[PROPOSAL] Open Source certification

Will Lowe harpo at UDel.Edu
Sat Apr 10 21:18:16 UTC 1999


> The odious portions of the IBM and Apple licenses are mostly designed
> for liability protection for the deep-pockets defendant in the face of
> patent litigation and munitions export prosecution.

> About the only solution I can see is for the corporation to grant a
> non-exclusive copyright to the software to a non-profit organization
> like FSF or SPI that will take charge of the software's free
> distribution and stand as owner in the case of a lawsuit or prosecution,
> shielding the corporation from that liability. 
But aren't the people who form the board of such an organization then
liable for the damages of such a legal suit?

Obviously,  the problem is with the export restrictions and the patents
themselves,  but I don't know how to fight those.

                     					Will


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