Law

What SOPA means for [fill in the blank]

Today the House Judiciary Committee spent four hours debating HR 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, better known as SOPA, despite early successes of momentum against it. No vote was taken.

Yesterday, many of those those who get their news from newspapers saw an ad taken out in major papers around the country by a few names you might recognize. It read: » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 15 Dec 2011 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

What's on the blacklist? Three sites that SOPA could put at risk

Proponents of the latest disastrous IP bill, the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) insist it only targets the "worst of the worst:" so-called "rogue" foreign websites that profit from pirating U.S. intellectual property. But the broad definitions and vague language in the bill could place dangerous tools into the hands of IP rightsholders, with little opportunity for judicial oversight. One very possible outcome: many of the lawful sites you know and love will face new legal threats. » Read more

3 CommentsPosted 17 Nov 2011 by Electronic Frontier Foundation

Patent reform and patent totalitarianism

Touted as the most extensive revision of the patent law since 1952, the America Invents Act of 2011 was signed by the President on September 16. You might think in light of the celebration and rhetoric, that the Act was tackling the big problems such as patent trolls, broad and abstract patents, the billions squandered in the smartphone wars, or opportunistic litigation against users. You might think that. But you would be wrong. » Read more

2 CommentsPosted 31 Oct 2011 by Brian Kahin

Creative Commons 4.0 on the horizon

Creative Commons held its Global Summit a few weeks ago in Warsaw, with amazing international participation. Without question, the most-discussed topic was the upcoming 4.0 release of the licenses, including related issues and a lively debate regarding whether the licenses should be ported to specific countries – or whether we should instead try to create a new international license.

» Read more

1 CommentPosted 13 Oct 2011 by Marek Mahut (Red Hat)

If we're going to have software patents, let's at least have a level playing field

If we must have software patents, at least use the same rules

Last week, I participated in a panel discussion at the Eastern District of Texas/Federal Circuit Joint Bench-Bar Conference in Dallas. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is the specialized appellate court for patent cases. My panel was on corporate counsel opinions of patent litigation and recent judicial and legislative patent reform. The discussion was moderated by Judge Richard Linn of the Federal Circuit. It was a great opportunity to present some views of the patent system, and to provide options for improvement to the very people who can enact judicial change. » Read more

10 CommentsPosted 11 Oct 2011 by Erick Robinson

The huge societal costs of NPE software patent lawsuits

Ginormous losses from NPE software patent lawsuits

Innovative software companies start each work day knowing that, no matter how careful and how ethical they are, they face a meaningful risk of being sued for patent infringement. It's like a tooth ache – painful and distracting, even when not debilitating. A major source of this pain is non-practicing entities (NPEs), which are expert at acquiring and exploiting weak software patents. While this is not hot news to the open source community, the enormous financial harm caused by NPEs is just starting to be understood. » Read more

5 CommentsPosted 27 Sep 2011 by Rob Tiller (Red Hat)

Poll: Is the very concept of intellectual property outmoded?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

3 CommentsPosted 20 Sep 2011 by Colin Dodd (Red Hat)

Talk like a digital pirate--or fight against them--on Talk Like A Pirate Day

To celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day the opensource.com way, we gathered a list of things that have been said through the history of copyright, copying, remixing, and the sort of piracy that doesn't involve tricorn hats or cutlasses.

"Music and gymnastic (must) be preserved in their original form, and no innovation made. They must do their utmost to maintain them intact. [...]

for any musical innovation is full of danger in the whole State,
and ought to be prohibited. » Read more

2 CommentsPosted 19 Sep 2011 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

New patent reform law could reduce lawsuits by non-practicing entities

New patent reform law could reduce lawsuits by non-practicing entity

The Hidden Gem in the Bill: Joinder Reform

So it has finally happened: a patent reform bill has actually become law. Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate voted 89-9 to send H.R. 1249 to the White House, where it was signed into law today. While I have pointed out in the past that this bill misses out on several aspects of reform that previous bills attempted, it does include some useful aspects.

First, though, let’s discuss what the new law will NOT include. » Read more

4 CommentsPosted 16 Sep 2011 by Erick Robinson

Why make a new open source software license? MPL 2.0 (part 3)

In my previous posts, I discussed the new features of the MPL and the new compatibility between MPL and other licenses. In this final post, I'll summarize a few other small details about the new MPL that may be of interest to opensource.com readers. » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 15 Sep 2011 by Luis Villa