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On 2008.05.28 19:48, Colonel Panic wrote: |
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> Re:http://www.gentoo.org/foundation/en/ |
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> |
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> "In order to sustain the current quality and development swiftness |
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> the |
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> Gentoo project needs a framework for intellectual property protection |
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> and financial contributions while limiting the contributors' legal |
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> exposure." |
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> |
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> Such a framework should be an ethical one, in that it should be fair |
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> and just and not misleading in any way. Ideally reference to the |
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> misnomer of intellectual property should replaced by recognition of |
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> the ongoing benefit which arises from constructive input, whether it |
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> be a bug report or a complete software management system. |
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> |
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[snip] |
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|
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Now there is a minefield for the ethics project. |
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There is no universal standard of ethics. Standards vary from region to |
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region and time to time. They are all 'right' of course, in that they |
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suit their subscribers. |
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|
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The Gentoo Foundation has very little intellectual property and its |
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growing slowly if at all. Some history is probably in order. |
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Gentoo under Daniel Robbins was quite different that it is today. |
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Developers were asked to sign over copyright in their contributions to |
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Gentoo Technologies Inc, which was a company set up by Daniel. |
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When Daniel left Gentoo and set up the Gentoo Foundation, the |
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intellectual property belonging to Gentoo Technologies Inc was signed |
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over to the Foundation. That's a simplification but is a high level |
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overview of how we got to where we are today. |
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Around the same time as Daniel leaving, the copyright assignment |
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stopped happening. Perhaps devs who have been around longer than me can |
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clarify. |
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|
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Reinstating copyright assignment (to the Foundation) has been touched |
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on but is very complex as laws relating to copyright vary around the |
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world. e.g. In Germany, you cannot assign your copyright to another |
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party. In the UK, draconian employment laws mean the copyright in |
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anything you do in your own time on your own equipment may belong to |
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your |
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employer, so its not yours to assign in the first place. |
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|
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Thus the Gentoo Foundation only has what it inherited from Gentoo |
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Technologies Inc and any contributions made since by devs that have |
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signed over copyright. |
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|
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The idea of centrally held copyright for open source at least, is that |
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it is easier to enforce. When everyone keeps their own copyright, |
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enforcement has to be done by all the copyright holders acting |
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together. |
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|
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There is lots there to discuss, so I have snipped the rest for now. |
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|
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- -- |
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Regards, |
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|
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Roy Bamford |
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(NeddySeagoon) a member of |
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gentoo-ops |
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forum-mods |
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treecleaners |
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trustees |
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-- |
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