It seems like everyone is talking about open source these days. We read many predictions at the end of 2008 that a technology theme for 2009 would be the continued growth of the open source movement. Even President Obama’s new administration is asking experts about the benefits of open source within the federal government (451 CAOS Theory writes about that here.) (more…)
Microsoft, through its new BizSpark program, appears to be inserting itself at the center of a global startup network for software developers, including here in Oregon. Last week we read about TiE’s announcement that it’s partnering with BizSpark. Today we read that OTBC has just become a BizSpark network partner. (more…)
We just came across this post at the Law & Life: Silicon Valley Blog about a recent update in the Jacobsen v. Katzer case in the federal District Court in San Francisco, a case with connections to Portland, and which has already produced a number of important legal decisions about open source software (OSS). As the author notes, an appeal last year in the case produced a great victory for licensors of OSS, while this most recent Order by District Judge Jeffrey White is a setback for OSS licensors seeking to enjoin copyright infringement because the burden to obtain an injunction for copyright infringement has been elevated. (more…)
As a general rule, law is slow to keep up with business. Innovative, quickly changing businesses, like those involved in technology, sprint even faster and farther ahead of the intellectual property laws that govern those businesses. So it comes as little surprise to see this rant about source code licensing covered by and commented on by the staff at Open Source Initiative. (more…)