O'Reilly Open Source Convention - August 1-5, 2005

Session
Open Source Licensing Trends
Karen Copenhaver, VP and General Counsel, Black Duck Software
Laura Majerus, Attorney, Fenwick
Diane Peters, General Counsel, OSDL
Mark Radcliffe, Partner, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP
McCoy Smith, Intel Corporation

Track: Open Source Business Review
Date: Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005
Time: 5:20pm - 6:05pm
Location: E145
Open source licensing has never been uniform or standardized. Much has been learned in the decade and a half since the GPL was first published about the power of open source licensing to drive new development and business models. Should there be a brake on new licenses? Is license proliferation a looming crisis or a minor inconvenience? Is limiting the creation of new licenses incompatible with the concepts of freedom that have fueled the revolution? What issues might be addressed in the next version of the GPL and how should the community participate in that discussion? Should licenses that include provisions attractive to commercial developers be seen as unwelcome attempts to intervene or welcome evidence of the compelling nature of open development models?
The answers to these questions will affect the entire IT community. Establishing a limited set of preferred license choices will most likely reduce complexity going forward; the question is whether this benefit justifies even a small step away from first principles.
This session covers what has been learned, what will happen next, and how IT departments can navigate the world of open source licenses with their eyes open.