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This looks mostly harmless, yet this made me pause: "The effort has been overseen by Heather Meeker". The same Heather Meeker that started the whole "let's rel

by hannob 8y ago

This looks mostly harmless, yet this made me pause: "The effort has been overseen by Heather Meeker". The same Heather Meeker that started the whole "let's relicense FOSS projects with confusing non-FOSS licenses because we don't like that AWS is using our code"-buzz that's been debated a lot lately.

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detaro 8y ago
It's not really surprising that companies wanting a new software license hire a world-class expert in the field to help draft it. Any evidence she "started the whole..." instead of doing her job as a lawyer?
- hannob 8y ago
  > Any evidence she "started the whole..." instead of doing her job as a lawyer? I'm not sure how that's a contradiction. Of course she can start something while doing her job. Evidence: https://commonsclause.com/ https://commonsclause.com/ "The Commons Clause is a license condition drafted by Heather Meeker" https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/29/the-crusade-against-open-source-abuse/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/29/the-crusade-against-open-s... "Heather Meeker wrote both solutions, supported by feedback organized by FOSSA."
  - lilyball 8y ago
    The TechCrunch article you linked indicates that it's the article's author, Salil Deshpande, who's responsible for the Commons Clause. Heather Meeker was just the lawyer tapped for this.
  - detaro 8y ago
    Wouldn't you say the companies that asked her to help create these licenses "started it"? I think for the question if another effort is suspect just because it involves her the source of the motivation is IMHO relevant.
- floatingatoll 8y ago
  EDIT2: Retracted due to tone/presentation error, apologies.
  - geofft 8y ago
    I have trouble making sense of your words, but the question is whether Meeker started this trend—as in, personally decided this would be a good thing and convinced people to accept it—or simply happened to be the lawyer for others who started that trend.
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chandlerc1024 8y ago
Heather is "just" a (fantastic) lawyer. She isn't providing the "here is what would be good for the project" direction, the community and the foundation are doing that. She is helping ensure that we understand the legal implications and requirements of achieving the direction set by the community. And she does (IMO) a fantastic job of that. This also means that if we gave her really bad direction (for the community or project), she would also be fantastic at it. The fault there lies in the direction, not the legal advice.
DannyBee 8y ago
As i've mentioned in other threads - Heather is a hired gun. Depending on what she is doing some people have moral objections to her work (as you appear to), and to what they see as moral flexibility on her part. But in the end she is a great lawyer who understands this stuff very well, and tries to help her clients understand how to achieve their interests/goals. That is very separate from whether those are good goals/not.

by hannob 8y ago

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detaro 8y ago

It's not really surprising that companies wanting a new software license hire a world-class expert in the field to help draft it. Any evidence she "started the whole..." instead of doing her job as a lawyer?

hannob 8y ago
> Any evidence she "started the whole..." instead of doing her job as a lawyer? I'm not sure how that's a contradiction. Of course she can start something while doing her job. Evidence: https://commonsclause.com/ https://commonsclause.com/ "The Commons Clause is a license condition drafted by Heather Meeker" https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/29/the-crusade-against-open-source-abuse/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/29/the-crusade-against-open-s... "Heather Meeker wrote both solutions, supported by feedback organized by FOSSA."
- lilyball 8y ago
  The TechCrunch article you linked indicates that it's the article's author, Salil Deshpande, who's responsible for the Commons Clause. Heather Meeker was just the lawyer tapped for this.
- detaro 8y ago
  Wouldn't you say the companies that asked her to help create these licenses "started it"? I think for the question if another effort is suspect just because it involves her the source of the motivation is IMHO relevant.
floatingatoll 8y ago
EDIT2: Retracted due to tone/presentation error, apologies.
- geofft 8y ago
  I have trouble making sense of your words, but the question is whether Meeker started this trend—as in, personally decided this would be a good thing and convinced people to accept it—or simply happened to be the lawyer for others who started that trend.

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chandlerc1024 8y ago

Heather is "just" a (fantastic) lawyer. She isn't providing the "here is what would be good for the project" direction, the community and the foundation are doing that. She is helping ensure that we understand the legal implications and requirements of achieving the direction set by the community. And she does (IMO) a fantastic job of that. This also means that if we gave her really bad direction (for the community or project), she would also be fantastic at it. The fault there lies in the direction, not the legal advice.

DannyBee 8y ago

As i've mentioned in other threads - Heather is a hired gun. Depending on what she is doing some people have moral objections to her work (as you appear to), and to what they see as moral flexibility on her part. But in the end she is a great lawyer who understands this stuff very well, and tries to help her clients understand how to achieve their interests/goals. That is very separate from whether those are good goals/not.