Lit Review 8: Market Power and Regulation

This time we are looking at an interesting bit of literature detailing how companies operate under differing monopolization laws

Who:

The article was written by Jean Tirole

What:

The paper details how companies act under different market strains and conditions

Where:

You can find the section here.

When:

The paper was published on October 13th, 2014

The Gist:

The paper details Triole's work on different economic models and their issues detailing actual economics in action.

The Good:

• Text is easy to read
• Explains examples pretty adequately

The Bad:

• The paper seems to be written in the third person which just throws things off
• Doesn't actually have very much to do with selling code

Any Questions?

• What model should we actually be using?
• Is there something that we can do?

In Conclusion:

I personally didn't really enjoy this reading very much. Normally I like papers like this, but I find it hard to grasp what the end goal of the paper is. It seems to focus on the difficulty of having a proper economic model, but doesn't do anything beyond say that it is difficult. This honestly feels like the forward to an actual paper as opposed to anything else. 5/10.

Team Proposal 2: Free Software Foundation

Team Proposal

chrisknepper - chris82thekid@gmailcom - Leader
Joe Trotta - Organizational Details - document manager
mstubinis - mst6119@rit.edu - writer

Pharas - bke2759@rit.edu - writer
Beruberufunbot - writer

Organization:

Free Software Foundation

Description of the Organization?
Nonprofit dedicated to promoting computer user freedom and defend the rights of free software users

Description of the project?
They don't have a specific project to be described...

Describe each team member's role?
chrisknepper - Organizational details
beruberufunbot - Communications
Joe Trotta - Organizational details
mstubinis - Architecture
Pharas - Architecture

Organization/Project Source Code Repository URL?
They do not really have one... here is their site though

Upstream:

We will be looking into contacting someone from FSF for support, but no-one specific at this time

How will you communicate with them?

Probably via Email or IRC depending on their preferred method

What do you anticipate the easy parts will be?

• Write up
• Compiling information after contact is acquired

What do you anticipate the hard parts will be?

• Getting Contacts
• Communication with contact

How will you overcome both?
There are five members of the group, so work distribution will allow us adequate time to find anything we need

If something goes wrong, what contingencies do you have in place?

There are five people in the group, so if something happens to one of us, the others will be there to pic up the torch.

Should we be unable to get a contact, we can still try to scour the net online

When will your group meet regularly outside of class time?
We will probably meet over the weekend to hash everything out that we need, and again on Wednesday to make sure the presentation is good to go.

Lit Review 7: GPL Guide Chapter 12 Section 1

This time we are looking at Chapter 12 Section 1. It is a little short, but let's take a look

Who:

The GPL Guide was written by Bradley M. Kuhn, Anthony K. Sebro Jr., and Denver Gingerich

What:

The usage of Free Software in the Workplace

Where:

You can find the section here.

When:

The GPL Guide was last updated in 2014, though the document itself doesn't specify when.

The Gist:

As long as you are not actively redistributing the code, you can propagate the code among your company as much as you want really.

The Good:

• Simple topic with short answer
• Entirely clear on subject

The Bad:

• The brevity means that there is little in the way of substance

Any Questions?

• While it seems not, is there any limit at all on what you can do with the code?

In Conclusion:

Free Software is free and you can use it as you see fit as long as you aren't trying to push it somewhere else. All in all, fairly straight-forward and to the point. 10/10

Team Proposal 1 - Ubuntu

So we are doing our first proposal for Biz-Leg, here is what we have.

Team Proposal

mstubinis - mst6119@rit.edu - Lead

Pharas - bke2759@rit.edu - Documentation

Organization:

Canonical/The Ubuntu Project

Description of the Organization?
A UK Based private company used for the distribution and commercial support of the Ubuntu Project.

Description of the project?
Open source operating system based around Delbian

Describe each team member's role?
mstubinis - Research director
Pharas - Documentation

Organization/Project Source Code Repository URL?
Upstream Archive

Upstream:

We will be looking into contacting someone from Ubuntu for support, but no-one specific at this time

How will you communicate with them?

Probably via Email or IRC depending on their preferred method

What do you anticipate the easy parts will be?

• Write up
• Compiling information after contact is acquired
  

What do you anticipate the hard parts will be?

• Getting Contacts
• Communication with contact
  

How will you overcome both?
Start sending emails to any resources listed on the Ubuntu site to see if they would be willing to talk with us. Then work on gathering the various data points that are required

If something goes wrong, what contingencies do you have in place?

There are two people in the group, so if something happens to one of us, the other will be there to pic up the torch.

Should we be unable to get a contact, we can still try to scour the net online

When will your group meet regularly outside of class time?
We will probably meet over the weekend to hash everything out that we need, and again on Wednesday to make sure the presentation is good to go.

Lit Review 6: SFLC Legal Primer Chapter 3

Taking a step back in the Legal Primer, we are looking at Chapter 3. Let's dig in.

Who:

The Primer is written by a laundry list of who's who of FOSS: Richard Fontana, Bradley M. Kuhn, Eben Moglen, Matthew Norwood, Daniel B. Ravicher, Karen Sandler, James Vasile, and Aaron Williamson.

What:

The chapters of The Primer we are covering today detail much of the Primer is and some basic details on a couple of the many licenses that you can choose to file your project under.

Where:

You can find a copy of The Primer here.

When:


The Primer hasn't been updated in a while, but the last revision was put out in 2008.



The Gist:

Should your project form under a corporate banner or possibly join under the umbrella of a larger organization? What else can you do with it.

The Good:

Simple to read
Covers a fairly important subject
Gives several options to the reader

The Bad:
Fairly short chapter overall
Is fairly elementary with the subject matter




Any Questions?

Why choose one organization over another for Umbrellas?

Do Liability clauses in licenses not work?

If a library is been thrown over the wall, are you still liable?



Final Thoughts and Rating:

This is an important chapter as it lays the grounds for how a project should act when it comes to legal bodies. The lay terms help illustrate how things happen in at least a basic sense. Overall, 8/10.

Lit Review 1: Comprehensive GPL Guide - Chapter 1

The Comprehensive GPL Guide is rather long guide on all things GPL, but Chapter 1 is what we are interested in.

Who:

The GPL Guide was written by Bradley M. Kuhn, Anthony K. Sebro Jr., and Denver Gingerich

What:

A guide to what exactly is Software Freedom

Where:

You can find the Comprehensive GPL guide here.

When:

The GPL Guide was last updated in 2014, though the document itself doesn't specify when.

The Gist:

Software Freedom is important and it is important to know what that entails. Chapter 1 goes into everything that that means.

The Good:

• Good at introducing the concept of Free Software
• Talked a fair portion about the difference between Free and Public
• Introduced the philosophy behind the GPL

The Bad:

• Few examples of licenses in action
• While it explains freedom itself, it doesn't go into anything else at all.

Any Questions?

• License compatibility?
• Are there licenses which prevent sale period

In Conclusion:

This serves as an interesting document, mostly because it helps illustrate a key point of contention that most people don't understand about Free and Open Source Software. For that alone, it is noteworthy. While it tries to have a sense of humor about the subject a little, it is still a fairly dry read, but that is to be expected. Overall, 7/10.

Lit Review 3: SFLC Legal Primer Chapter 4

We are revisiting the Foss Legal Primer, this time with Chapter 4. Lets dive in. 

Who:

The Primer is written by a laundry list of who's who of FOSS: Richard Fontana, Bradley M. Kuhn, Eben Moglen, Matthew Norwood, Daniel B. Ravicher, Karen Sandler, James Vasile, and Aaron Williamson.

What:

The chapters of The Primer we are covering today detail much of the Primer is and some basic details on a couple of the many licenses that you can choose to file your project under.

Where:

You can find a copy of The Primer here.

When:


The Primer hasn't been updated in a while, but the last revision was put out in 2008.

The Gist:

This chapter primarily deals with patenting a FOSS project and what it can mean for your licenses.  

The Good:


Clear information
Has decent advice for not breaking patent and copyright claims
Shows philosophy behind patents and FOSS.



The Bad:


"It depends" is the standard response for untested licenses
Very GPL-oriented
Patent System doesn't really work for the people at all times



Any Questions?


What happens when you patent existing code bases and then update them?
Are there licenses with Patent clauses?
Willful Infringement?



Final Thoughts and Rating:


The Legal Primer is a good read overall, but this chapter takes it into a very weird area. This is mostly because the US Patent system is a very strange beast that doesn't really treat well with the nature of code. That said, the Primer does its best to explain to the layman how they should deal with it, even if only in a primary fashion. 9/10.