[wplug] [wplug-announce] Special Event TUES May 10 7pm-10pm CMU Wean 5409

Beth Lynn bethlynn at wplug.org
Sat May 7 10:48:42 EDT 2005


Hello,

Western PA Linux Users Group will be hosting a Special Meeting
featuring "'Infectious' Open Source Software: Spreading Incentives or
Promoting Resistance?" with Greg Vetter Assistant Professor of Law, 
University of Houston Law Center. It will be held on this Tuesday
May 10, 2005 from 7pm to 9 pm  at Carnegie Mellon University,
Wean Hall 5409. This meeting is free and open to the general
public.

Directions to 5409
**********************************************************************
Please consult our directions page
http://www.wplug.org/pages/wplugmap/
and note where Wean Hall is on the maps. The door marked "DW" is the 1st 
floor entrance to Wean Hall. You may park in the "Park Here Free" area as 
listed on the map

Just in case you needed a Wean specific directions, please consult
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/air/WWW/campus_map.html
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/sdc/www/cmu/wean.html
If you enter from the 5th floor entrance, it will look exactly like this.
http://www.roboticsclub.org/oldprojects/wwwalker.html

Please note that we do not have a phone number for this room. The doors 
will be open so just come on in.
*********************************************************************

GUM TOPIC: "Infectious' Open Source Software: Spreading Incentives or
 		Promoting Resistance?"
Speaker: Greg Vetter Assistant Professor of Law,
 		University of Houston Law Center
Host: Beth Lynn Eicher

Abstract:
Some free or open source software infects other software with its 
licensing terms. Popularly, this is called a viral license, but the 
software is not a computer virus. Free or open source software is a 
copyright-based licensing system. It typically allows modification and 
distribution on conditions such as source code availability, royalty free 
use and other requirements. Some licenses require distribution of 
modifications under the same terms. A license is infectious when it has a 
strong scope for the modifications provision. The scope arises from a 
broad conception of software derivative works. A strong infectious ambit 
would apply itself to modified software, and to software intermixed or 
coupled with non-open-source software. Popular open source software, 
including the GNU/Linux operating system, uses a license with this 
feature. This talk assesses the efficacy of broad infectious license terms 
to determine their incentive effects for open source and proprietary 
software. The analysis doubts beneficial effects. Rather, on balance, such 
terms may produce incentives detrimental to interoperability and 
coexistence between open and proprietary code. As a result, open source 
licensing should precisely define infectious terms in order to support 
open source development without countervailing effects and misaligned 
incentives.

Bio:
Professor Vetter received his B.S. summa cum laude from the University of 
Missouri in Electrical Engineering in 1987. He then worked in software for 
nine years as a project manager, product manager, and then as director of 
marketing, which included a variety of intellectual property and 
contractual responsibilities. During these years, attending evening 
courses, he received his M.S. summa cum laude in Computer Science from the 
University of Missouri and his MBA summa cum laude from Rockhurst 
University. He left full-time employment in 1996 to attend law school. He 
received his J.D. magna cum laude from Northwestern, serving on the 
Northwestern Law Review as associate articles editor. Upon graduation from 
Northwestern, Professor Vetter practiced at Kilpatrick Stockton's Raleigh, 
North Carolina office for two years in the firm's technology law group. 
During this time he obtained registration to practice before the United 
States Patent and Trademark Office as a patent attorney. Next, he clerked 
for one year for the Honorable Arthur J. Gajarsa on the United States 
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. Professor 
Vetter then joined the University of Houston Law Center faculty in 2002. 
Professor Vetter's research interests include intellectual property, 
patents, the role of intellectual property in commercial law, and 
information technology law.

Schedule
Doors open at 7pm, light refreshments served.
Talk 7:15pm-8:15pm
Adjournment at 9pm

Hope to see you there,

Beth Lynn Eicher

Upcoming Schedule
May 21 Installfest 10am-5pm
May 18 GUM - Subversion 10am-2pm
June 7 GUM - Myth TV 10am-4pm
June 11 Special Event - Regular Expressions 10am-2pm
July 9 GUM - TBD - 10am-2pm
August 7 - Annual Picnic
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