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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Welcome to the Open Source Law Weekly Open Source Digest (OSWALD)
You might notice that, while you are receiving this now, it only covers news up to 27 September. Expect another in the coming days with reports since then.
Of particular interest this week is the resounding success of the Pirate Party in Berlin State elections (apparently not Federal elections, but I'm not familiar with the intricacies of the BundesRepublik's federal structure). The other story of interest is the locking down of the boot process for computers in the future. You won't be able to boot a computer without the permission of the manufacturer.
Check my Posts on Authorization in AU/iiNet: http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/iinet-the-history-of-authorization-and-sanction-approve-countenance/
http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/iinet-authorisation-and-the-nature-of-the-relationship-under-1011ab/
*From my blog: http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/gov-2-0-open-source-wrongness/
http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/iinet-disturbed-by-full-federal-court-decision/
http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/cablegate-shows-copyright-as-the-emporers-new-clothes/
Verbatim distribution with attribution ok.
Other distribution - email me.
Regards
Brendan
Brendan Scott
Open Source Law
***** Off Topic
DigiNotar Files for Bankruptcy http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=11652
After having its SSL and EVSSL certificates deemed untrustworthy by the most popular browsers, VASCO announced that DigiNotar, filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition and was declared bankrupt today.
Facebook’s OpenGraph: Time to get out http://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2011/09/23/facebooks-opengraph-time-to-get-out/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/read_in_facebook_social_news_apps.php
UNIVAC: the troubled life of America's first computer http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/09/univac-the-troubled-life-of-americas-first-computer.ars
***** Government/Policy
Pirates’ Strong Showing in Berlin Elections Surprises Even Them http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/world/europe/in-berlin-pirates-win-8-9-percent-of-vote-in-regional-races.html?_r=1
http://boingboing.net/2011/09/18/pirate-party-wins-14ish-seats-in-berlin-parliament.html
By winning 8.9 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election in this city-state, these political pirates surpassed — blew away, really — every expectation for what was supposed to be a fringe, one-issue party promoting Internet freedom.
OnStar plans to track users even after disconnecting service http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/onstar-plans-to-track-users-even-after-disconnecting-service/
Microsoft exec leaving to lead new IP rights advocacy group, with Microsoft’s support http://www.geekwire.com/2011/microsoft-exec-leaving-ip-rights-advocacy-group-microsofts-support
***** Patent/CR/DRM News+Policy
S3 Graphics Targets Apple in Patent Complaint at Trade Agency http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-23/s3-graphics-targets-apple-in-patent-complaint-at-trade-agency.html
Samsung Vs. Apple War Set to Explode http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/23/samsung-vs-apple-war-hits-high-gear/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393469,00.asp
http://www.osnews.com/story/25056/The_Community_Design_and_you_Thought_the_USPTO_Was_Bad
http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusiness/8304533/samsung-to-sue-to-ban-iphone-5-sales-report
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/19/idUSL3E7KJ37T20110919
A top Samsung executive says the company will take a bolder stance in its patent battle with smartphone and tablet rival Apple, which Samsung claims has been "fre"We'll be pursuing our rights for this in a more aggressive way from now on," Lee Younghee, head of global marketing for mobile communications, said Friday in an Regarding Google's proposed $12.5 billion deal to buy mobile phone maker Motorola Mobility, Lee said the plan has not changed Samsung's relationship with the "We still have a very good relationship," she said. "We are working very closely with Google." - Fox News
Implementation of the America Invents Act http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2011/09/implementation-of-the-america-invents-act.html
Patent Law Analysis by Professors Dennis Crouch and Jason Rantanen
Apple sued for iPhone, iPad processor 'patent rip-off' http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/23/via_technologies_sues_apple/
America Invents Act: Prior Use Defense http://inventivestep.net/2011/09/21/america-invents-act-prior-use-defense/
This defense rewards entities that keep innovations secret. There is no longer a risk to keeping developments secret because you can always assert the prior use defense.
A presentation about the unitary patent http://www.unitary-patent.eu/content/presentation-about-unitary-patent
The following video goes thoroughly through all issues raised by the regulation on the unitary patent, stressing how important it is to carefully drawing a good patent policy, pointing at drawbacks of the Commission's proposal for this regulation and proposing some required amendments in order for the unitary patent to quickly come to reality.
Google, Oracle CEOs Said to Make Little Headway in Patent Talks http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-21/google-oracle-ceos-said-to-make-little-headway-in-patent-talks.html
http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LRMI8C07SXKX01-4OS0L46HA383O9LHQQHMQVI56G
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110920-700312.html
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/oracle-vs-google-android-java-lawsuit-settlement-talks-will-go-no-where/9580
Google Inc. and Oracle Corp. chief executive officers made little headway this week in negotiations aimed at resolving a lawsuit accusing the Web-search company of patent infringement, a person briefed on the talks said.
***** Applications/Gadgets
Oracle Debuts New Database Appliance for the Midmarket (Linux powered) http://www.databasejournal.com/news/oracle-midmarket-database-appliance.html
Oracle is also going with a pay-as-you-grow approach for the Database Appliance.
***** Reports
Trouble on the high seas for MySQL? http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/204579/trouble-high-seas-mysql
http://www.internetnews.com/blog/skerner/montys-problem-with-mysql.html
http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/simon-says/2011/09/open-core-mysql/index.htm
It seems that quite a few people are upset about the whole notion of adding commercial-only features to MySQL, seeing it as the end of all innovation in the GPLed flavor of the popular open source database.
Open Virtualization Alliance Expands http://www.serverwatch.com/server-news/open-virtualization-alliance-expands.html
The Open Virtualization Alliance (OVA) got its start in May as an effort to grow KVM virtualization adoption. In the short time since, OVA has grown to more than 200 members, as it aims to provide an open source alternative to VMware for virtualization.
Windows 8, Metro, and the Linux Desktop http://www.datamation.com/open-source/windows-8-metro-and-the-linux-desktop-1.html
One of my first thoughts while looking at Metro was that I've been too hard on GNOME and Unity in the past few months. For all my misgivings about the directions of these two desktops, their current versions are far preferable to the Metro preview
Free as in sake: The story of Koji http://opensource.com/life/11/7/free-sake-story-koji?sc_cid=70160000000IDmjAAG
Koji is an open source build system. While many are familiar with Koji because of the Fedora Project's use of it, Koji is a generic system that is used by different groups around the world.
NASA unbolts open source space applications challenge http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/78725
NASA today said it would host an open source-based application competition that it hopes will deliver a new generation of software that can address space, weather and economic issues.
Red Hat Engineer Calls out Windows 8 Secure Boot as a Linux Risk http://www.internetnews.com/blog/skerner/red-hat-engineer-calls-out-windows-8-secure-boot-as-a-linux-risk.html
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9220234/Microsoft_Red_Hat_spar_over_secure_boot_loading_tech?taxonomyId=89&pageNumber=2
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/21/secure_boot_firmware_linux_exclusion_fears/
Many of us, (myself included) have hardware that was originally running Windows (the so-called Microsoft tax). That hardware has since been re-imaged or dual-booted to load something else, namely Linux. The Windows 8 secure boot process could potentially eliminate that ability on new hardware.
Samsung Mulling Open-Source Future For Its Mobile OS Plan B: Bada, That Is http://moconews.net/article/419-samsung-mulling-open-source-future-for-its-mobile-os-plan-b-bada-that-i/
Understanding Apache Cassandra http://www.tomsitpro.com/articles/open-source-database-big-data-apache-cassandra-cql-sql,2-143.html
Basically, Cassandra is a non-traditional database that's built to scale up to massive data sets for real-time processing.
Red Hat Grows Earnings by Upselling http://www.internetnews.com/itmanagement/red-hat-grows-earnings-by-upselling.html
Red Hat reported second quarter fiscal 2012 results with revenues reported at $281. 3 million, which is a 28 percent year-over-year gain. Net Income also grew, coming in at $40. 0 million which stands in contrast to the $23. 7 million reported for the second quarter of fiscal 2011.
Google Promises One Android for All Screen Sizes--As it Should Be http://ostatic.com/blog/google-promises-one-android-for-all-screen-sizes-as-it-should-be
Although Honeycomb remains tablets-only, the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) release will support big screens, small screens, and everything in between. This is the way Android will stay from now on: the same version runs on all screen sizes.
Why the Best Days of Open Hardware are Yet to Come http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=1863
Microsoft and Casio Sign Patent Agreement http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2011/sep11/09-20CasioPR.mspx
Is Android really free software? http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/sep/19/android-free-software-stallman
To what extent does Android respect the freedom of its users? For a computer user that values freedom, that is the most important question to ask about any software system.
OpenStack Diablo is a Quantum Leap for Open Source Cloud http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2011/09/openstack-diablo-is-a-quantum.php
http://www.serverwatch.com/server-news/openstack-diablo-open-source-cloud-platform-accelerates-high-availability.html
In addition to improving the three core projects, OpenStack is now adding a Web-based dashboard, unified authentication and an API for configuring virtual networks. With Diablo, OpenStack is poised to manage global clouds.
Mozilla Pitches Plan for Extended Firefox Support http://www.datamation.com/applications/mozilla-pitches-plan-for-extended-firefox-support.html
As such, Mozilla has now come up with a proposal for what they refer to as an Extended Support Release (ESR). Instead of the current six week cycle, the ESR release of Firefox will be maintained for 42 weeks.
***** Snippets
Level Linux Display Framework http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTkyMw
OpenIndiana's fork of OpenSolaris sees new Illumos based release http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/OpenIndiana-s-fork-of-OpenSolaris-sees-new-Illumos-based-release-1345362.html
Does open source exclude high context cultures? http://stormyscorner.com/2011/09/does-open-source-exclude-high-context-cultures.html
The Linux desktop is dead. Long live the Linux desktop. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/the-linux-desktop-is-dead-long-live-the-linux-desktop/9562
Stallman's Android deconstruction is an attack on open source http://www.itworld.com/mobile-wireless/204973/more-partisanship-free-software-leadership
Linux 3.1 release delayed for kernel.org and Linus' vacation http://www.internetnews.com/blog/skerner/linux-3.1-release-delayed-for-kernel.org-and-linus-vacation.html
Microsoft Commits to Bringing Technology Access to 1 Million Low-Income Youth http://www.marketwatch.com/story/microsoft-commits-to-bringing-technology-access-to-1-million-low-income-youth-2011-09-20
HP Cutting 500 Jobs at webOS Division http://allthingsd.com/20110919/layoffs-at-hps-palm-division/
CyanogenMod closer to fully running Android on HP TouchPad http://news.cnet.com/cyanogenmod-closer-to-fully-running-android-on-hp-touchpad/8301-1023_3-20108901-93.html
Copyright Troll’s Assets Targeted for Seizure http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/09/righthaven-assets-targeted/
GeeXboX 2.0 is Based on XBMC Media Center http://news.softpedia.com/news/GeeXboX-2-0-is-Based-on-XBMC-Media-Center-222367.shtml
Jenkins vs. Hudson Debate Continues in Conference Showdown http://blog.devx.com/2011/09/jenkins-vs-hudson-debate-conti.html
Kernel Log: Coming in 3.1 (Part 4) - Drivers http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Kernel-Log-Coming-in-3-1-Part-4-Drivers-1346605.html
openSUSE 12.1 Beta Delayed Two Weeks http://ostatic.com/blog/opensuse-12-1-beta-delayed-two-weeks
Continuous Deployment With Jenkins And Rex http://www.howtoforge.com/continuous-deployment-with-jenkins-and-rex
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