Top Ten FOSS Legal Developments in 2013
The year 2013 continued the trend of ever increasing importance around legal issues for the free and open source software (FOSS) community. FOSS projects continues to grow from 900,000 in 2012 to...
View ArticleSoftware M&A: Before You Buy It, Look Under the Hood
Would you ever buy a car without looking under the hood? Or a house without having an inspector comb over every inch to check for potential problems you could run into down the road? No. This same...
View ArticleSolid Legal Ground for Open Source
It is tempting to imagine that when it comes open sourcing your organisation’s projects, you will find developers flocking to help out and donate their free time in spades. But this doesn’t happen. No...
View Article10 Ways to Gain Control, Drive Innovation, and Lower Costs with OSS
Open source has become ubiquitous in corporate enterprises, but its use brings the potential for licensing violations and other operational risks. As a result, organizations must strike a balance...
View ArticleThe Importance of Code Audits in M&A Due Diligence
My company, Spirent Communications, relies on the strength of our software engineering efforts to expand our $500 million performance analysis and network management solutions business. Our products...
View ArticleHarman’s 5 Steps to Developing an Open Source Policy
My association with open source started in a very real and pragmatic way. About 10 years ago, I was working as the division counsel for a premier software company and, at the time, our legal department...
View ArticleOpen Source Audits: The Key to Compliance
In today’s world of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT), individuals touch open source software (OSS) on a daily basis, and it’s not uncommon for competing...
View ArticleFree and Open Source Compliance: The High Cost of Mismanagement from the...
Versata Software, Inc. (“Versata”) learned the cost of failing to manage free and open source software (FOSS): Versata’s routine attempt to terminate the license for its proprietary DCM software with...
View ArticleTop 10 FOSS Legal Developments of 2014
The year 2014 continued the trend of the increasing importance of legal issues for the FOSS community. Continuing the tradition of looking back over the top ten legal developments in FOSS, my...
View Article10 Steps to a Good Software Audit
What makes a good anything? Achieving the outcome you hoped for as a consequence of your actions. When it comes to software audits, taking the following steps will help you achieve a better than good...
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Why General Counsels Need To Understand Open Source Security Threats
As VP and General Counsel at Black Duck Software, I live and breathe open source legal issues day in and day out. While license compliance remains a top priority for most general counsels (GCs), I’ve...
View ArticleTop 10 open source legal developments in 2015
ein In 2015 there were a variety of legal issues of importance to the FOSS (free and open source) community. Continuing the tradition of looking back over the top ten legal developments in FOSS, my...
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Why Talk About Open Source Software Management?
As General Counsel at Black Duck, I have the unique opportunity to speak with a large number of lawyers about open source software management and reuse. Over the years, these conversations have almost...
View ArticleA Case for Continuous Open Source Management
There are times when an audit is not enough. (And this is coming from the guy who runs Black Duck’s audit business!) Companies come to Black Duck for a variety of reasons. The most common scenario for...
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When Managing Open Source Software Usage, Build Jobs Make Life Safer & Easier
Our experience in this space tells us there are basically two ways to approach the problem of managing open source software (OSS) components in a continuous integration (CI) workflow. We’ll call these...
View Article4 Truths of Effective Open Source Security and Management
Achieving Effective Open Source Security & Management With the use of open source exploding worldwide, organizations are searching for the best way to secure it and manage it. There are a variety...
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The Panama Papers: A Data Security Disaster
Originally posted on Help Net Security. The “Panama Papers” security breach is a juicy, made-for-the-Internet scandal. It has all the elements – secret off-shore accounts; involvement by international...
View ArticleWhat to Expect in 2016: Legal & Security in Open Source
Many changes are happening every day in open source, and we as an industry are constantly wondering what to expect next. We have a very interesting webinar coming up next week, Open Source Outlook:...
View ArticleAnticipating Due Diligence and Sleeping Well
About a year ago Forbes published a very comprehensive, nicely organized check list of Business/Legal items that typically come up in M&A due diligence. A few things struck me about the article: It...
View ArticleAre SaaS Companies Immune to Open Source Risk?
The brief answer to the question in my title is “no.” While there’s a grain of truth with respect to the use of the GPL licensed components, SaaS companies are not immune to legal risks. And there are...
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