11.22.2004  GPL Gets an Extreme Makeover  It wouldn't make for a very exciting reality show, but the GNU General Public License (GPL) is being rewritten for the first time in 13 years, and only the second time since its creation by Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman. Peter Galli in eWeek offers up this great understatement from FSF general counsel Eben Moglen: "We perceive some difficulty and enormous complexity in the fact that the GPL is a worldwide license and the global law of patents is not uniform." A rewrite of the GPL is an opportunity for the serious scholars in the open source movement to step up and demonstrate that intellectual property protection and patent enforcement play critical roles in software innovation. There clearly will be forces, however, who will look to move GPL further away from any sane interpretation of intellectual property. Mixing reality show metaphors, let's hope that contingent is voted off the island. Let's also hope they come up with a sexier name than GNU GPL, an ugly acronym that could use an appearance on The Swan. posted by Patrick Ross : 11/22/2004 04:15:10 PM   IPcentral WebLog Blog Main Recent Posts   Internet Libraries Perverse Incentives for Patent Searches ACU: Hatch Soft on Crime Pirate Act More Conservative Sniping That's Spelled D-i-s-i-n-g-e-n-u-o-u-s Wait a Minute, ACU . . . Patent Backlog More on Differential Pricing P2P 'Oxygen' Archives by Month   December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 Links   PFF Blog

	11.22.2004  GPL Gets an Extreme Makeover  It wouldn't make for a very exciting reality show, but the GNU General Public License (GPL) is being rewritten for the first time in 13 years, and only the second time since its creation by Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman. Peter Galli in eWeek offers up this great understatement from FSF general counsel Eben Moglen: "We perceive some difficulty and enormous complexity in the fact that the GPL is a worldwide license and the global law of patents is not uniform." A rewrite of the GPL is an opportunity for the serious scholars in the open source movement to step up and demonstrate that intellectual property protection and patent enforcement play critical roles in software innovation. There clearly will be forces, however, who will look to move GPL further away from any sane interpretation of intellectual property. Mixing reality show metaphors, let's hope that contingent is voted off the island. Let's also hope they come up with a sexier name than GNU GPL, an ugly acronym that could use an appearance on The Swan. posted by Patrick Ross : 11/22/2004 04:15:10 PM   IPcentral WebLog Blog Main Recent Posts   Internet Libraries Perverse Incentives for Patent Searches ACU: Hatch Soft on Crime Pirate Act More Conservative Sniping That's Spelled D-i-s-i-n-g-e-n-u-o-u-s Wait a Minute, ACU . . . Patent Backlog More on Differential Pricing P2P 'Oxygen' Archives by Month   December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 Links   PFF Blog