TODAY: Symposium on Current Trends in FOSS Movements

Bill Sconce sconce at in-spec-inc.com
Sun Mar 27 19:04:00 EST 2005


On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 10:04:28 -0500
"Michael ODonnell" <michael.odonnell at comcast.net> wrote:

> 
>    http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20050325215230540
> 
> Speakers:
>    Scott Peterson, HP Company
>    Richard Stallman, GNU
>    Ed Walsh, Wolf Greenfield & Sachs
>    Peter Moldave, Gesmer Updegrove
>    Karen Copenhaver, Black Duck Software
>    Dan Ravicher, Free Software Foundation and Public Patent Foundation
>    Mark Webbink, Red Hat


Report.  (I found out about it just in time to arrange to attend.)  There
were at least four of us (geeks/non-lawyers) in the audience --- many thanks
to Rob Lembree for passing on the information that the symposium was going
to happen.


-Bill



Posted at
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20050325215230540#comments
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm pleased that I was able to attend the SIPLA Symposium. It was a
delight to see Groklaw mentioned in the presentations.

The symposium was sponsored by, and attended by, lawyers in the field
of "intellectual property"(*). The public was welcome to register and
attend too, and a few of us from the technical community were able to
make it.

I'll be brief, and confine myself to four of the presentations.

1. "Patents and Free Software", Dan Ravicher, Software Freedom Law Center

An exhilarating tour, because Dan is a lawyer and was talking to lawyers.
Although he presented much more, including citations in case law, the
standout for me was his observation that patents and "IP" law can be
friends of Free software.

"Patents are not prejudiced against free software, they do not prefer
closed source software."

"...This is where free software is very different from non-free software,
and why patents are more of a threat to the latter, than the former."

It's encouraging that these messages (all of the messages at this
conference, in fact) were being delivered to up-and-coming "IP" lawyers.

And to see Dan in action. His presentation contained the best-researched
and most clearly delivered legal material at the conference (readily
apparent even to this NAL). We're lucky that Free software has such an
earnest, highly capable friend in the legal profession. Thanks, Dan!

2. "Open Source Litigation, Past, Present and Future", Edmund J. Walsh,
Wolf Greenfield & Sachs

Mr. Walsh directly addressed one of our favorite subjects, the SCO
lawsuits. Prognosis? He quoted Judge Kimball, already known to Groklaw 
readers, "...it is astonishing that SCO has not offered any competent
evidence to create a disputed fact..." I gathered that he doesn't expect
SCO to prevail.

He does, however, expect (beyond SCO) that "...some issues will almost
certainly be resolved through litigation."

3. "Working with Open Source Software Compliance Management", Karen
Copenhaver, Black Duck Software

Karen exhorted the gathered lawyers to appreciate that the number of
"open source" licenses out there (hundreds) multiplied by the number
of languages out there (English plus thousands) creates a Babel which
the world is simply not going to put up with. A dynamic and convincing 
speaker.

She pointed out the dangers (including a convincing use case) of 
companies using Free software without taking care to track compliance
with its license(s).  Valuable advice, since we want the GPL to be
respected. (The company in question failed a due-diligence
certification because management tried to stonewall with "We never
use Free software" ... which turned out to be not true.)

4. "Free Software and Beyond", Richard Stallman, lead developer, GNU
Operating System

Freedom 0. The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.

Freedom 1. The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it
to your needs.

Freedom 2. The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your
neighbor.

Freedom 3. The freedom to improve the program, and release your
improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits.

As Professor William Hennessey, Chair of the "IP" Graduate Program,
was introducing RMS to the audience he used the term "open source".
RMS, standing in the wing, interrupted him, saying loudly and clearly,
"I don't do open source". He said a lot of other things loudly and
clearly too.

_______________________
Summary: the symposium was an all-day event, and Free software got
both a clear exposition and a warm reception in the "IP" legal
community. Groklaw readers would have enjoyed it and should feel
encouraged.

-----------------------
(*) I asked RMS to autograph a copy of the symposium program. He was
willing to give an autograph, although not on the program, because of
the title "SIPLA Symposium". RMS rejects the juxtaposition of words 
suggested by "IP".



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