[ossig] e-Primer on Free/Open Source Software: Licensing

[ditesh at gathani.org]

Forwarded from the bytes4all mailing list:

==========================================================================

e-Primer on Free/Open Source Software: Licensing

FOSS: Licensing
Author: Shun-ling Chen
(c) UNDP-APDIP, Elsevier, 2006, 29 pages
ISBN-13: 978-81-312-0422-1
ISBN-10: 81-312-0422-7

Find out more at:
http://www.iosn.net/licensing/foss-licensing-primer/foss-licensing-primer-re
lease
and
http://www.apdip.net/news/fosslicensing

==========================================================================

As the FOSS Movement has been growing rapidly in recent years, more and more
stakeholders are brought in to participate in different roles. Some of them
are end users, developers, business entities, or government agencies that
provide funding for FOSS projects. This e-primer is designed to provide
these stakeholders with some basic knowledge about copyright law,
copyrighted software and FOSS licenses. Legal issues may vary in
different jurisdictions, therefore this e-primer may not be able to
provide answers to all situations. But, hopefully, it will serve as a
bridge between lawyers and non-lawyers in this joint venture of FOSS
development.

This e-primer examines different proprietary and FOSS licenses that use
copyright law to regulate the use of software, and discusses how the FOSS
movement uses licenses as a way to create a different model of software
development. It provides scenarios to highlight possible copyright issues
regarding the use of FOSS by end users, developers and vendors, and
addresses common questions and misconceptions regarding copyright and
licensing. The e-primer also includes two scenarios regarding
government-sponsored FOSS projects.

This publication is part of the International Open Source Network's
Free/Open Source Software e-Primer Series. Other titles include:

- FOSS: A General Introduction
- FOSS: Education
- FOSS: Government Policy
- FOSS: Localization
- FOSS: Open Standards

Online versions of all FOSS e-Primers are available at
http://www.iosn.net/foss-primers

The FOSS e-Primer series is produced by the International Open Source
Network <http://www.iosn.net>, an initiative of the UNDP Asia-Pacific
Development Information Programme <http://www.apdip.net> and supported by
the International Development Research Centre <http://www.idrc.ca>, Canada.




Christine Apikul