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Can we setup the equivalent of https://www.openinventionnetwork.com/ https://www.openinventionnetwork.com/ for programming language design? If the patents are
by duncanawoods 8y ago
Can we setup the equivalent of https://www.openinventionnetwork.com/ https://www.openinventionnetwork.com/ for programming language design?
If the patents are to defend the language then they should have no issue donating them to a dedidicated org which gives transparent and iron clad guarantee that they can never be used aggressively. If not, I expect them to pop in the next Apple vs. X thermonuclear ligigation where any and every bit of IP gets used as a weapon.
If we can't fix software patents in the courts then it might come down to us the devs to reject any language or API that doesn't sign up to into the appropriate non-agression pact. We need something similar for API copyright too. We are on a bad path right now where the big orgs have every incentive to be less open and more litigious.
- thekingofh 8y agoApache License 2.0 is as good as donating it. Just now, nobody can sue anyone else for that design feature. Edit: actually, see below.
- solomatov 8y agoIANAL, but as far as I understand Apache 2.0, it grants patent license only in cases which were used in the original code, not universally.
- thekingofh 8y agoYou know what. I looked again at the license. I think this is the first time I've noticed a flaw in the Apache 2.0 license. I think you are right. Derived works is described as: "Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of, the Work and Derivative Works thereof."