[Tech] Groklaw: scudo di protezione legale per Unix e GNU/Linux

Una interessante iniziativa dal sito Groklaw di Pamela Jones, che negli ultimi mesi ha seguito attivamente la battaglia fra SCO da una parte e IBM e il mondo Open Source dall'altra: creare una timeline globale della storia di Unix e di GNU/Linux, dal punto di vista legale: copyrights, brevetti, marchi commerciali, paternità del codice sorgente etc.

I mentioned a while ago that I was thinking of a project for Groklaw to tackle as a group. Here is what my idea has morphed into.



I want to do a systematic, comprehensive, and carefully documented history timeline relating to Unix and Linux, based, with his kind permission, on Eric Levenez's Unix History timeline chart, but from the perspective of tracing the code by copyright, patents, trade secret, and trademark. The idea is that the final timeline will be a publicly-available resource, released under a Creative Commons license, that will assist the community in defending against - or better yet in deterring - future lawsuits against GNU/Linux code.



I am convinced that we can make a difference, legally. I am also convinced that SCO won't be the last attempt to make money from GNU/Linux code, even if they fail, which I expect them to do. There are, sadly, always companies and lawyers willing to initiate a lawsuit if there is the whiff of short-term money in the air, even if they know it's only a nuisance lawsuit.



We're in a good position to do such a project here at Groklaw. First, the gang's all here, a good foundation of folks who lived the Unix and Linux history, and we've developed the research skills to be able to follow through in depth. A friend said to me that one of our most potent weapons is that you are all still alive. We can, therefore, compile a living history, where each of you contributes your memories of Unix and Linux. That combined history will be like a shield, protecting against any so-called expert the opposition can possibly call to testify.



I talked this over with a number of individuals, including Eben Moglen, of FSF, Eric Raymond, Richard Stallman, Dan Ravicher of PubPat Foundation, and a select group of Groklaw regulars and many others at various companies and organizations, and I also interfaced with Daniel Egger at Open Source Risk Management. You will remember the article about his project. The upshot of it was that there was universally a response that this was a worthy idea, useful to pursue. Daniel Egger, as it turns out, was already working on a related project, as you know, related to offering vendor-neutral indemnification, so that users can get low-cost protection while retaining the freedom to continue modifying the code.

L'obiettivo è insomma quello di creare una sorta di "scudo di protezione legale" contro eventuali altre aziende (o individui) che, come SCO, tentassero in futuro di vantare pretese sul codice di Unix o di GNU/Linux al fine di trarne vantaggi economici ingiustificati o di condizionarne lo sviluppo o la diffusione nella comunità.



Notare la presenza, fra i supporters del progetto, di "grandi" del calibro di Eric S. Raymond (autore, fra l'altro, de "La cattedrale e il bazaar", "The new hacker's dictionary" e "The art of Unix programming") e Richard Stallman (padre del Progetto GNU e della Free Software Foundation).



Link: Groklaw Timeline Project.