[OSGeo-Discuss] Software Copyright ownership

[Bruce Bannerman]

Hi Arnulf,

I'm just catching up on my email and noticed your renewal of this thread.

If OSGeo is to go down the route of getting IP into one organisation, it
would be good to see the IP protected in a regime that is not subject to
software patents and can offer some protection against them.

That doesn't really offer much scope at this stage (...and I'm not an expert
in this area).

...perhaps somewhere in the EU?


Bruce




> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
> [mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Arnulf
> Christl (aka Seven)
> Sent: Sunday, 14 February 2010 5:44 PM
> To: OSGeo Discussions
> Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Software Copyright ownership
>
> Cleaning up an older thread...
>
> >From what I gather from the lists there seems to be no broad
> opinion in
> favor of making projects move their copyright under the hood
> of OSGeo.
>
> With the recent discussion of potential export restriction
> enforcement by incorporated organizations incorporated in USA
> the the need for a more global organization seems to be
> higher. I am frankly at a loss at where such an organization
> would be incorporated and what it could look like but if it
> existed I would very much like to support it. If anyone has a
> great idea what a truly global OSGeo should look like please
> speak up.
>
> We should spend some thought on copyright every time we admit
> and evaluate projects in incubation. My personal experience
> shows that having the copyright of Open Source projects
> completely under the hood of a community owned organization
> is a good thing. Everything else is messy. The messy bit only
> shows when things go wrong so lets keep fingers crossed and
> as long as nothing happens we'll all be fine.
>
> Best regards,
> Arnulf.
>
> On Mon, 2009-12-14 at 21:34 +0000, Chris Puttick wrote:
> > The other issue with assigning code copyrights to a US-based
> > organisation is a simple one. The US has the strongest
> software patent
> > machine and the most supportive courts (if you pick your state
> > carefully ;) ).
> >
> > As FOSSGIS applications bite ever harder into the profits
> of the dominant player(s), the chance of the game being
> changed to a legal one rather than a sales and marketing one
> is pretty high; a fight OSGeo couldn't afford to be in.
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > ----- "Landon Blake" <lblake at ksninc.com> wrote:
> >
> > > One example of the restrictions Luis is talking about is the
> > > prohibition against distributing certain cryptographic software
> > > outside of the
> > > US:
> > >
> > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography
> > >
> > > Don't know that OSGeo would bump into that, but it is one
> example of
> > > a US specific restriction on organizations involved in software
> > > development.
> > >
> > > Landon
> > > Office Phone Number: (209) 946-0268
> > > Cell Phone Number: (209) 992-0658
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
> > > [mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Luis W.
> > > Sevilla
> > > Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 10:40 AM
> > > To: OSGeo Discussions
> > > Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Software Copyright ownership
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >     one thing must be taken in account, IMHO. If I'm not
> wrong OSGeo
> > > is an USA foundation (is registered in the States, and
> must follow
> > > his laws, of course. As USA maintains a commercial
> embargo to Cuba
> > > [1], it
> > >
> > > seems there are a lot of things in technology fields
> restricted to
> > > American companies (and also foundations).
> > >
> > >     If OSGeo will not became a more global (not so USA laws
> > > conditioned)
> > >
> > > institution, it doesn't seem so good the idea of giving all and
> > > every
> > >
> > > copyrights to the foundation.
> > >
> > >     My two cents
> > >        Luis
> > >
> > > [1]
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_embargo_against_Cuba
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Discuss mailing list
> > > Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> > > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> > >
> > >
> > > Warning:
> > > Information provided via electronic media is not
> guaranteed against
> > > defects including translation and transmission errors. If
> the reader
> > > is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
> > > dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is
> > > strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> information in error,
> > > please notify the sender immediately.
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Discuss mailing list
> > > Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> > > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> >
> >
> > ------
> > Files attached to this email may be in ISO 26300 format
> (OASIS Open Document Format). If you have difficulty opening
> them, please visit http://iso26300.info for more information.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Discuss mailing list
> > Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
>
>
> --
> http://arnulf.us
> Exploring Space, Time and Mind
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/attachments/20100323/014e8fb7/attachment-0002.html>