In this week's update the biggest news is probably IBM promising to give its source code to Lotus Symphony to the Apache Foundation (Free Software Licensing).
Interesting turn of events is also W3C wanting to invalidate Apple's Widget patents (Software Patents) as well as a blog post about trade marks in Free Software (Other interesting links).
I would again like to thank Natalia for her help with this issue and at the same time excuse both of us for not producing the next week's edition. After that it will be business as usual again.
Free Software Licensing¶
The plot thickens as IBM decides to give the source code of its (OOo-based) Lotus Symphony office suite to Apache Foundation. What seems now is that OpenOffice.org (under an Apache license) has IBM's blessing, while LibreOffice (under LGPLv3 or later) will by the favourite of the Free Software community.
- ConsortiumInfo: OpenOffice: Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride
- ComputerWorld: IBM bequeaths Symphony code to Apache
- The Register: IBM crams Lotus Symphony back into OpenOffice
- H-online: IBM to contribute Lotus Symphony to Apache OpenOffice.org
- The Inquirer: IBM follows Oracle and donates Lotus Symphony to the Apache Foundation
Project Harmony continues to be featured in the media next week.
- Groklaw: Project Harmony, Open Hardware License and Open Hardware Repository
- NetworkWorld: Peace and Harmony between FOSS contributors and lawyers
- ComputerWorldUK: Out Of Tune With Community
Software Patents¶
H-online: To defend Android… …Google must attack software patents
AllThingsD: W3C Wants to Invalidate Apple's Widget Patents
The Inquirer: Nortel patents haul is sold to Apple, Microsoft and others
OpenSource.com: Bilski's growing up, and smacking down some bad software patents
Government and Free Software Policies¶
Stop!: Vendola, Puglia and Free Software: communication struggles and unanswered questions
OSOR: TN: Head of National Digital Certification Agency aims to give open source community a say
Other interesting links¶
The Register: Google sets up 13m academic legal institute in Berlin
The Next Web: Google to fund new research into how the Internet affects society
Technollama: Intermediary liability: because you're worth it (L'Oreal v eBay)
Kluwer Copyright Blog: An American Perspective on the SAS v. WPL Case
Microsoft updates the Hyper-V driver in the Linux kernel.
In this week's EDRi-gram there's news like: EP discussions on international agreements on passenger name records, Internet blocking stopped in Italy (for now), EP Hearing "Copyright and Intellectual Property in the Digital Age", Perspectives of Internet blocking in UK following US model.
Neelie Kroes, EC: Researching Romania’s digital revolution
Neelie Kroes, EC: Working with businesses to deliver the internet revolution
hook out → yay, office supplies arrived! :D