The OSDL (Open Source Development Labs) should encourage its members to follow IBM's lead and open up 500 patents for use in open source, says Stephen J. Vaughan-Nichols, in a lively eWEEK editorial that points out some of the absurdities created by current US software patent laws.

According to Vaughan-Nichols, developers are discouraged from educating themselves about patents, because willful misappropriation carries penalties much greater than accidental misuse of patented technology. This creates a paradox. In order to keep Linux free of patent infringements, open source developers must learn about patents. But learning about patents could expose them to greater legal risks.

“Current U.S. patent law creates an environment in which vendors and developers are generally advised by their lawyers not to examine other people's software patents, because doing so creates the risk of triple damages for willful infringement,” Vaughan-Nichols quotes OSRM founder Daniel Egger as saying. OSRM insures companies using Linux against software patent claims and other liabilities.

Vaughan-Nichols says the OSDL should take the problem seriously, and encourage its many large, influential member companies — including Cisco, CA, and Sun — to follow IBM's lead in freeing up a few patents for use in free software projects.

Read the full Vaughan-Nichols editorial at eWEEK.

 
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