[mapguide-internals] PSC: Contributor Agreements

[Jason Birch]

I understood the intent.  What was fuzzy for me was the wording.  That clause uses the word "entity" twice, but when speaking about license revocation it does not specify which of the earlier noted entities it was referring to.
 
Jason

________________________________

From: mapguide-internals-bounces at lists.osgeo.org on behalf of Robert Bray
Sent: Tue 2007-01-23 2:02 PM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] PSC: Contributor Agreements


Trevor,

I read it and did not get it either, so I consulted our current lawyer Jennifer Daehler. Hopefully Jennifer's explanation below makes sense:


	I can understand the question.  This issue gets handled different ways by different open source groups.  In this form, the intent is that the suing entity's patent license is revoked.  Here's an example to help make it clearer (I hope I won't cause further confusion! :-)): 

	"A" is a contributor to OSGeo under this Agreement.  So OSGeo has the right to license A's contributions to the MapGuide OS project.

	"Entity X" decides to license MapGuide OS from OSGeo.  Entity X then decides that the portion of the MapGuide OS project that came from A actually infringes on one of Entity X's patents.  Entity X decides to sue A (or decides to sue any other licensee of the MapGuide project) alleging that A's contribution infringes Entity X's patent.  

	This provision says that if Entity X takes this course, then A can take the position with Entity X that Entity X's patent license to A's contribution has been revoked.  

	In reality, there have not been too many patent infringement actions launched against open source projects.  However, the fact remains that open source projects have very little leverage against patent infringement actions.  This provision is an attempt to provide some retribution for instituting patent lawsuits against contributors to the project.  It's not any guarantee by a long shot, but it's a mechanism that a number of open source projects have adopted.  

Thanks,
Bob

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