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Denise Howell Denise Howell
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Dennis M. Kennedy Dennis M. Kennedy
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Tom Mighell Tom Mighell
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Marty Schwimmer Marty Schwimmer
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Ernest Svenson Ernest Svenson
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Denise Howell is a seasoned appellate and intellectual property litigator based in Los Angeles. Denise writes one of the first and most popular law-related blogs, Bag and Baggage, coined the term "blawg" and helped pioneer podcasting for lawyers. Microcontent obsessed since 2001, she is frequently quoted in the media on legal issues involving intellectual property and technology law. "Sound Policy" is Denise's show at IT Conversations, and it's also what she hopes results from the briefs she submits to court. Email Denise at dhowell@gmail.com.

Dennis Kennedy is a computer lawyer and legal technology expert based in St. Louis, Missouri. An award-winning author, a frequent speaker and a widely-read blogger, he has more than 300 publications on legal, technology and Internet topics, many of which are collected in his e-books. Dennis has been described as someone who knows almost every rock song in existence and, more importantly, how they apply to technology and law. Email Dennis at his gmail address.

Tom Mighell is Senior Counsel and Litigation Technology Support Coordinator at Cowles & Thompson in Dallas. He has published the Internet Legal Research Weekly newsletter since 2000 and blogged about the Internet and legal technology at Inter Alia since August of 2002. With Tom's singing, Ernie on guitar and Dennis' encylopedic knowledge of rock music, we may have the beginnings of a good band, if this whole blog thing doesn't work out. Email Tom at tmighell@swbell.net.

Marty Schwimmer left a partnership in the largest trademark practice in the world and founded Schwimmer Mitchell, a full-service IP micro-boutique in Westchester County, New York, where he represents owners of famous and not yet famous trademarks. He founded The Trademark Blog, the first IP law blog and the one with the most pictures. He is the first to come in and the last to leave in his firm. Email Marty at marty@schwimmerlegal.com.

Ernest Svenson practices law with a mid-sized law firm in New Orleans, specializing in business-related lawsuits. Most of his practice takes place in federal court, especially the Eastern District. He is best known for his weblog Ernie the Attorney, which he started as an experiment. Like many experiments it got out of control. Nevertheless, he continues to practice law and, occasionally, to seek enlightenment. Email Ernest at esvenson@gmail.com.
About this blog
Between Lawyers provides just-in-time group commentary on the issues raised when technology, culture and the law intersect. We take you behind the firewalls and conference room doors to show you how experienced lawyers deal with these issues and help you prepare for the new challenges we all face. For more, see our introductory post.
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August 1, 2006

Rethinking the Future of Open Source Licenses

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Posted by Dennis M. Kennedy

It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of Open Source software and, as a result, the Open Source licenses.

There's a lot to think about in the land of Open Source these days, much discussion, and much discussiion to come. And there is much rethinking.

This is a discussion that readers of this blog should be following and, where it makes sense, contributing to.

First, consider carefully the discussion opened by Tim O'Reilly's recent post "Open Source Licenses Are Obsolete," which, not surprisingly, has generated some controversy and discussion. However, O'Reilly raises several key points, one of which has been discussed for a while - how do software license models, including Open Source licenses, work in a world that is moving toward "software as a service" models?

At the same time, work on a major revision of the General Public license continues. The current draft of version 3 of the GPL is here. John Paczkowski's humorously titled post is a good intro to the GPL revision, covering Linus Torvald's objections and giving some good links.

I've written about the Open Source licenses in what I hope is a practical and understandable way (links here).

The Open Source licenses, Open Source software and the Open Source philosophy and community may well be the most significant and influential area of technology today. It's a subject that you must educate yourself about.

Comments (4) + TrackBacks (0) | Category: Open Source


COMMENTS

1. Charles Hixson on August 2, 2006 10:16 PM writes...

"impossible to underestimate the importance "?
Perhaps this line could take a bit more thought.

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2. Dennis on August 3, 2006 7:55 AM writes...

Looks like I got that exactly backwards. Thanks for catching that.

I'll probably change it to "difficult to overestimate the importance" or something like that.

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3. flash200 on August 3, 2006 6:16 PM writes...

I think what was intended is, "It is impossible to overestimate the importance" (under -> over)

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4. flash200 on August 3, 2006 6:16 PM writes...

I think what was intended is, "It is impossible to overestimate the importance" (under -> over)

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