OSWALD Newsletter Archives (by issue #, click to view)
The Open Source Law Weekly Digest or OSWALD first launched late in 2002. Since then it has been regularly providing updates on all things open source related. The focus of this newsletter is on business, rather than technical developments in open source. Another strong component of the newsletter is IP news, as it is of interest to me and has an effect on open source.
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OSWALD #346 Period ending 15 February 2010
Welcome to the Open Source Law Weekly Open Source Digest (OSWALD)
A comparatively short OSWALD this week. The Morevna Project is creating an anime based on a Russian folk tale using FOSS tools and a CC licence. There's more on the British Library providing a public ser^H^H^H^H^H tying researchers to closed formats. Also, though not an open source article, there's a story about existing copies of Windows being changed to continually phone home.
>From my blog: http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/copyright-sense-iinet-wins-in-federal-court/
http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/a-gs-copyright-fact-sheet-misleading/
http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/record-company-piracy-6bn-losses/
http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/no-cost-too-great-for-copyright/
http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/copyright-and-confirmation-bias/
Verbatim distribution with attribution ok.
Other distribution - email me.
Regards
Brendan
Brendan Scott
Open Source Law
***** Off Topic
The Morevna Project: Anime with Synfig and Blender http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/morevna_project_anime_synfig_and_blender
The Morevna Project aims to create an animated film in a modern anime-style retelling a very old Russian folktale known as "Marya Morevna". It's a free culture production project pushing the envelope in several ways -- entirely using free software tools and releasing under the free Creative Commons Attribution license.
Who Owns Your PC? New Anti-Piracy Windows 7 Update "Phones Home" to Microsoft Every 90 Days http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000681.html
Note that I'm not talking about the one-time activation that you (or your PC manufacturer) performs on new Windows systems to authenticate them to Microsoft initially. I'm talking a procedure that would "check-in" your system with Microsoft at quarterly intervals, and that could take actions to significantly change your "user experience" whenever the authentication regime declares you to have fallen from grace.
***** Government/Policy
British Library Helps Lock Down More Knowledge http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2785&blogid=14
http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/microsoft-and-british-library-develop-open-source-research-tool-3306
It has been a sad spectacle to see the British Library - without doubt once the greatest library in the world, and hence a powerful force for disseminating knowledge as widely as possible - become more and more enmeshed in locking down research in proprietary formats.
***** Patent/CR/DRM News+Policy
The Annoying Behavior of the RIAA Scum Bird (cartoon) http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1354b.html
Veoh Closing Down, UMG Lawsuit Blamed http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i550e90cd48d89b8c0504928f5c1c244e?utm_source=BillboardLatest&utm_medium=twitter
"Veoh is dead. Universal Music lawsuit was the main killer. Veoh won resoundingly but was mortally wounded by the senseless suit. "
IBM, Sun, Others Face Data Encryption Patent Suit http://topnews.law360.com/print_article/148603
The suit claims that the technology companies have made billions of dollars through the unauthorized use of TecSec's patented encryption technology. The companies have used the technology in numerous database management systems, application servers and processing systems, the suit claims.
Warner Music Shoots Self In Head; Says No More Free Streaming http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100210/1131198110.shtml
***** Implementations
How We Implemented Linux in Our Ministry http://gabrielforster.com/2010/02/how-we-implemented-linux-in-our-ministry/
We had a problem, however, in our licensing. A number of years ago we purchased a 100-volume license for Windows 2000. This would still be good for our new(er) machines, but Windows 2000 is terribly outdated and unsupported. It then became a matter of stewardship. Should we outlay a large sum of money for XP which would soon be replaced by Windows 7? Sure, the hardware cannot handle 7, but it would eventually be replaced and the cycle would start again. We are a small ministry, not a large corporation that can afford to keep up with the costs and offer our students a quality education at the same time.
***** Applications/Gadgets
Intel taps student's robot for processor demo http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10450394-1.html
It runs on the Ubuntu open-source operating system.
Is Your Smartphone a Thin Client? http://blog.datamation.com/blog/2010/02/is-your-smartph.html
Yet Citrix, in partnership with mobile virtualization software vendor Open Kernel Labs, is pushing the Nirvana Phone. The futuristically named phone aims to make your lowly handheld into a full-fledged thin client.
Open Source Hardware Hacking With the PogoPlug http://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale8x/blog/open-source-hardware-hacking-pogoplug
The PogoPlug is a multimedia-sharing device, which connects up to four external hard drives and makes them securely accessible from any Web browser connected to the Internet. The PogoPlug is built using open source Linux and other open source software and encourages its users to modify it.
6 of the Best Android Mobile Devices http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20100206062016681/Android.html
Archos 5 Internet Tablet reviewed http://www.smartphonedaily.co.uk/reviews/review-archos-5-internet-tablet/
Although not a smartphone the Archos 5 Internet Tablet is of interest to smartphone watchers as an example of a device based on the truly open source version of Android: in other words, an Android device without Google.
3G router serves both wired and wireless users http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/NetGear-MBRN3300E/
NetGear announced a Linux-based 3G mobile router developed in collaboration with Ericsson.
Nokia N900: First Look http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/nokia-n900-first-look
The N900 isn't Nokia's first pocketable Linux computer.
***** Reports
What Matters to Open Source: Licensing or Community? http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/interviews/6980/1/
When it comes to defining open source, licensing is a critical topic since it's the license that helps to make an application or effort open. But for Michael Tiemann, president of the Open Source Initiative, it's not necessarily the only key success factor for open source projects.
Red Hat Ramps Up Open Source Cloud Projects http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/features/article.php/3864436/
Today during Red Hat's Open Source Cloud Computing Forum, software engineers from the company revealed a number of initiatives under development for application deployment, database scaling and storage that meet the distributed needs that cloud infrastructures demand.
Why Google Buzz Isn't Buzzworthy http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/article.php/3864381/Why-Google-Buzz-Isnt-Buzzworthy.htm
http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7703
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189081/google_buzz_criticized_for_disclosing_gmail_contacts.html
Google Buzz is "open" from a consumer perspective in terms of using standard applications, such as Picasa, Flickr and YouTube. But it's "closed" in a developer sense, in its failure to support the Twitter API, for example.
ASUS wants to be "another Apple" http://www.tuaw.com/2010/02/10/asus-wants-to-be-another-apple/
ASUS chairman Jonney Shih has successfully guided his company through the spinoff of their manufacturing arm Pegatron (whom Apple is already ready to do business with), and in the process stated that he wants the computer maker to become "another Apple," but one based on open-source platforms like Google's Chrome OS and Android platform and chips sourced from ARM.
The Endgame of Proprietary Formats and Protocols http://blog.internode.on.net/2010/02/12/microsoft-exchange-at-internode/
We've been trying to get a working, open source based, cross platform calendaring system happening at Internode for years and years. And we've never managed it.
***** Snippets
Never reboot again with Ksplice http://blogs.computerworld.com/15560/never_reboot_again_with_ksplice
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 Beta Expands Virtualization http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/3864131/Red-Hat-Enterprise-Linux-55-Beta-Expands-Virtualization.htm
>From Windows to Linux: a sound decision http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/open-sauce/36698-from-windows-to-linux-a-sound-decision
How Microsoft uses open source to fight open source http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=5822
Red Hat Revs While VMware Takes to the Streets http://www.serverwatch.com/virtualization/article.php/3864276/Red-Hat-Revs-While-VMware-Takes-to-the-Streets.htm
Linux users, get your Windows refund today http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10015089o-2000643222b,00.htm
OpenOffice.org vs. Microsoft Office http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine/openofficeorg-vs-microsoft-office
The Five most popular corporate open-source programs http://blogs.computerworld.com/15574/the_five_most_popular_corporate_open_source_programs
Google throws down gauntlet: no more book settlement changes http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/02/google-throws-down-gauntlet-no-more-book-settlement-changes.ars
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