Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

Open Source Practice and Its Discontents

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

Ten Years Ago

Shamans, Software, and SpleensLaw and the Construction of the Information SocietyBy James Boyle

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

Before that we had software

• John “maddog” Hall says: All software was open source, when I started.

• Me too. IBM/DEC etc

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

And it was group work

• Who is the author?

• What is the work?

• What is the invention?

• Who is the inventor?

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To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and

discoveries

• But that’s just in the US

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

Levels of control

• End User License Agreement

• Copyright

• Patent

• Other contracts

• International Treaties

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

libertarians tussle over DMCA and DRM

• Cato’s paper says “Digital Millennium Copyright Act Hinders Innovation and Exasperates Consumers”

• Progress and Freedom Foundation says “Their precise goal is to abolish IP rights in favor of some mystical commune wherein all IP is free as the air and creators are compensated by government.”

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

One Solution for Developing Nations

• Strong protection for national actors

• Weak protection for foreign actors

• “Worked pretty well for the USA (in the 19th Century)” says Cory Doctorow

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

Another alternative

• Tolerance of theft

• Develops an undesirable industry

• Discourages local skill development

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

Open Source Downside

• Who is responsible?

• Who provides support?

• Who does the development?

• How can anyone make money?

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

Commercialized Open Source

• Assumes liability

• Provides support

• Facilitates development

• And makes money

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

Cooperative Models that Work and Pay

• Cyngus (founded University of Pennsylvania grad

Michael Teimann in 1989)

• Moodle

• Ubantu Linux

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

Open Source Upsides

• Extreme localization - language and beyond

• Persistent customization for hardware

• Open for innovation - embedded to grid

• Archival and persistent formats

Paul Jones - pj@unc.edu

Give a Man a Fish Story