Trash Talk
The story of “Let’s Do It!” is both a story of civic triumph and a validation of open source software technology. But like the successful campaign of Barack Obama, the…
Author Archives: OSI Policy Team
It’s about time: a return to anti-trust enforcement
A special report from CNNMoney.com quotes Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney saying “As antitrust enforcers, we can no longer sit on the sidelines.” It’s about time! As many of you…
2009 OSI Board Elections held in April
The OSI board’s annual nominations and elections were held on April 1, 2009.
Highlights of this process included:
1. New Board Membership:
The board seat vacated by Mr. Bruno Souza was filled by Mr. Andrew Oliver, who has been a board observer for the last year.
2. Amendment to OSI’s By-laws:
Open Database License
If you think open data is as important as open source, then please take a look at a release candidate of the Open Database License (ODbL). It uses a combination…
An Open Source Silo
Okay, so Doc Searls has been blogging for a long time about how you don’t want to get involved in a silo (context: a silo is a proprietary user interface…
Wanted: Future trainers on “Free & Open Source Business Models for Africa” in East and Southern Africa!
– Are you interested in building a successful business in Free/Open Source Software (FOSS), and in helping others to do the same? – Do you have a solid background in…
West Africa to invest in FOSS Study
FOSSFA and OSIWA, in their Free and Open Source Software for West Africa and Beyond (FOSSWAY) project are set to invest in FOSS research in West Africa. In the recently…
OSI signs an MOU with the Korea Software Copyright Committee
I visited Seoul last week to represent OSI at an open source conference and to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Software Copyright Committee (SOCOP). SOCOP organized…
When you’re in Open Source your error longevity is nearly eternal
When you have a startup you ego-surf a lot. It isn’t for the normal reasons people ego surf (indeed there is something inside of me left over from my punk…
Do Patents Encourage or Hinder Innovation? The Case of the Steam Engine
The Freeman, in December of last year, published an excellent study of a natural experiment in patents: the Steam Engine. The power of a steam engine is rated in “duty”:…
Not a coder? Want to contribute to open source?
Are you not a coder? Or are your coding skills rusty, having moved on? No matter! You can still contribute to open source. Open source is only one part of…
275 Open Source Policy Initiatives (and growing)…
The Center for Strategic and International Studies released their sixth update to their CSIS Open Source Policy Study last year, and given their track record we should expect to see…