Alternative Software Licensing MVV59K Software Law Mgr. Matěj Myška 2 Mgr. Matěj Myška › Institute of Law and Technology › Assistant › Office hours: Mon 1.30 – 3:00 p.m. › Contact: › Room no. s61, › Tel. 54949 4751 › matej.myska@law.muni.cz 3 MOTTO “…open source licensing has become a widely used method of creative collaboration that serves to advance the arts and sciences in a manner and at a pace that few could have imagined just a few decades ago.” Jacobsen v. Katzer, 535 F.3d 1373, 1378 (Fed. Cir. 2008). 4 MVV59K Software Law, Fall 2010 5 Mozilla Firefox › Market share › Nov 08 to Mar 09 6 Many others… 7 Outline › What is NOT F/OSS? › What is F/OSS? › Historical development › Idea of F/OSS › Key › Legal Aspects of F/OSS 8 › Proprietary Software › Shareware › Freeware › Abandonware › Public Domain Software 9 Proprietary Soft › “Traditional” › Non-free › Closed source code › Only binaries distributed › Source code – how could it be protected? › Licensing 10 Shareware › Proprietary software › Business model › Trialware, demoware, added functionality (levels) 11 Wolfy again!:) MVV59K Software Law, Fall 2010 12 MVV59K Software Law, Fall 2010 13 Freeware › “Fully” copyrighted › i.e. no modification, redistribution possible › Available for use at no cost or for an optional fee › No disclosure of source code 14 Public Domain Soft › Disclaimed copyright › Not possible under Berne Convention › Quasi public domain Software › After 70y – Free work 15 Abandonware › Copyrighted software › Copyright infringement (!) › No enforcement › www.abandonia.com › "When we become aware of these instances of piracy, we go to these sites and pursue our IP (intellectual property) rights," "It's not something we go after on a day-to-day basis, but if it's our IP, then it's our IP." Nancy Bushkin, (former) Infogrames vice president of corporate communications 16 F/OSS? What and Why and When 17 In 1976… “…As the majority of hobbyists must be aware, most of you steal your software. Hardware must be paid for, but software is something to share. Who cares if the people who worked on it get paid? Is this fair?” Bill Gates‘s Open Letter to Hobbyists February 3, 1976 18 19 20 It all started with the BIG BANG…wait a broken printer. 21 History › 1983: AT&T develops proprietary version of Unix › 1983: Richard Stallman – GNU Project › 1985: Free Software Foundation › GNU Manifesto "GNU's Not Unix!" 22 History › 1985: founding of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) www.fsf.org › 1989: first version of GNU General Public License (GPL) 23 Free Software › ‘Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of free as in free speech, not as in free beer.’ 24 The Idea of FS 4 essential freedoms:youtube.com/watch?v=uJi2rkHiNqg › run the program, for any purpose, › study how the program works (through access to the source code) and change it at will, › copy and share the program with others › share modifications with others 25 History › 1993: Linus Torvalds › Linux kernel > GPL 26 History › 1997/1998: Eric S. Raymond: „The Cathedral and the Bazaar“ 27 › "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow“ › 1998 Netscape Communications Corporation released Netscape Communicator > Mozilla project. 28 › Open Source Initiative › www.opensource.org 29 Idea of OSS › Business oriented › No ethical call › System of software development › Cathedral • "carefully crafted by individual wizards or small bands of mages working in splendid isolation" › Bazaar • "a great babbling bazaar of differing agendas and approaches." 30 The OSS Definition 1. Free Redistribution 2. Source Code 3. Derived Works 4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code 5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups 6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor 7. Distribution of License 8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product 9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software 10.License Must Be Technology-Neutral 31 › “The fundamental difference between the two movements is in their values, their ways of looking at the world. For the Open Source movement, the issue of whether software should be open source is a practical question, not an ethical one.” › http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free- software-for-freedom.html 32 How to make money with F/OSS? 33 › Sell ANYTHING but the software 34 Revenue streams › Packaging and distribution › Offering a commercial alternative › Multi-licensing › Services and support http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/businessofopensource.xml#ixzz14BPgWpyV 35 Legal aspects of FOSS 36 Legal Aspects › Copyright › Licences › Copyleft effect / Share-alike › Various types of licences › opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical 37 Copyleft Effect › GNU GPL v2.0 › “Art. 2 b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.” 38 Legal typology › Strongly protective licences › “viral licences” › GNU General Public License › Weakly protective licences › Lesser General Public License (LGPL) › Permissive licences › Author’s crediting › BSD License, MIT License 39 GNU LICENCES › GNU GPL (14. 12.) › LGPL › GNU Free Documentation Licence 40 BSD License › Copyright (c) , All rights reserved. › Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: › * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. › * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. › * Neither the name of the nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. › DISCLAIMER 41 Mozilla Public License › Weak copyleft 42 › http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license- list.html 43 Legal Issues › Enforceability › Technical Protection Measures (DRM) › Multi-licensing › Mozilla Suite / tri-license › Liability and Warranty Disclaimers › Copyright / Droit d’auteur › Dynamic linking › GNU GPL no › LGPL yes 44 Future of FOSS › The Story of Success MVV59K Software Law, Fall 2010 45 Future of FOSS 46 Open Content 47 › Arts – Creative Commons › Science – Open Access Thank you for your attention! matej.myska@law.muni.cz