2009 14

15. Cancer?
onsdag den 16. december 2009 15

16. Cathedral
or ?
onsdag den 16. december 2009 16

17. Bazaar?
onsdag den 16. december 2009 17

18. onsdag den 16. december 2009 18

19. Give due credit!
onsdag den 16. december 2009 19

20. Names og persons
• Free software
• Open source
• Linux
• Free Libre Open Source Software
20
onsdag den 16. december 2009 20

21. Free vs. Open
onsdag den 16. december 2009 21

22. Linus, Tux and Linux
onsdag den 16. december 2009 22

23. FLOSS
onsdag den 16. december 2009 23

24. Software
or
network
stack
onsdag den 16. december 2009 24

25. Open source at all levels
• Internet
• Operative systems
• Databases
• Webservers
• Middleware
• ERP applikations
• Desktop applikations
• Webapps
– Amazon
– eBay
– Yahoo
– Facebook
– Google
25
onsdag den 16. december 2009 25

26. Agenda
–Open source law survey
26
onsdag den 16. december 2009 26

27. Generel open source jura
• Contract or license
• Liability
– for licensor
– for solution provider
– for infringement of third party IPR
– for defects
• Licensecompatability
– between different OSS licenses
– between “closed source” and OSS licenses
• Enforcement
– Jurisdiction
– Legal standing
– Compensation
• Interpretation
27
onsdag den 16. december 2009 27

28. onsdag den 16. december 2009 28

29. Copyleft
– Copyleft or copyright
– All OSS licenses allows modifications
– Redistribution or distribution not a requirement
– Comply with the copyleft term or discontinue the use of
the program
– Recall distributed code
– Comply with copyleft by making modifications’ source
code available
– Make only available source code to the have received
the code
– Not allowed to deny redistribution by agreement
29
onsdag den 16. december 2009 29

30. Derived works
– “A work based upon an original work”
– Modifications
• Improvements
• Translations
• Error corrections
• Amendments
– Not collective works
– Strong copyleft vs. Weak copyleft
– Mozilla Public License v. 2
• File amendments
– General Public Licence
• Combinations
30
onsdag den 16. december 2009 30

31. GPL
onsdag den 16. december 2009 31

32. Combinations
– Combinations to files to one application
– Compilation of source code to object code
• Static links
– Dynamic links by combination at run time level
– Mechanism of communication
– Semantics of the communication
– Kommunikationssemantik
– Output not covered
– (Exc: GPL program copies text into output)
– Output of language interpreter
– (Exc: “bindings” interpreter to program)
– Linus Torvald’s interpretation of GPL re. Linux
– Remember starting point: Al combos are allowed
32
onsdag den 16. december 2009 32

33. Distribution
– GPL v2: Distribution
– GPL v3: Propagation and Conveyance
– In soft- and hardware
– ASP loophole og network exception
– Affero Public License
– Contractors on/off-site
– Outsourcing
– Mergers and Acquisitions
– Let recipient download the GPL’ed code
33
onsdag den 16. december 2009 33

34. Escapes
– Make deal with licensor
– Replace code
– Work around
– GPL v3, sec. 8
• Termination notice
– NDA: Developer can agree not to release changes at all
– NDA: Developer can agree only to release changes to
customer
34
onsdag den 16. december 2009 34

35. Enforcement
– The GPL is enforceable!
– Germany 2004: Netfilter/Iptables; 2006: D-Link
– US 2007: BusyBox; 2008: Jacobsen vs. Katzer
– SCO
– Copyright holder
– Injunction
– GPL-VIOLATIONS.ORG
– Free Software Foundation
– (BvHD)
35
onsdag den 16. december 2009 35

36. Compensation
– Compensation under copyright
– No penal damages or stipulated damages
– Economic loss suffered by licensor
– Rule of thumb: 2 x license fee
– Fines
– Legal fees
36
onsdag den 16. december 2009 36

37. Agenda
–Licenses
37
onsdag den 16. december 2009 37

38. Open source
initiative
onsdag den 16. december 2009 38

39. Bruce Perens
onsdag den 16. december 2009 39

40. Open source principperne
– Free redistribution
– Source code
– Derived work
– Integrity of The Author's Source Code
– 5-10: Non-discrimination
40
onsdag den 16. december 2009 40

41. Comply or call
or don’t call it
open source!
onsdag den 16. december 2009 41

42. Open source licenses
– Academic or permissive licenses
– Apache License v2
– MIT License
– New BSD license
– Copyleft, reciprocal or hereditary licences
– Weak copyleft
– Artistic license v1
– Eclipse Public License
– Mozilla Public License v.1.1
– Strong copyleft
– GNU GPL v1-3
– GNU LGPL v1-3
42
onsdag den 16. december 2009 42

43. Agenda
–Patents and trademarks
43
onsdag den 16. december 2009 43

44. Open source
and patents
onsdag den 16. december 2009 44

45. Software patenter
– “A set of exclusive rights granted by a state to
an inventor or his assignee for a limited period
of time in exchange for a disclosure of an
invention”
– FSF: “a patent on any performance of a
computer realised by means of a computer
program"
45
onsdag den 16. december 2009 45

46. Patenter
– Open source licenses deals with copyright
– Patents are not covered by the license
– Open source licenses enables upstream and
downstream use otherwise prohibited by
patents
– AntiTivoization
• Restrictions on hardware
• GPL v3: Only hardware for consumers
46
onsdag den 16. december 2009 46

47. Patent trolls
onsdag den 16. december 2009 47

48. Open source
and
trademarks
onsdag den 16. december 2009 48

49. Varemærker
– Once again: Licenses deals with copyright
– No trademarks covered by the licenses
– Trademarks are the commercial equivalent to
author’s integrity
– Many open source business models are closely
tied to trademarks
– Badgeware
• Umbraco
• SocialText
49
onsdag den 16. december 2009 49

50. Agenda
–Business model
50
onsdag den 16. december 2009 50

51. LEGO
Mindstorms
onsdag den 16. december 2009 51

52. Intro
1 May 2006. LEGO press release
Hackers, Get Ready! LEGO Group Announces Open Source
Firmware, Developer Kits for LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT
Consumer-directed robotics experience creation to enter
“NXT” phase with open firmware, Software, Hardware and
Bluetooth Developer Kits to launch in August
52
onsdag den 16. december 2009 52

53. Background
– Mindstorms robots launched in 1998
– The best-selling LEGO product ever
– Huge Mindstorm community
– LEGO was and is not a software company
– Only minor upgrades to the firmware
– Several parallel Mindstorms OS’s
53
onsdag den 16. december 2009 53

54. Challenges
– LEGO was not comfortable with “openess”
– LEGO has been and is extremely reliant on strong
IPRs
– You don't give away IPRs for free”
– Turbulent period for LEGO in general
– Third party software included
54
onsdag den 16. december 2009 54

55. Solution
– Embrace User driven innovation
– Open source as the enabler
– Third party permission for redistribution under an
OS license
– Choice of license
– ”Genuine” open source licence
– Permissive (Academic) or Copyleft (reciprocal
license)
55
onsdag den 16. december 2009 55

56. OSS licence choice
– Mozilla Public license v. 1.1
– Weak copyleft
– Modification is limited altering the files
– “I did not understand GPL v.2”
– LEGO was only concerned with modifications of
the actual files
56
onsdag den 16. december 2009 56

57. “Beautiful solution”
– Huge press coverage and goodwill
– Large number of downloads of code
– Much more “intelligence” in the bricks
– Convincing strategy towards competitors
– Option to “close” the code again
– Many more bricks sold!
57
onsdag den 16. december 2009 57

58. Dual
licensing
onsdag den 16. december 2009 58

59. Dual licensing
– The software company perspective
– The same code is licensed under two different
licences:
– MySQL Community Server: GPL v.2 with FOSS
exception
– MySQL Enterprise: Commercial license
59
onsdag den 16. december 2009 59

60. Ophavsmandens eneret
– The owner can decide to release under any and
as many terms she likes
– Dual licensing is only possible for owner's own
modfications
– Or assigned modifications
– Control is necessary to mitigate liability
– ”Closing in” the code again
60
onsdag den 16. december 2009 60

61. Ophavsret og kontrol
– MySQL has exclusive copyright to the code
– MySQL controls and certifies the code
– The GPL does not give any rights to use MySQLs
trademarks
61
onsdag den 16. december 2009 61

62. Hvorfor betale?
– Certification of the code
– Warranties
– Maintenance and support
– Copyleft exemption
62
onsdag den 16. december 2009 62

63. Stadig ikke overbevist?
–MySQL AB was in 2008
bought by Sun
Microsystem, Inc. for
approximately USD $1
billion in total
consideration
63
onsdag den 16. december 2009 63

64. Agenda
–Questions
64
onsdag den 16. december 2009 64

65. onsdag den 16. december 2009 65

66. Tak for opmærksomheden!
Also available at
http://www.slideshare.net/vonhaller/
onsdag den 16. december 2009 66