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it.can presentation on open source

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I gave a speech, along with Thomas Prowse (Genband) and Fred Dixon (Blindside Networks) at the IT.Can Annual Conference (PDF) in Montreal last week. The following is the paper that went along with the presentation, for whatever it’s worth. Not particularly earth-shattering but an approach that is a little different than user/purchaser centric approach I usually see about the topic in other papers and presentations, at least within the realm of those addressed to lawyers. Also in Word format: IT.Can 2010 open source (paper) v2.

Many other great presentations as well, by some of the leading IT practitioners in Canada. Not a member? Consider joining. Well worth it.

OPEN SOURCE BUSINESS MODELS

by David Ma[1]

1.                  INTRODUCTION

This paper will: (a) review some of the more common business models used to exploit intellectual property; (b) describe, in brief, what open source is; and (c) identify characteristics of open source licenses as they pertain to those business models.

It is oriented primarily to owners or developers of intellectual property that are contemplating the alternatives available to them in the commercial exploitation of that IP. The general context on which this paper focuses is the development and exploitation of software. However, some or all of the principles described below may be applied in other contexts, and we describe some of these briefly toward the end of the paper.

The intent of this paper is not to advocate open source business models as the definitive way to undertake such a venture. Rather, it is to familiarize the reader with the underpinnings of what is becoming an increasingly prevalent approach to exploiting IP which warrants serious consideration as an alternative to more traditional methods – namely, a proprietary licensing model which emphasizes the treatment of underlying source code as a trade secret. It may well be that the particular circumstances of a business undertaking do not lend themselves to such models. However, it would be, in the author’s opinion, inadvisable not to give them due consideration.

Read more it.can presentation on open source ›

first us gpl lawsuit filed

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Surprising. I’ve read about cases going to court in Europe and naturally assumed, given the litigious environment of the US, that something had happened long ago stateside. So, I was a bit surprised to hear about the first GPL lawsuit down there.

For the first time in the U.S., a company and software vendor, Monsoon Multimedia, is being taken to court for a GPL violation. Previously, alleged GPL violations have all been settled by letters from the FSF (Free Software Foundation) or other open-source organizations, pointing out the violation. (Linux Watch)

Hmmm. Maybe not – recent news is that they’re now in settlement discussions. In any event, this gives me yet another excuse to rant, once again, about open source software, or for that matter, any third party code that companies out there may wish to use or build into their products.

As some of you may know, I personally quite like open source stuff. In fact, this blog is written using a giant truckload of the stuff, which works remarkably well for something developed by folks who aren’t paid (for the most part) to develop any of it. Open source can also be a great asset to many companies out there, whether in use or in development.

BUT (and surely you must be expecting a but by now), to the extent you are going to develop with open source code, public domain code or for that matter ANY third party code, you absolutely, positively, MUST keep track of it and make sure you use it both in compliance with the terms under which it is licensed and: (a) make sure the license terms are appropriate for the intended purpose; and (b) make sure you comply with the license terms.

Why is (a) important? To give a very simply illustration, if you plan on building a company whose primary asset and value is based on closed and (ostensibly) proprietary code, you should not be putting GPL code into your product, since one of the requirements of doing so would be an obligation to make your code publicly available on the same terms. This is probably a vast oversimplification of the terms of the GPL but I hope it illustrates the point. And if you don’t think this is likely to have an impact on your company, well, think again. Regardless of what you may think about (b) (which we’ll be getting to in a second), a potential acquiror of your company may feel quite differently about the risks of unintended use of open source code if, for example, it has been told your product is proprietary. And they definitely will find out about it. In fact, there are very, very effective tools to do so, like the one provided by Black Duck. And it is becoming a rather normal practice in acquisition due diligence to run code through Black Duck or something similar if there is the possibility of undisclosed open source.

Why is (b) important? Well, in addition to what’s described above, there is a real risk associated with contravening the GPL, the LPGL or other open source licenses. Just because its free does not mean that someone will not invest the time and effort to find out about contraventions of such licenses and make sure their terms are complied with, including the Software Freedom Law Center. In addition to institutions like those, there are also many, many folks out there keeping an eye out for possible breaches of GPL and reporting them to bodies like the SFLC.

All that being said, I should make it clear that I do think that open source software does have a place in profit-driven companies, as do open source development models. JBoss, MySQL, and Sleepycat are just a few in the latter category that have been quite successful. The key of course, is to make sure that how you use those tools works consistently both with your intended business model and with the terms under which apply to their use. Which will be a good topic for another day.