The Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC) has produced its first white paper, which deals with the potential threat to developers who distributes software under the GPL. The alleged threat comes from a securities legislation called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002, which establishes criminal sanctions to corporate board members who fail to Read more
(Thanks to Raffaele for the link). With the development of the GPL v3 underway, an enterprising soul has launched a GPL v4 website to preempt the debate and allow Free Software enthusiasts to conduct proper flame wars on the subject of DRM and software patents. The site offers some amazing Read more
In an interesting twist to the GPLv3 story, Richard Stallman has mentioned that Linus has no say in what happens to the Linux kernel, and that the kernel developers are the ones who will decide over the licence. According to Linux-watch, the developers are split over the point. Another interesting Read more
It seems like the final break between open source and free software is about to take place. Linus Torvalds has declared that the Linux kernel will not be released using GPLv3, but that it will continue to use version 2. The dispute is the controversial prohibition on the use of Read more
I have been looking in more detail at GPL v3 and also reading some comments in mailing lists, and I am starting to become deeply troubled by the new version of the world’s most popular copyleft licence. In the good old version 2, the viral aspects of the GPL only Read more
The draft of the version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPL) has finally been released, and what a document it is! In general, the wording is clearer, tidier and tighter than version 2. The preamble is still as ideological as always (an in my opinion a tad superfluous). Read more
WIPO has published a study entitled “A Primer on Open Source Software for Business People and Lawyers“. Seems ineresting and I will read when I am back. Another interesting report has been produced by the The Brennan Center, called “Will Fair Use Survive? Free Expression in the Age of Copyright Read more
A Linux distribution that is easy to use? I have started to download Linux SuSE 10, which seems to be the easiest Linux yet, although at 3.8 GB it is a very large download by any standard (you can still get the DVD, CD and manuals version). Going through some Read more
Last week, Slashdot reported on a number of Australian companies that have received letters about their use of the trade mark “Linux”. Linux is actually a trade mark owned by Linus Torvalds himself, and it has been sub-licensed to Oregon non-profit corporation named Linux Mark Institute. This post prompted one Read more
It seems like Free Software advocates are actively criticising Creative Commons after Stallman has decreed that CC does not meet with the FS seal of approval. The criticisms seem to be centered on three main points: CC is not centered on ethical principles; some of the licences are not entirely Read more