Following in the footsteps of similar programs from HP, the OSDL, and Novell/SuSE, Red Hat today unveiled an “Open Source Assurance” program that includes an Intellectual Property Warranty stating that Red Hat will replace any code with an… “infringement issue,” ensuring interrupted service and product use. Initially, the program is limited to Red Hat customers with valid subscriptions to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Additionally, the program includes an “Open Source Now Fund,” created in August, 2003 to “assist companies with any legal expenses associated with litigation related to the development of software under the GPL or other open source license and to prepare educational materials related to such software and litigation.”

Bryan Sims, vice president of Business Development at Red Hat, said, “Enterprise platform deployments are key investments that should be protected. We have provided this guarantee to many of our large enterprise customers, and we are now extending [it] to all customers who use Red Hat Enterprise Linux.”

More information is available at Red Hat's Website. Interested customers may also write to [email protected].

 
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