Open Source and Accesssiblity - t12t meetup 181122
open source software, open access and open transfer
1. Excluding
images, screenshots and
logos
SOURCE SOFTWARE
OPEN ACCESS
TRANSFER
Caroline B Ncube
University of Cape Town
http://kekovacs.blogspot.com/2011/05/opening-
doors.html
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 1
2. Agenda
09.00 - 9.15 Group introductions
09.15 - 10.15 Open Source Software
10.15 - 10.30 tea break
10.30 – 11.30 Open Access
11.30 – 11.45 comfort break
11:45 – 12.30 Open Transfer
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 2
4. Traditional IP protection of software
• s 25(2) of Patents Act 57 of 1978 excludes patents for software as such
• Protected by Copyright Act 98 of 1978
– s 2(1)(i): Sui generis category of work
• Owner has exclusive rights to reproduce, publish, adapt
• License required to perform these restricted acts
– Regulated by s 22 of Copyright Act
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 4
Text: J Speres
5. End User License Agreements (EULAs)
• Often very restrictive
– Limit the number of computers for use
http://atom.smasher.org
– User merely licenses – no transfer of ownership
– Incorporate and go further than copyright law
• E.g. outlaw reverse engineering, prevent resale
– No access to source code
• Software so licensed termed closed source software (CSS)
Text: J Speres WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 5
6. What is OSS? http://www.gnu.org/graphi
cs/anfsflogo.html
http://opensource.org/logo-usage-guidelines
Source code = statements written in a programming language that allows the programmer
to communicate with the computer using a reserved number of instructions
open source software (OSS) = software made freely available for anyone to redistribute
and modify, including the source code
Free software & open source software
“Free as in free speech, not as in free beer” - Stallman
Text: J Speres WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 6
8. A program is free software if the program's users have the four essential freedoms:
• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing
as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
• The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By
doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes.
Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 8
9. Benefits of OSS
Product reliability
– Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow – Eric Raymond
– More eyes, more ideas
Tweakable
No licensing costs means cheaper if not free software
– NB for the developing world
– E.g. Stellenbosch University Ubuntu project
Text: J Speres
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 9
11. Benefits continued...
Can be designed to work on obsolete hardware
– Also NB for developing world
Knowledge base expanded
More secure and far less vulnerable to viruses - threats detected and patched
quickly by many eyeballs
Text: J Speres WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 11
12. OSS success stories
Apache web server – Over 50 % market share
Linux operating system – challenges Microsoft in the network server market and has
rapidly growing share of the desktop market (See Ubuntu)
Many local corporates turning to Linux
– Nandos and Lewis use it on servers and in store
Sendmail mail transfer agent - 75% of email routed
Google Chrome browser – largest market share
Android
http://www.ubuntu.com/download
http://felix.apache.org/site/inde WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 12
Text: J Speres x.html
13. OSS licenses
User given right to freely copy, modify and redistribute the software subject to
specific license conditions
Source code must be open (made available)
All copyrights retained by licensor. OSS is not in the public domain.
GPL is the most widely used OSS license
http://www.gnu.org/graphics/3dbabygnutux.html
13
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 Text: J Speres
14. OSS licenses continued...
Prevents the licensor and licensee from redistributing under CSS licenses
Terms vary: GPL, Apache, BSD, Mozilla etc
Copyleft (viral)
Derivatives
Raises compatibility issues e.g. see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-
list.html#GPLCompatibleLicenses
Approval of OSS licenses e.g. by Open Source Initiative (OSI) and the Free Software
Foundation (FSF)
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 14
16. A brief comparison
criteria Apache GPL3.0
Copyleft No Yes
Copyfree No No
OSI Approved Yes Yes
Trademarks Yes No
Patent license Yes Yes
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 16
23. Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it
possible is the internet and the consent of the author or
copyright-holder.
Peter Suber
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 23
24. Why OA?
• Openness
– Provides access
– Enables development
– Enables participation
– Enables innovation
– Benefits the private sector
– Increases researchers’ visibility
– Is essential for education
Text Laura Czerniewicz WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 24
26. OA & publicly funded research
The government's decision means
that by 1 April 2013, all papers from
government-funded research must
be published in an open access
journal; if not, the journal must
make the paper open access after 6
months.
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 26
29. How?
OA journals
http://www.etftrends.com/2012/01/gold-etfs-size-up-200-day-average-as-dollar-
weakens/#.ULX95oe86_w
and OA archives or repositories.
http://amazingcreativepics.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post.html
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 29
30. OA Journals
• peer reviewed and then make the approved contents freely available to the
world.
• Their expenses consist of peer review, manuscript preparation, and server
space.
• Various funding models: author pays, institutional support, professional body
support, advertising, priced add-ons, or auxiliary services etc
• In certain cases fees waived
Text: P Suber WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 30
32. OA Archives or repositories
• OA archives or repositories do not perform peer review, but simply make their contents
freely available to the world. They may contain unrefereed preprints, refereed postprints, or
both.
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 32
Text: P Suber
34. • Authors may archive their preprints without anyone else’s permission, and a majority of
journals already permit authors to archive their postprints.
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 34
35. RoMEO Colour Archiving policy
Can archive pre-print and post-print or
Green
publisher's version/PDF
Can archive post-print (ie final draft
Blue post-refereeing) or publisher's
version/PDF
Can archive pre-print (ie pre-
Yellow
refereeing)
White Archiving not formally supported
More on colours and restrictions
or View all publishers
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 35
36. • When archives comply with the metadata harvesting protocol of the Open Archives
Initiative, then they are interoperable and users can find their contents without
knowing which archives exist, where they are located, or what they contain.
• There is now open-source software for building and maintaining OAI-compliant archives
and worldwide momentum for using it. The costs of an archive are negligible: some
server space and a fraction of the time of a technician.
http://voicesofglass.com/2012/02/25/square-peg-in-a-round-hole/
Text: P Suber WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 36
38. Copyright
• Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and
licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or
copyright-holder. Peter Suber
• The consent of the author or copyright holder may be given through the use of creative
commons licenses
- Simplifies, speeds up and frees the process
• See Journal self-archiving policies at
http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/index.php?fIDnum=|&mode=advanced&la=en
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 38
42. This Article is brought to you for
free and open access by
Northwestern University School of
Law Scholarly Commons. It has
been accepted for inclusion in
Northwestern Journal of
Technology and Intellectual
Property by an authorized
administrator of Northwestern
University School of Law Scholarly
Commons.
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 42
43. Open Transfer: the problem
• Madey v. Duke 307 F.3d 1351 (Fed. Cir. 2002).
• Prof Madey was a tenured research professor in the physics department at Duke University
• sole owner of two patents in use at Duke’s free electron laser lab.
• M had a dispute with Duke U and lost post as director of the lab, and then resigned.
Text Feldman & Nelson WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 43
44. http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2006/08/patents-and-experimental-use.html
• The lab continued to use the lab equipment
• Madey sued for infringement.
• At court a quo Duke claimed that any activity in the lab was covered by the common law
experimental use exception.
• On appeal to the Federal Circuit held that the experimental use exception does not apply
when an entity is engaged in commercial activity that furthers its legitimate business
objectives
Text Feldman & Nelson WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 44
45. • For a university this includes educating and enlightening students and faculty, as well as
increasing the status of the university, luring lucrative research grants, and attracting faculty
and students.
• Therefore exception not applicable (in the US)!
• NB in many jurisdictions (e.g. South Africa) this exception probably does not exist in the first
place
Text Feldman & Nelson WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 45
46. • So university researchers (in US and other jurisdictions) in theory would be forced
to navigate the maze of patent licensing or face infringement suits.
• Solution : include Open Transfer clauses in technology transfer agreements
Text Feldman & Nelson
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 46
47. “Universities should consider reserving rights in all fields of use, even if the invention is
licensed exclusively to a commercial entity, for themselves and other non-profit and
governmental organizations: to practice inventions and to use associated information
and data for research and educational purposes, including research sponsored by
commercial entities; and to transfer tangible research materials (e.g., biological
materials and chemical compounds) and intangible materials (e.g., computer software,
databases and know-how) to others in the non-profit and governmental sectors”
• In the Public Interest: Nine Points to Consider in Licensing University Technology (White
Paper 2007) http://otl.stanford.edu/documents/whitepaper-10.pdf
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 47
48. Example
“Institution retains the right, on behalf of itself and all other non-profit
academic research institutions, to practice the Licensed Patent and use
Technology for any non-profit purpose, including sponsored research and
collaborations. Licensee agrees that, notwithstanding any other provision
of this Agreement, it has no right to enforce the Licensed Patent against
any such institution. Institution and any such other institution have the
right to publish any information included in the Technology or a Licensed
Patent.”
In the Public Interest: Nine Points to Consider in Licensing University Technology (White
Paper 2007) http://otl.stanford.edu/documents/whitepaper-10.pdf
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 48
49. Discussion
• How is open transfer impacted by IP commercialisation legislation?
• Consider s11 of South Africa’s Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research
and Development Act of 2008
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 49
51. Attribution
• Jeremy Speres ‘Open Source Software Licences’ (presentation)
• Jeremy Speres ‘Open Source Licensing Scheme’
• Peter Suber ‘A Very Brief Introduction to Open Access”
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/brief.htm
• Laura Czerniewicz ‘Demystifying Open Access’ (presentation) 22/10/2012
• All screenshots, images and logos used purely for illustrative purposes
This work is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 South
Africa License. To view a copy of this licence, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/za/
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 51
52. Caroline B Ncube
Excluding images, screenshots
University of Cape Town and logos
caroline.ncube@uct.ac.za
WSS4 CB Ncube 2012 52