Microsoft owns FAT32, but it didn’t appear to pursue its rights. Until the TomTom case. At which point Jeremy Allison of Samba says Microsoft had secret cross-licensing deals with all those other guys which violate the GPL. So who should Software Freedom sue?
Read more »Who should Software Freedom sue on FAT32?
Category: Legal Tags:
- Login to post comments
A Weekend with Eben Moglen
"On the last weekend, I got a chance to interact with two eminent personalities who compete with each other in leaving their legacy in the minds of people whom they meet. While RMS is admired by thousands of people around the world including me for creating the Free Software Movement and for his uncompromising stand, Eben Moglen leaves his mark for his oratory skills, humbleness and humility.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
An open response to Chris Frey regarding GFDL 1.3 - by RMS
"Dear Mr. Frey, Your letter about our recent change to the GFDL, which lets operators of some GFDL-covered wiki sites relicense their contents under Creative Commons BY-SA license, raises the important questions of whether this change and the way we made it were proper, and what they imply in regard to trusting the FSF's stewardship of our licenses in the future..."
Read more »Category: Legal Tags:
- Login to post comments
Wikimedia and GFDL 1.3
"I spent more time than I would like to admit massaging the process that ultimately led to the release of the the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 (GFDL) by the Free Software Foundation (FSF).
Read more »FDL 1.3 FAQ
"The Free Software Foundation released on November 3, 2008. This FAQ addresses questions that people may have about why we have released this new version of the license, and how it relates to FDLv2..." -- via SFLC Helps Draft FDL 1.3
Read more »Category: Legal Tags:
- Login to post comments
Bradley Kuhn discusses software innovation, freedom, and the law (video)
Bradley Kuhn is not a lawyer, but he works at the Software Freedom Law Center and heads the Software Freedom Conservancy. He is fun to watch and listen to because he walks the tightrope between creative, carefree developers and cautious, legally-minded lawyers.
Read more »A Practical Guide to GPL Compliance
"...This is a guide to effective compliance with the GNU General Public License (GPL) and related licenses. In accordance with the Software Freedom Law Center’s (SFLC’s) philosophy of assisting the community with GPL compliance cooperatively, this guide focuses on avoiding compliance actions and minimizing the negative impact when enforcement actions occur.
Read more »SFLC Files GPL Violation Lawsuit Against Extreme Networks, Inc.
The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) today announced that it has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Extreme Networks, Inc. on behalf of its clients, two principal developers of BusyBox, alleging violation of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Read more »Category: Legal Tags:
- Login to post comments
Law.com article spins old confusions into new "danger"
Law.com recently ran a sensationalist piece by Edmund J. Walsh warning of the impending “dangerous real world business dispute” in store for any for-profit company that uses free software. Walsh points to lawsuits filed by SFLC on behalf BusyBox as a source of this danger, and having worked on those lawsuits, I hope I can provide a helpful counterpoint.
Read more »Category: Legal Tags:
- Login to post comments
Meeting with Eben Moglen
"Philippe Aigrain of the Software Freedom Law Center has kindly agreed to organize a meeting between Eben Moglen, Executive Director of the SFLC, and "one of the world's most experienced GPL enforcers", and OW2 Members. This meeting will take place in Paris, France, on Thursday, June 5, 2-4pm, on the premisses of the Sopinspace company..."
Read more »Category: Community Tags:
- Login to post comments
Shining Some Light on Microsoft's Moonlight Covenant
I noticed a comment thread on Groklaw about Moonlight, with a link to the license terms on Microsoft's website. They call it Covenant to Downstream Recipients of Moonlight - Microsoft & Novell Interoperability Collaboration . A comment by Microsoft's Brian Goldfarb on Dana Blankenhorn's article about Novell being a lead pony for Silverlight started the discussion originally.
Read more »Category: Legal Tags:
Bradley Kuhn makes a better world through software freedom
Bradley Kuhn is one of the founding team members of the Software Freedom Law Center, and a longtime advocate for the cause of Free Software. Many consider him one of the most influential voices in the worldwide FLOSS community. Kuhn, formerly the executive director of the Free Software Foundation, took some time recently to catch us up on his latest work.
Read more »Category: Legal Tags:
- Login to post comments
Freedom
"I attended an interesting talk by James Vasile of the Software Freedom Law Center earlier this week. The discussion focused on how the Free Software movement can now be regarded as a success and how others are now attempting to replicate this in other areas such as media (Creative Commons).
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
US patent office declares Blackboard’s e-learning patent invalid
In a recently published decision (PDF file), the US patent office has declared US company Blackboard’s e-learning patent invalid. The patent office rejected all 44 claims in the disputed US patent number 6,988,138, (“Alcorn patent”) for a system for teaching in a virtual classroom using the internet, including chat, a virtual blackboard and provision of teaching materials.
Read more »Category: Legal Tags:
- Login to post comments
Free Software Isn't Shareware
There are a lot of people that confuse Free Software (and Open Source) with Shareware.
Though all three types Free/Open/Share may well be available for free (as in zero cost), there are some fundamental licensing issues that make them each separate and distinct.
Read more »- Login to post comments