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9789067041591

Protecting the Virtual Commons: Self-Organizing Open Source and Free Software Communities and Innovative Intellectual Property Regimes

by
  • ISBN13:

    9789067041591

  • ISBN10:

    9067041599

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2003-08-15
  • Publisher: T.M.C. Asser Press

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Summary

Worldwide, governments and businesses are recognizing the value of open source and free software. Unlike other software, this software is developed and continuously improved by volunteers in communities on the Internet. How are these communities able to continuously develop innovative software in a world dominated by markets, companies and laws? Protecting the Virtual Commons discusses the surprisingly creative solutions that explain the long-lasting stability of these communities. It identifies the threats that the communities are faced with and discusses the amazingly innovative strategies developed to neutralize these threats. This book has been written with a clear focus on intellectual property rights. In their analysis, the authors provide answers to, among others, the following questions: Why have open source and free software communities created so many different licenses to protect their intellectual property? What influence do licenses have on the organization of the communities and their ability to innovate?

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements v
Abbreviations xii
Introduction 1(4)
Questions Guiding the Research
2(1)
Structure of the Report
3(2)
One Describing Open Source and Free Software Communities 5(28)
1.1 Introduction
5(1)
1.2 Popularity of Open Source and Free Software
6(1)
1.3 Historical Development of Openness and Freedom
7(5)
The origin of the Internet
8(1)
Richard Stallman and free software
8(1)
Berkeley Software Distribution
9(2)
Linus Torvalds and Linux
11(1)
The name 'open source'
12(1)
1.4 The Communities
12(7)
Roles in open source and free software communities
12(3)
Software in various forms
15(1)
The software development process
16(2)
The layers of an onion
18(1)
1.5 Characteristics of the Communities
19(11)
Free availability of source code
20(1)
Distributed ownership and control
20(3)
Resources
23(1)
Limited lock-in
24(2)
High tolerance of mistakes
26(1)
Open and ambiguous performance indicators
26(1)
Selection through professional attention
27(1)
Selection based on technical merits (elegance)
28(2)
Limited knowledge about end-users
30(1)
1.6 Summary
30(3)
Two Interpreting Open Source and Free Software Communities 33(18)
2.1 Introduction
33(1)
2.2 The Challenge Facing Open Source and Free Software
34(2)
On the nature of open source and free software
34(1)
Problems facing public goods
35(1)
2.3 How Individuals in Communities Provide a Public Good
36(5)
Low entry costs
37(1)
Low transaction costs
38(1)
The user's direct need
38(2)
Joy
40(1)
Reputation
40(1)
2.4 On the Nature of Innovations
41(3)
Two different approaches
41(1)
The individual and collective level
42(1)
Innovation in open source and free software communities
43(1)
2.5 Variation and Selection in Open Source and Free Software Communities
44(6)
Variation mechanisms
44(2)
Selection mechanisms
46(3)
Consequences of the selection mechanisms
49(1)
2.6 Summary
50(1)
Three The Commons Under Pressure: Business Processes and IPR 51(20)
3.1 Introduction
51(1)
3.2 What Are Intellectual Property Rights?
52(6)
The economic rationale underlying IPR
52(1)
Different institutions under the IPR umbrella
53(2)
The system of copyrights in the United States and the European Union
55(1)
Patents in the United States and the European Union
56(2)
3.3 Copyrights and Patents on Software
58(4)
Challenges
58(1)
Copyrights on software in the United States and the European Union
59(1)
Software patents in the United States and the European Union
60(1)
Colonizing the commons?
61(1)
3.4 Firms and Their Attitude Towards IPR in the Digital Age
62(4)
The business model of companies
62(1)
Ownership of software
63(1)
Lock-in
63(1)
Decision-making
64(1)
Company resources
64(1)
Characteristics compared
65(1)
3.5 Threats From the Physical Domain
66(4)
Patents
66(2)
Companies hiring core open source and free software developers
68(1)
Free-riding
68(1)
Performance indicators
68(1)
Commercialization
69(1)
3.6 Summary
70(1)
Four Mechanisms to Protect the Commons 71(22)
4.1 Introduction
71(1)
4.2 Open Source and Free Software Licenses
72(7)
The BSD license
72(1)
Derivatives of the BSD license
73(1)
The GPL
74(1)
GPL version 3.0
75(2)
Derivatives of the GPL
77(1)
Effects of the licenses
77(1)
Legal status of the licenses
78(1)
4.3 Beachheads
79(7)
The Free Software Foundation
79(2)
The Open Source Initiative
81(1)
The Apache Software Foundation
82(1)
The KDE Free Qt Foundation
83(1)
The Python Software Foundation
84(1)
Effects of the organizations
85(1)
4.4 Strategies
86(3)
Boycott of software
86(1)
Developing alternatives
87(1)
Power play
88(1)
Publish early
88(1)
Effects of the strategies
89(1)
4.5 Communities Becoming a Threat to the Corporate Software Development Model
89(2)
The GPL virus
90(1)
4.6 Effects of the Protection Mechanisms
91(2)
Five Living Apart Together: Hybrid Business Strategies on the Edge of the Commons 93(16)
5.1 Introduction
93(1)
5.2 Hybrid Strategies for Software Developers
94(5)
Business model
94(1)
The method of dual licensing
95(1)
Different development lines
96(1)
Stimulating developers to continue working in communities
97(2)
5.3 Hybrid Strategies for Hardware Manufacturers
99(3)
Business model
99(1)
Giving away free hardware
99(1)
Outsourcing software development
100(1)
Outsourcing testing
101(1)
5.4 Hybrid Strategies for Corporate Users
102(3)
The business logic
102(1)
The dilemma
102(2)
Using the stable version
104(1)
Creating a business forum
104(1)
5.5 Conclusion
105(4)
Six Analysis and Conclusion 109(8)
The Open Source and Free Software Licenses
109(1)
Intellectual Property Rights
110(1)
Tensions Between the Commons and Companies
111(2)
The Role of Governments
113(4)
References 117(8)
Literature
117(5)
Respondents in the United States
122(2)
Respondents in the Netherlands
124(1)
Appendix: the licenses 125(38)
Berkeley Software Distribution
126(1)
Academic Free Software License
127(3)
Apache Software License
130(2)
General Public License
132(10)
Lesser General Public License
142(13)
Sun Industry Standards Source License
155(8)
About the authors 163(2)
Index 165

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