I see my original posting has generated quite a bit of
interesting
discussion.
From our perspective, we have to look at the big picture
and find an
acceptable balance between the potential risks and rewards
of running an
open-source project. The risk of finding ourselves on the
receiving end
of a patent infringement lawsuit is one risk we have to
consider in the
overall picture. We have to weigh the likelihood of finding
ourselves
in that situation and the costs involved if we ever do.
Pretty much everything in our project can be shown to build
upon
well-known prior art that can be readily found in computer
science
textbooks. So to the best of our knowledge, we think the
chances we may
have inadvertently infringed a valid software patent are
low, even
though we have not undertaken the cost of a patent search or
attempted
to do it ourselves. Also, since there is not much money
that could be
recovered by successfully suing us, we don't think we are a
particularly
attractive target for a such a lawsuit.[1] Through separate
incorporation and/or using a software conservancy, we should
at least be
able to shield ourselves from personal liability. The
conservancy has
the added bonus of giving us access to well-respected
attorneys who
might come to our rescue should we ever need them.
I don't know that it is ever possible to eliminate all risk
in life --
we all die of something eventually. There is risk involved
in simply
getting out of bed, but if you never get out of bed it would
be
difficult or impossible to experience the rewards of living.
So it all
has to be taken in perspective. Most of us drive
automobiles because we
need the mobility, but we still wear seat belts, try to
drive prudently,
and purchase insurance as needed or legally required. We
hope that the
potential rewards of involvement in open-source still
outweigh the risks
in today's competitive and legal environment.
It should be possible to identify prudent best practices for
organizations that run open-source projects which is my main
reason for
posting questions to this list. We have already found at
least one:
Contributor License Agreements. I'm sure there are others.
Thanks,
Bruce Alspaugh, CTO
CompuLink, Ltd
409 Vandiver Drive #4-200
Columbia, MO 65202-1565
[1] I'm reminded of the advice that if you live in a ghetto
it's a good
idea to drive an old rusted-out car with no hubcaps if you
don't want it
to be stolen. I think it could be argued that today's
software patent
environment amounts to a "legal ghetto."
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