Alan Bunbury

Authored Comments

Some very interesting comments here about interaction with open source within the legal profession. As a law student I don't really have much to contribute to that because, to be honest, we're not really taught about the practical aspects of working in the legal profession. In my experience, legal education tends to focus on the more theoretical aspects of law; the development of judicial attitudes in a given area of the law, etc. We don't hear much about the more practical aspects of, say, IP law, such as drafting licence agreements to suit the needs of your clients, and so it's hard for a law student to grasp exactly how--and how much--an open source approach to the legal profession could benefit lawyers.

Nor, for that matter, do we learn about open source licences themselves. Students in third level education at least tend to learn about intellectual property law as a mechanism for protecting innovation and the creative process by <u>restricting</u> access to, and freedom over, a product. We don't learn about the other side of the coin; about how innovation and production can also be fostered by <u>maximising</u> user access and freedom, and how open source licenses can be used to do this legally.

By contrast, my brother is in his first year studying computer science in college. He already has a strong grasp of the basics of computer programming, because for years he has had access to a community which rewards curiosity by providing the tools to learn and develop one's skills. Conversely, I also hear that his college has strong support for open source languages and software, and of course computer science students will generally have a better knowledge of open source software anyway. I think there is a reciprocal relationship between community and education--a strong open source community can increase the skills and knowledge acquired by budding students, but this may not be possible if people do not learn, from an early stage in their careers, about the credentials of open source development and what it can do for them in their area of interest. I think this relationship is lacking in the legal profession. Forming a large and strong FOSS law community is difficult because, among other things, students are not really exposed to the benefits which such a community could have for them and others.

That's just my two cent (not cents as I deal in euros not dollars). As a disclaimer, I should say that I am a law student at a third level institution in Dublin, Ireland, and of course some of the things I have said may not apply to law schools in other countries. Many of you who read this will have the practical experience I lack and some of you may think that what I have discussed here can't, or shouldn't, be taught in college. However, I can't help but think that, as bright as the FOSS law community's future is, it could be even brighter if more attempts were made to introduce prospective lawyers to this community at an early stage.

This is something I meant to say in my previous comment. This isn't a case of the establishment vs the little guy. There are plenty of "big guys" on FOSS's side too. This includes governments, local authorities and businesses big and small. So I find it hard to believe that anything significant will come of this, but then I am not speaking from an American perspective.