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Software Licensing
Anton Malyk, Ajey Shah, Alexander Behm
University of California, IrvineInstructor: Prof. David G. Kay
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ICS269: Computer Law
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Overview
History of software and licenses
Categories of licenses
Software Foundations
Popular licenses
Comparison of licenses
Working around licenses
History of Unix Case Study: SCO vs. Linux
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History of software
Until early 1970s
Sharing of source code was the accepted norm.
There were groups formed for collaboration:
MITSHARE IBMDECUS DEC
No concerted effort to keep software free.
Software was developed by the user community.
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CHANGING TIMES
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, companies began routinely imposingrestrictions on programmers through copyright.
Motivated by financial gains by selling rights of use rather than giving the code.
Bill Gates signaled the change of the times in 1976 when he wrote his now-
famous Open Letter to Hobbyists.Wrote Altair BASIC for MITS.dismayed at the rampant copyright infringement taking place in thehobbyist communitySignaled that there was little incentive in making software available for free.Who can afford to do professional work for nothing?
History of software (contd.)
Beyond 1975
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History of software (contd.)
Richard Stallman from MIT
GNU Project was established in 1983 to write a complete operating system free
from constraints on use of its source code.disagreement between Stallman and Symbolics, Inc. over Stallman'saccess to changes Symbolics had made to a program he wrote.
Problems with the kernel GNU HURD.
Successful projectsGNU DebuggerGNU EmacsGNU Complier Collection
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History of software (contd.)
During the time 1975-1995 Microsoft continued to churn out proprietarysoftware products and increased its revenue.
OS/2 in 1985
Windows in 1986IPO in 1987Office in 1989
Windows 3.0 1990
Novell accused Microsoft of using inside information about its systems to makeOffice suite better than Word Perfect.
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History of software (contd.)
Linux 1991Linus Torvalds in Finland developed LinuxHe was not satisfied with MinixReleased freely modifiable source code in 1991Relicensed under GNU GPL in 1992
386BSD 1993In California Bill Jolitz @ UC Berkeley
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History of software (contd.)
Open source initiated by Eric Raymond.Put Stallmans radical ideas into less intimidating formEmphazise business potential of sharing codeGet different fragmented free software groups together
NetscapeNetscape Communicator released its codebase under NPL.
Internet RevolutionApache HTTP Server
PHPMySQLLAMP systems
Birth of OpenSource - 1998
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Current TrendsStrike a balance betweencommercial interests
IP issuescollaboration in developmentreference code
Open standardsOpen SocialOpen Handset Alliance
Microsoft opens up with the SharedSource initiative.Port 25 open source software lab (interop)
CodePlex opens source code hostingMicrosoft-PublicLicense(Ms-PL) (OSI Certified &GPL Compatible)Microsoft-ReciprocalLicense(Ms-RL) (OSICertified)
Novell-Microsoft Interoperability
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In brief
Proprietary Open
Pros Greater commercial valueLeads to more funds for researchBetter support
Ability to modify codeAbility to re-distributeNo vendor lock
Democracy!Cheaper?
Cons Vendor Lock InAnti Trust
Security IssuesExpensiveRestrictive use
No guarantee offurther dev.
IP issuesSupport andservicing?Difficult to monetize
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Categories of softwareFree software
anyone to use, copy, and distribute, either verbatim or withmodifications, either gratis or for a fee.Free software is a matter of freedom, not price.
Open sourceMore or less same as Free softwareThey may accept some more restrictive licenses
Copy left softwaredistribution terms ensure that all copies of all versions are free software
Block means of turning future versions proprietaryGenerally no modifications can be made to the license
4 269 C
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Categories of licenses(cont.)Non free software
SemiFree softwarepermission for individuals to use, copy, distribute, and modify(including distribution of modified versions) for non-profit purposes
Proprietory software
use, redistribution or modification is prohibited, or requires you toask for permission, or is restricted so much that you effectively can'tdo it freely
Freewarecommonly used for packages which permit redistribution but notmodification (and their source code is not available)
Sharewaresoftware which comes with permission for people to redistributecopies, but says that anyone who continues to use a copy is requiredto pay a license fee
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Categories of licenses(cont.)Private software
custom software is software developed for one user (typically anorganization or company).
Commercial software
developed by a business which aims to make money from the use of thesoftwareCan be open source software eg some software from RedHat, Novell orIBMCan be proprietary software e.g Microsoft
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Software FoundationsFree Software Foundation
Led by Richard StallmanPrinciple sponsor of GNU projectGoal: to advance software freedomSister organizations in Europe, Latin America, India
Open Source InitiativeInteroperability the grand goal
any license (free, open, or closed)any implementation
any implementerOut of scope
does not prescribe how open standards for software should becreated, debated, ratified, and maintained except that they notpreclude a viable implementation in open source.
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Licenses Available
GNU GPLStrong copyleft
GNU LGPLNo copy left on linking libraries
GNU AGPLCovers scenario of software run over a network
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GNU GPL compatible open source licensesApache License 2.0Modified BSDFree BSDMicrosoft Public License
Open LDAP License v2.7License of RubyLicense of Python 2.0.1 and newer
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Charging Money for Free Software??
High price hurt freeness?
Fees and GNU GPL
Special case restriction
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License CRITERIA
2. Free Redistribution3. Source Code
4. Derived Works5. Integrity of The Author's Source Code6. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups7. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor8. Distribution of License9. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product10. License Must Not Restrict Other Software
11. License Must Be Technology-Neutral
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Popular licenses under Open Source InitiativeApache License, 2.0New and Simplified BSD licenses
GNU General Public License (GPL)GNU Library or "Lesser" General Public License (LGPL)MIT license Mozilla Public License 1.1 (MPL)Common Development and Distribution License by Sun MicrosystemsCommon Public License 1.0 by IBMEclipse Public License
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ICS269: Computer LawSpring 2008
Overview
History of software and licenses
Categories of licenses
Software Foundations
Popular licenses
Comparison of licenses
Working around licenses
History of Unix Case Study: SCO vs. Linux
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Overview
Permissive
GPL LGPL MPL
X11/MIT
Apache
BSD
Strong
Copyleft
Permissive licenses
Restrictive
Weak Copyleft
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Copyleft
Copyright vs Copyleft
Against software hoarding Strong vs Weak Copyleft
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GNU GPL(General Public License)
Current versions: GPLv2,GPLv3
Major products licensedunder GNU GPL: Linux kernel
Almost all GNU projects
excluding libraries Java 6, Qt, KDE, MySQL,
Inkscape,
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GNU LGPL(Lesser General Public License)
Current versions: LGPLv2,LGPLv3
Major products licensedunder GNU LGPL:GNU libraries, such as
libgcc, libstdc++, etc
OpenOffice, JBoss
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MPL(Mozilla Public License)
Current version: 1.1
Major products licensed
under MPL:Mozilla Foundation products
OpenSolaris, Adobe Flex,Erlang
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pSpring 2008
Apache Software License(ASL)
Current version: 1.1, 2.0
Major products licensed
under Apache: Apache Software
Foundation products Apache HTTP Server
Huge collection of tools andlibraries
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pSpring 2008
BSD Licensesincluding MIT/X11
Very short and simple
Not a single license, but
class of licenses Major products licensed
under BSD-like licenses: All flavors of BSD operating
systems X Windows System (X11)
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BSD 3-clause License Redistributions of source code
must retain the above copyrightnotice.
Redistributions in binary form mustreproduce the above copyrightnotice.
The name of the may not be used to endorse orpromote products derived from thissoftware without specific priorwritten permission.
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GPL Compatibility What does it mean?
Why is it important?
Sourceforge.net statistics
GPL
65%
Others
20%
LGPL
9%
BSD-
like6%
FSFs free software directory
GPL
89%
Artistic
1.9%
LGPL
7%
BSD-like
2%
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Other criterias
Proprietary Software linking
Redistributing of the code with changes
Distribution of the Work
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Comparison matrix
GPL LGPL MPL3-clause
BSD, MITApache
GPL-compatible
Compatible
with GPLv3only
ProprietarySoftwarelinking
Redistributingof the codewith changes
OnlyunderGPL
Only underGPL orLPGL
OnlyunderMPL
Distributionof the Work
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Static
Linking
Spring 2008
Tricking GPL
libjpeg My software
GPL GPL
libjpeg Thin client
GPL GPL
My software
Commerciallicense
Static Linking
IPC
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Spring 2008
Overview
History of software and licenses
Categories of licenses
Software Foundations
Popular licenses Comparison of licenses
Working around licenses
History of Unix Case Study: SCO vs. Linux
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History of UNIX
- Invented UNIX in ~1969
- Licensed UNIX code to various manufacturers
- Spawned multitude of commercial UNIX derivatives
- UNIX is COMMERCIAL
Ken Thompson (seated)
Dennis Ritchie (standing)
AT&T Bell Labs
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History of UNIX
GNU + Linux Torvalds = GNU/Linux
Independently developed clone ofUNIX
GNU = GNU is Not UNIX
Linux = Linus + Minux
UC Berkeley
Heavy modifications toUNIX, cannot really beconsidered derivativework
Major movements to build a free source UNIX(1990s)
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History of UNIX
Who owns UNIX IP?
Sells To
1993
Sells To
1995
Sells to relationship is strongly simplified
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Case: SCO vs. Linux
Zeitgeist 2003
You can always sue but can you win? It might be worth the risk
- Upswing in intellectual property litigation
- Tech industry had experienced some lucrative settlements
- For example Intergraph received $450mio+$150mio from Intel in 2002
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Case: SCO vs. Linux(starts with SCO vs. IBM)
This presentation is a mix of the happenings in the press and in court
The beginning in March 2003
- Has license agreement with AT&T for UNIX
- Contributes a lot to the Linux community
- Has derivative UNIX work, AIX
- Owns UNIX IP (bought from Novell)
- Sells own Linux distribution
- Most earnings from UNIX products
- Business not going very well
- Claims IBM used UNIX IP in their Linux work
- Goes after the deep pockets!
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Case: SCO vs. Linux
May 2003
SCO: Claims Linux kernel contains SCO code (without saying exactlywhere)
Claims Linux is unauthorized derivative of UNIX
Sends angry letters to about 1500 companies
Plans on suing SuSe, RedHat and Novell (and others)
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Case: SCO vs. LinuxOutline of important events:
breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets
contract: does SCO really own copyright?
Buys UNIX license to support anti-Linux campaign?
Revokes IBMs UNIX license, IBM does not care
May 2003
June 2003
Fear develops over what if SCO is right?
FSF points out SCOs case is flawed due to GPL
Lawsuit has no effect on Linux deploymentsJuly 2003
Linus Torvalds backs up FSF argument
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Case: SCO vs. LinuxOutline of important events:
SCO offers own Linux license ($799 per desktop)
Sues for interference with business and patent infringement
Sues for false advertising, false and deceptive practices
August 2003
October 2003
Files counterclaims picking up FSF argument
Threatens to sue individual Linux users
September 2003
GPL violates US constitution, export laws and copyright laws
Threatens to sue special effects companies in Hollywood (?) November 2003
To US Congress: GPL undermines system of IPJanuary 2004
April 2004Removes claims that GPL violates constitution in court
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Case: SCO vs. LinuxOutline of important events:
Announces it will not issue more lawsuits
Drops claim of patent infringement (no money to gain)
Breach of contract. Novell entitled to 95% of income from UNIX
August 2004
Wants partial summary judgment (have not been paid)
Wants summary judgment
July 2005
October 2005
September 2006
September 2007Files for bankruptcy
Discussion goes back and forth whether SCO owns UNIX copyright
SCO has still not brought enough evidence.
Basically the end of the story.
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SCO Stock Price Development From 2003 - 2008
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Jan-03
Apr-03
Jul-03
Oct-03
Jan-04
Apr-04
Jul-04
Oct-04
Jan-05
Apr-05
Jul-05
Oct-05
Jan-06
Apr-06
Jul-06
Oct-06
Jan-07
Apr-07
Jul-07
Oct-07
Date
Stoc
k
Price
Stock Price
Beginning ofLawsuit
SCO sends1500 angryletters
IBM filescounterclaims,
stating it violatedGPL and IBMscopyright
SCO sends out morewarning letters
SCO offers Linuxlicense, claimsGPL is invalid
What ifSCO isright?
GPL isvalid afterall
IBM and Novellwant summary
judgment
SCO files forbankruptcy
Novell entersgame, doubtingSCOs ownershipof UNIX
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Case: SCO vs. Linux
Summary of arguments in SCO case
SCO:
- Linux is derivative of UNIX
- GPL is invalid- Linux contains SCO code
Rest:
- UNIX IP does not entirely belong to SCO
- Code was released under GPL- Linux and SCOs common code come from thirdsource which is in public domain
- SCOs code was stolen from Linux
Basically a battle of money. In the end SCO was not able to scare the world into turningtheir backs on Linux or buying SCOs Linux license. SCO ran out of money.
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Disclaimer
We are not attorneys, and thispresentation is based upon ourinterpretations of the licenses and events,which may be incorrect. This informationhas been posted for our own use. It in noway constitutes legal advice. You shouldhire an attorney and read the licensesyourself before making any decisions.
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Referenceshttp://www.gnu.orghttp://www.opensource.org/http://www.fsf.org/http://www.wikipedia.orghttp://www.microsoft.com/resources/sharedsource/default.mspx
http://static.userland.com/userLandDiscussArchive/msg019844.html
http://developer.kde.org/documentation/licensing/licenses_summary.htmlhttp://www.dwheeler.com/essays/gpl-compatible.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_license
http://www.news.com/2100-1016-991464.htmlhttp://www.albion.com/security/intro-2.htmlhttp://www.linux.org/news/sco/timeline.htmlhttp://www.cyber.com.au/users/conz/linux_vs_sco_matrix.html