Plans put forward by Open Source Development Labs (ODSL) at the recent LinuxWorld trade show to create a central repository for software licenses and patents pledged to the open source community have had a less than enthusiastic reception.
OSDL unveiled the new initiative, called the OSDL patent commons project, earlier this month, explaining that it is designed to provide a central location where software patents and patent pledges will be housed for the benefit of the open source development community and industry.
''The OSDL patent commons project is designed to increase the utility and value of the growing number of patent pledges and promises in the past year by providing a central repository where intellectual property can be held for the benefit of all of us," Stuart Cohen, CEO of OSDL stated, continuing:
"Our goal is to make it easier for developers and industry to take advantage of the good works of vendors, individuals and organizations who may wish to pledge patents and intellectual property in support of the community.''
However, according to reports in the technology media this week, the project has been slammed as "next to useless" by open source experts, who have argued that the patent pledges made by firms such as IBM and Sun Microsystems mean little, as they are already well-disposed to open source and therefore unlikely to sue developers found to be using their IP.
Additionally, traditional open source 'enemies', such as Microsoft also have access to the donated patents.
According to a report from the Techworld news service, Florian Mueller, a vociferous opponent of the European Union's recent Software Patent Directive, suggested that the project could only be effective if it provided the open source community with a real patent arsenal.
"The software patent game is like the Cold War: the only thing that protects you is the concept of mutually assured destruction," he explained.
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