[hpsdr] Open Hardware License Law Review Article

Tue Sep 15 06:53:33 PDT 2009

Hi Steve --

Thanks for forwarding this on; I had already received it but 
unfortunately my article was promised to the UD Law Review and I can't 
submit to another journal for a year without their permission (which I'm 
going to try to obtain) -- but then the question is whether Jeremy's 
journal is willing to accept previously published papers.

Appreciate your noticing this and forwarding it on, though.

73,
John
----

Steve Bunch wrote:
> John,
> 
> FYI, this was posted recently in an OpenCores forum.
> 
> Sorry it's a mix of html and text -- the announcement at the bottom is 
> the heart of it, and it's text.  The original is at 
> http://opencores.org/forum,Cores,0,3480,0 (you may have to be a member 
> to see it there), and there was also a small document attached that I 
> didn't attach here.
> 
> I'm afraid that this is too long to post to the HPSDR list, but I'm 
> cc'ing anyway.  I expect a bounce...
> 
> Steve, K9SRB
> 
> 
> On Sep 13, 2009, at 10:20 AM, John Ackermann wrote:
> 
>> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>> I wanted to give lawyers some idea of what's involved in creating a 
>> circuit-board-based electronic design, and I devote several pages to 
>> explaining the process.  As a result, this may be the only law review 
>> article ever to include a schematic diagram!
> 
> 
> Protecting Open Source Hardware: Call for Papers
> by jeremybennett on Aug 13, 2009 Quote jeremybennett
> Posts: 229
> Joined: May 29, 2008
> Last seen: Sep 12, 2009 <p> The <em>Journal of Information Law and 
> Technology</em> (<a 
> href="http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/">www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt</a>) 
> and the <em>European Journal of Law and Technology</em> is an open 
> access publication, focussing on the legal aspects of IT. </p> <p> Next 
> year they will be running a special issue addressing the subject of Open 
> Source Hardware. The following is the call for papers. I'm sure 
> subscribers to OpenCores and their legal advisers will be keen to 
> contribute. </p> <p> Jeremy </p> <p> -- <br /> Tel: +44 (1590) 610184<br 
> /> Cell: +44 (7970) 676050<br /> SkypeID: jeremybennett<br /> Email: <a 
> href="mailto:jeremy.bennett at embecosm.com">jeremy.bennett at embecosm.com</a><br 
> /> Web: <a href="http://www.embecosm.com">www.embecosm.com</a> </p> 
> <h3>Call for Papers</h3> <p> Journal of Information Law and Technology/ 
> <br /> European Journal of Law and Technology </p> <p> 
> <strong>Protecting Open Source Hardware?</strong> </p> <p> Protection 
> for software produced under the GPL is well known and shown to be 
> successful, based upon copyright protection and licensing. It is not so 
> obvious that the same model can be moved over to hardware, since 
> historically engineers have been allowed to reverse engineer products at 
> will, so long as they are not protected by patents etc. The heart of the 
> problem, so far as opens source hardware goes, is that the open source 
> philosophy relies on the key principle that you are free to use my work, 
> but only if you subsequently share your derived work, so the benefit 
> continues. It relies on a suitable legal framework to enforce this 
> "contract". </p> <p> Current developments in hardware are moves away 
> from the traditional ‘Von Neumann’ architecture to multi-core, parallel 
> processing forms and also system-on-a-chip approaches. These are very 
> complex and difficult to produce and this is where companies seek to 
> make money. Protection is important since special purpose chips are now 
> part of almost every device being manufactured and markets can be large. 
> It is not clear how best protection for these can be enabled – earlier 
> forms such as ‘mask protection’ are no longer so relevant when the whole 
> process of design and manufacture is through special purpose languages. 
> </p> <p> The question we are setting in this call for papers is: what is 
> the best method to enforce the open source philosophy for hardware, to 
> ensure that contributions based upon the work of others remain open for 
> others to develop. One example of the attempt to produce relevant 
> licensing is the TAPR Open Hardware License - <a 
> href="http://www.tapr.org/OHL">www.tapr.org/OHL</a> which has been 
> discussed by the open access community. </p> <p> However, since ‘Open 
> Source Hardware’ is relatively unexplored in terms of legal issues, 
> articles will be important contributions to the legal debate. We are 
> seeking papers which look into the relevant issues and which might help 
> to move the open source model into this new arena. </p> <p> Topics could 
> include: </p> <ol> <li> <p> What are the issues which separate software 
> and hardware open source models? </p> </li> <li> <p> What elements of 
> the GPL are appropriate or not appropriate for protecting hardware 
> developments from freeloading? </p> </li> <li> <p> Is a new ‘Hardware 
> GPL’ model required? </p> </li> <li> <p> Is hardware protection possible 
> through the programming which underpins development? </p> </li> <li> <p> 
> What problems arise from ‘contractual’ models of protection? </p> </li> 
> <li> <p> Is it possible to develop an ‘international’ consensus on 
> protection? </p> </li> <li> <p> Can hardware – where it is not subject 
> to patent – ever be protected anyway? </p> </li> </ol> <p> These, of 
> course, are the issues which lawyers looked at in terms of software in 
> the 1980s. The developments in hardware (‘chip’) protection now mean 
> that the same kinds of questions asked then, must be asked now, as the 
> economics and manufacturing of chip technology moves into a new phase. 
> </p> <p> Technical advice will be available to legal authors to ensure 
> full understanding of these issues. An overview of current design and 
> manufacturing contexts is attached. </p> <p> If you wish to contribute 
> to the Special Edition, then please contact Philip Leith at <a 
> href="mailto:p.leith at qub.ac.uk">p.leith at qub.ac.uk</a> </p> [q]<a 
> href="uploads/1250159096_OpenSourceTechnical.doc">OpenSourceTechnical.doc</a> 
> (32 kb)[/q]
> The Journal of Information Law and Technology 
> (www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt) and the European Journal of 
> Law and Technology is an open access publication, focussing on the legal 
> aspects of IT.
> 
> Next year they will be running a special issue addressing the subject of 
> Open Source Hardware. The following is the call for papers. I'm sure 
> subscribers to OpenCores and their legal advisers will be keen to 
> contribute.
> 
> Jeremy
> 

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