[License-discuss] [Non-DoD Source] Re: U.S. Army Research Laboratory Open Source License (ARL OSL) 0.4.0

[Karan, Cem F CIV USARMY RDECOM ARL (US)]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: License-discuss [mailto:license-discuss-bounces at opensource.org] On 
> Behalf Of Scott K Peterson
> Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2016 4:35 PM
> To: license-discuss at opensource.org
> Subject: Re: [License-discuss] [Non-DoD Source] Re: U.S. Army Research 
> Laboratory Open Source License (ARL OSL) 0.4.0
>
> > 2) Liability is only one part of the puzzle; as I mentioned in an
> > earlier email, there are IP issues that need to be solved (e.g.
> > Caution-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambus#Lawsuits). That makes CC0 
> > unattractive.
>
>
> Rambus and free software?
>
> What about the Rambus patent litigation informs the software license choice 
> issues being discussed in this thread?
>
> I'm sorry. I clearly have not been paying enough attention to this thread. I 
> have been engaged in issues at the intersection of patents and
> standards since before patent enforcement by Rambus attracted the attention 
> of the FTC. "Rambus". Now you have my attention.

The issue is the one that the Apache 2.0 license solves, and that the ARL OSL 
is attempting to solve for works that don't have copyright attached. 
Basically, clause 3 in each of the licenses means that you can't contribute 
software that has patents on it, and then sue everyone for using said 
contribution.  Putting everything under CC0 doesn't protect the USG or anyone 
that uses USG-sponsored projects from being sued, which at the very least 
would be embarrassing, and in the worst-case, damaging to Open Source in 
general.  I want to avoid that issue entirely by having a license that will 
stand up in court that makes it clear that contributors ARE licensing all 
patents and other necessary IP rights when they contribute.

Thanks,
Cem Karan
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