Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-16 Thread Paul Lussier
Bill McGonigle b...@bfccomputing.com writes:

 Are they fixing the debs too?

I don't know.  They may be submitting bug reports against them, but to
my knowledge, they're not.  One of the difficulties they help solve is
the derivative-works licenseing issue.

For example, if I release something under the GPL, but I depend upon
libs released under the BSD, Apache, and some
share-ware-send-me-a-postcard-or-pizza license, which one is *really*
in effect, legally speaking.  Of course the answer to that is, it depends.

They, I believe, can assist with that problem, in the sense that they
have audited the packages and know which licenses affect things.
Sadly, it's not a case of simply saying, Oh, this package is under
the GPL..  If you're redistributing that package and it's
dependancies, you need to know what licenses all of those packages are
under.  It can get very, very messy.

So, no, I doubt they're fixing the problem.  It's too widespread and
convoluted, and not their job.  But that's purely speculation on my
part.  I don't know for a fact whether or not they are.

-- 
Seeya,
Paul
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Re: Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread paul . cour1

Bill said:   I'm reading a book about why this destroys shareholder valueWhat is the name of the Book?-pcJan 14, 2009 06:43:40 PM, b...@bfccomputing.com wrote:On 2009-01-14 3:35 PM, Jeff Macdonald wrote: This isn't strictly Linux related, but a pointy-hair boss here mentioned to a peer of mine the desire to bring these folks in. I'm at a loss why any company would actually need such a service, so I'm wondering if any of you have anyinsight.The Company probably doesn't but in many corporate cultures the job of the middle manager is to minimize risk and protect his career, not do great things for the Company.  I'm reading a book about why this destroys shareholder value, but, anyway, it's endemic.Especially if the PHB doesn't understand Open Source he's likely to want a scapegoat, and these guys may sell scapegoat services.  You might look on the bright side that TPHTB didn't call in a Windows consultant. The company I work for doesn't ship any code. We simply use open source in house to provide services.See SCO v. AutoZone, SCO v. Chrysler.  Autozone, at least, is still spending lawyer-dollars on this case, c., what, '03?  I haven't looked at the Chrysler case, but it's likely on Groklaw.  This is the reason I'm a former GNOME user... I would also think that once some sort of IP infringement is found, that would make the company more liable until such infringing code is removed/recoded.Good question for the PHB to cover with the corporate attorneys.  Some companies have taken this approach WRT patent searches and stuff, but I think it's a business decision for somebody with a corner office to make.-Bill-- Bill McGonigle, Owner   Work: 603.448.4440BFC Computing, LLC  Home: 603.448.1668b...@bfccomputing.com   Cell: 603.252.2606http://www.bfccomputing.com/Page: 603.442.1833Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/VCard: http://bfccomputing.com/vcard/bill.vcf___gnhlug-discuss mailing listgnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.orghttp://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
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Re: Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Jeff Macdonald
On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 8:01 AM,  paul.co...@verizon.net wrote:
 Bill said: I'm reading a book about why this
 destroys shareholder value

 What is the name of the Book?

ditto

-- 
Jeff Macdonald
Ayer, MA
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Jeff Macdonald
On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 6:39 PM, Bill McGonigle b...@bfccomputing.com wrote:

 The company I work for doesn't ship any code. We simply use
 open source in house to provide services.

 See SCO v. AutoZone, SCO v. Chrysler.  Autozone, at least, is still spending
 lawyer-dollars on this case, c., what, '03?  I haven't looked at the
 Chrysler case, but it's likely on Groklaw.  This is the reason I'm a former
 GNOME user...

um, but that would mean that BlackDuck has copies of everyone
propriety code, which it can't. The A,B,C example earlier in this
thread is more like what I believe BlackDuck is trying to prevent.
But, as I said before, we don't distribute any code.




-- 
Jeff Macdonald
Ayer, MA
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Jeff Macdonald
On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 5:49 PM, Paul Moore pcmo...@umich.edu wrote:

 [1] https://fossbazaar.org/home

Wow, very cool. Thanks very much for that link.

-- 
Jeff Macdonald
Ayer, MA
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Kevin D. Clark

Jeff Macdonald writes:

 But, as I said before, we don't distribute any code.

You've made this statement twice now, but I myself don't understand
how this is relevant to the issue at hand.

The common licenses that are being discussed here do not have language
in them that reads if you don't distribute code, you're fine because
under certain circumstances that's exactly what you have to do --
distribute your code.

Regards,

--kevin
-- 
GnuPG ID: B280F24EIt's cold out there, colder than
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Jeff Macdonald
On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 10:24 AM, Kevin D. Clark
kevin_d_cl...@comcast.net wrote:

 Jeff Macdonald writes:

 But, as I said before, we don't distribute any code.

 You've made this statement twice now, but I myself don't understand
 how this is relevant to the issue at hand.

 The common licenses that are being discussed here do not have language
 in them that reads if you don't distribute code, you're fine

I guess this could be ignorance on my part, but it was my
understanding that at least with the GPL, one could do whatever they
want with the code. But if the code was later distributed, one had to
abide by the additional terms of the GPL.

 because
 under certain circumstances that's exactly what you have to do --
 distribute your code.

Now you are confusing me, is it relevant or not? :)

Either way I need to do some re-reading.

-- 
Jeff Macdonald
Ayer, MA
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Arc Riley
 I guess this could be ignorance on my part, but it was my
 understanding that at least with the GPL, one could do whatever they
 want with the code. But if the code was later distributed, one had to
 abide by the additional terms of the GPL.


Your understanding is correct, private use is not restricted by freely
licensed software.

The GPL and AGPL differ in the scope of private use however in that the
latter the copyleft terms are applied to all users of the software,
regardless of whether they receive a copy or merely use it over a computer
network (ie, a webapp, chat server, etc).

AGPLv3 covered works can include GPLv2+/GPLv3 code.
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Kevin D. Clark

Jeff Macdonald writes:

 I guess this could be ignorance on my part, but it was my
 understanding that at least with the GPL, one could do whatever they
 want with the code. But if the code was later distributed, one had to
 abide by the additional terms of the GPL.

I believe you have some fundamental misunderstandings of how the GPL
works.  I'm not making a pejorative statement here; I'm just making a
statement of what I believe is factually true.

I believe my understanding of the GPL and related licenses is
correct.  For example, I got a perfect score the first time I took
this quiz:

http://www.gnu.org/cgi-bin/license-quiz.cgi


IANAL, and you should not depend on me for legal advice, but I feel
pretty comfortable in this area.

Regards,

--kevin
-- 
GnuPG ID: B280F24EIt's cold out there, colder than
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread jkinz
On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 11:22:47AM -0500, Jeff Macdonald wrote:
  Jeff Macdonald writes:
  But, as I said before, we don't distribute any code.
 ..
 I guess this could be ignorance on my part, but it was my
 understanding that at least with the GPL, one could do whatever they
 want with the code. But if the code was later distributed, one had to
 abide by the additional terms of the GPL.
 
 Now you are confusing me, is it relevant or not? :)
 
 Either way I need to do some re-reading.

The goal of the GPL is to have people share any changes they make
to GPL's code. (stating the obvious in crude and simple terms)

In GPL 2 - you only had to share your changes if you
distributed the code  (source or resulting binaries/executables).

As of GPL 3 - hmm - haven't read it enough yet. 

It seems clear that rms wants to include web services as code
distribution' as well. When that will be covered and by which
version of the GPL, is something I don't know, but it seems clear
that eventually anytime you sell or share a product with a
user base outside your own company, by any means the GPL will
require change sharing. [note the eventually]

by any means would include a web application or cloud computing
or anything of that nature where the user is using your code
even if it is not running on their machine, but one of your
servers (or even a cloud of donated cpu cycles). 

This is all speculation but the direction that web based apps and
services are headed clearly require rms to include them as forms
of distributing code to meet his goals.  Whether a license can 
do that legally will only be decided by courts.. someday..
maybe..  :-)

Jeff Kinz
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Tom Buskey
On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 10:24 AM, Kevin D. Clark
kevin_d_cl...@comcast.netwrote:


 Jeff Macdonald writes:

  But, as I said before, we don't distribute any code.

 You've made this statement twice now, but I myself don't understand
 how this is relevant to the issue at hand.



 The common licenses that are being discussed here do not have language
 in them that reads if you don't distribute code, you're fine because
 under certain circumstances that's exactly what you have to do --
 distribute your code.



If you distribute the compiled code (binaries) of GPL'd software, you must
make the SOURCE code available at a reasonable fee and not restrict further
distribution.

If you don't distribute the binaries, you don't have to make the source
available.

I think the confusion is over what code refers to.  Instead, use binaries
and source so there's no ambiguity.
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Donald M Leslie
I think that calling them a scam is a thoughtless remark.

They presented at Pierce Law along with Richard Stallman , Dan Ravisher ( 
Free Software Foundation) and others on Law 
and Technology.

They said today you can no longer blindly ship software hoping you 
actually own everything in the software. There are
tools to allow the software to be validated. A management policy which 
forbids this regrettably does not work. This can result in expensive legal 
costs.

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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Don Leslie
I think that calling them a scam is a thoughtless remark.

They presented at Pierce Law along with Richard Stallman , Dan Ravisher 
( Free Software Foundation) and others on Law
and Technology.

They said today you can no longer blindly ship software hoping you 
actually own everything in the software. There are
tools to allow the software to be validated. A management policy which 
forbids this regrettably does not work. This can result in expensive 
legal costs.

Don

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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Bill McGonigle
On 2009-01-15 8:43 AM, Jeff Macdonald wrote:
 um, but that would mean that BlackDuck has copies of everyone
 propriety code, which it can't. The A,B,C example earlier in this
 thread is more like what I believe BlackDuck is trying to prevent.
 But, as I said before, we don't distribute any code.

I was only responding to the statement that only using code in-house was 
a protection from risk.  SCO and Autozone were only using the code 
in-house, they didn't modify it (there was a claim by SCO of a 
third-party stealing its IP) and they've been in court for a handful of 
years over it.  It's baseless, but it's still a risk.

-Bill

-- 
Bill McGonigle, Owner   Work: 603.448.4440
BFC Computing, LLC  Home: 603.448.1668
b...@bfccomputing.com   Cell: 603.252.2606
http://www.bfccomputing.com/Page: 603.442.1833
Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Bill McGonigle
On 2009-01-15 8:01 AM, paul.co...@verizon.net wrote:
 Bill said: I'm reading a book about why this
 destroys shareholder value

 What is the name of the Book?

The Innovator's Solution.  I'm only done with the first couple 
chapters, so I can't recommend the book as a whole yet, but the premise 
as I mentioned previously is illustrated with case studies in the first 
couple chapters and seems well-researched.  Supposedly the autors offer 
ways around the problem.

-Bill

-- 
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BFC Computing, LLC  Home: 603.448.1668
b...@bfccomputing.com   Cell: 603.252.2606
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Kevin D. Clark

Tom Buskey writes:

 I think the confusion is over what code refers to.  Instead, use
 binaries and source so there's no ambiguity.

I think that this is the best observation in the entire thread.  This
is what I stumbled over in the original question.  Now that I re-read
the original question I recognize that my definition of code was
different from Jeff's.

Regards,

--kevin
-- 
GnuPG ID: B280F24EIt's cold out there, colder than
alumni.unh.edu!kdca ticket taker's smile at the
http://kdc-blog.blogspot.com/ Ivar Theatre on a Saturday Night
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Paul Lussier
Jeff Macdonald macfisher...@gmail.com writes:

 Hi all,

 This isn't strictly Linux related, but a pointy-hair boss here
 mentioned to a peer of mine the desire to bring these folks in. I'm at
 a loss why any company would actually need such a service, so I'm
 wondering if any of you have anyinsight. My view is that since open
 source software is publicly available, an organization that would
 claim IP (intellectual property) rights would simply be better off
 sending cease and desist orders to the author of code. I do understand
 that wouldn't be as profitable as going after a company with deep
 pockets. The company I work for doesn't ship any code. We simply use
 open source in house to provide services. I would also think that once
 some sort of IP infringement is found, that would make the company
 more liable until such infringing code is removed/recoded.

A good friend of mine worked at BlackDuck for a bit before moving to
California.  One of the things they do is help you audit your code so
you know what licenses the software falls under if you re-distributing
it.

Not all of what is avaliable for Linux is GPL'ed.  There are several
different FOSS licenses, and several free-ware licenses, etc.

For example, my last company build a product on top of a Debian base.
We needed to provide a copy of each and every license for each piece
of software (well, that's the lawyers told us).  In order to do that,
we needed to know what license each package fell under.  Sadly, many,
many packages don't have the License field of the .deb package
manifest file filled in.

BlackDuck (i.e. specifically my friend) has spent months painstakingly
researching each and every package for Debian (and probably RH,
others) and created a database correlating versions with packages with
licenses, etc.  Additionally, they've created checksums of everything
such that they can scan large repositories and detect these signatures
to help you determine if what your shipping falls under certain
licenses.

They are in fact a legit company, consisting of people who hold FOSS
very near and dear.  They have just found a way to monetize a service
around FOSS as well.

-- 
Seeya,
Paul
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Jeff Macdonald
On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 5:07 PM, Kevin D. Clark
kevin_d_cl...@comcast.net wrote:

 Tom Buskey writes:

 I think the confusion is over what code refers to.  Instead, use
 binaries and source so there's no ambiguity.

 I think that this is the best observation in the entire thread.  This
 is what I stumbled over in the original question.  Now that I re-read
 the original question I recognize that my definition of code was
 different from Jeff's.

Ah, yes, sorry about that.


-- 
Jeff Macdonald
Ayer, MA
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Bill McGonigle
On 2009-01-15 5:36 PM, Paul Lussier wrote:
 BlackDuck (i.e. specifically my friend) has spent months painstakingly
 researching each and every package for Debian (and probably RH,
 others) and created a database correlating versions with packages with
 licenses, etc.  Additionally, they've created checksums of everything
 such that they can scan large repositories and detect these signatures
 to help you determine if what your shipping falls under certain
 licenses.

 They are in fact a legit company, consisting of people who hold FOSS
 very near and dear.  They have just found a way to monetize a service
 around FOSS as well.

Sweet, and somebody posted a site here recently that did something 
similar, perhaps it was theirs? (you could upload a code sample and it 
would correlate with its repository).

Are they fixing the debs too?

-Bill

-- 
Bill McGonigle, Owner   Work: 603.448.4440
BFC Computing, LLC  Home: 603.448.1668
b...@bfccomputing.com   Cell: 603.252.2606
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-15 Thread Dan Jenkins
Paul Lussier wrote:
 BlackDuck (i.e. specifically my friend) has spent months painstakingly
 researching each and every package for Debian (and probably RH,
 others) and created a database correlating versions with packages with
 licenses, etc.  Additionally, they've created checksums of everything
 such that they can scan large repositories and detect these signatures
 to help you determine if what your shipping falls under certain
 licenses.

 They are in fact a legit company, consisting of people who hold FOSS
 very near and dear.  They have just found a way to monetize a service
 around FOSS as well.
   
Oh, I wish I had known about them a year ago when I had to manually do 
much the same at a client.
(As well as trying to explain fourth hand to a lawyer what a compiler 
was and why we needed to use one - and, no, we couldn't write our own.)
They could have saved us several man months of effort, which was 
critically needed on actual development then.

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Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-14 Thread Jeff Macdonald
Hi all,

This isn't strictly Linux related, but a pointy-hair boss here
mentioned to a peer of mine the desire to bring these folks in. I'm at
a loss why any company would actually need such a service, so I'm
wondering if any of you have anyinsight. My view is that since open
source software is publicly available, an organization that would
claim IP (intellectual property) rights would simply be better off
sending cease and desist orders to the author of code. I do understand
that wouldn't be as profitable as going after a company with deep
pockets. The company I work for doesn't ship any code. We simply use
open source in house to provide services. I would also think that once
some sort of IP infringement is found, that would make the company
more liable until such infringing code is removed/recoded.

-- 
Jeff Macdonald
Ayer, MA
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-14 Thread Chip Marshall
On January 14, 2009, Jeff Macdonald sent me the following:
 This isn't strictly Linux related, but a pointy-hair boss here
 mentioned to a peer of mine the desire to bring these folks in.

After spending a few minutes on their web site, I get the strong feeling
it's a scam of some kind, though I'm sure they put a legit face on it.

I suppose if you're a company that wants to exploit open source projects
as much as possible while keeping track of exactly what you're required
to give back based on the various licenses without incurring the legal
wrath of the EFF (or similar) then their products/services make sense.

It doesn't strike me as something that should exist in a health open
source environment, where everybody shares code and all that good stuff.

-- 
Chip Marshall c...@2bithacker.net
http://weblog.2bithacker.net/  KB1QYWPGP key ID 43C4819E
v4sw5PUhw4/5ln5pr5FOPck4ma4u6FLOw5Xm5l5Ui2e4t4/5ARWb7HKOen6a2Xs5IMr2g6CM


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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-14 Thread Kevin D. Clark

Jeff Macdonald writes:

 This isn't strictly Linux related, but a pointy-hair boss here
 mentioned to a peer of mine the desire to bring these folks in. I'm at
 a loss why any company would actually need such a service, so I'm
 wondering if any of you have anyinsight.

1:  XYZ Corp goes into business.

2:  XYZ Corp wants to make product AAA.

3:  XYZ Corp hires Joe Programmer to create software module BBB, which
is part of AAA.

4:  Joe is both unethical and a lousy programmer.  He can't complete
the work for BBB, but he is smart enough to know about this thing
called google.

5:  Joe finds a GPL'd product called CCC that does nearly exactly what
he needs to do in order to complete BBB.  Joe takes the source
from CCC, removes as much identifying information as he can find,
and submits it to XYZ Corp as BBB.

6:  Joe moves on to greener pastures.

7:  XYZ Corp's AAA product is successful.

8:  One day one of XYZ Corp's customers looks at AAA closely and
determines that it contains CCC.  Since CCC is GPL'd, it is
perfectly within their rights to ask XYZ Corp for a copy of the
code that comprises [1] AAA.  In fact, XYZ Corp should have already
been making this available.

9:  Trouble for XYZ Corp.  Maybe they want to release their source
code at this point, or maybe they want to fight.  Either way, Joe
was the guy who put them in this position in the first place.


Kind regards,

--kevin


[1]   We could have a long discussion as to what this term means,
  exactly. 

-- 
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-14 Thread Paul Moore
On Wednesday 14 January 2009 3:35:40 pm Jeff Macdonald wrote:
 This isn't strictly Linux related, but a pointy-hair boss here
 mentioned to a peer of mine the desire to bring these folks in. I'm at
 a loss why any company would actually need such a service, so I'm
 wondering if any of you have anyinsight.

A good, free (both beer and source) place to start would be with FOSSbazar[1] 
and FOSSology[2].  I don't know a ton about either, but those I know who 
worry about these things have had good things to say about them.

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I do work for HP who originally released the FOSSology tool 
and spearheaded the FOSSbazar initiative]

[1] https://fossbazaar.org/home
[2] http://fossology.org
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-14 Thread Bill McGonigle
On 2009-01-14 3:35 PM, Jeff Macdonald wrote:
 This isn't strictly Linux related, but a pointy-hair boss here
 mentioned to a peer of mine the desire to bring these folks in. I'm at
 a loss why any company would actually need such a service, so I'm
 wondering if any of you have anyinsight.

The Company probably doesn't but in many corporate cultures the job of 
the middle manager is to minimize risk and protect his career, not do 
great things for the Company.  I'm reading a book about why this 
destroys shareholder value, but, anyway, it's endemic.

Especially if the PHB doesn't understand Open Source he's likely to want 
a scapegoat, and these guys may sell scapegoat services.  You might look 
on the bright side that TPHTB didn't call in a Windows consultant.

 The company I work for doesn't ship any code. We simply use
 open source in house to provide services.

See SCO v. AutoZone, SCO v. Chrysler.  Autozone, at least, is still 
spending lawyer-dollars on this case, c., what, '03?  I haven't looked 
at the Chrysler case, but it's likely on Groklaw.  This is the reason 
I'm a former GNOME user...

 I would also think that once
 some sort of IP infringement is found, that would make the company
 more liable until such infringing code is removed/recoded.

Good question for the PHB to cover with the corporate attorneys.  Some 
companies have taken this approach WRT patent searches and stuff, but I 
think it's a business decision for somebody with a corner office to make.

-Bill

-- 
Bill McGonigle, Owner   Work: 603.448.4440
BFC Computing, LLC  Home: 603.448.1668
b...@bfccomputing.com   Cell: 603.252.2606
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Re: Blackduck Software and IP

2009-01-14 Thread Ben Scott
On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 3:35 PM, Jeff Macdonald macfisher...@gmail.com wrote:
 I'm at a loss why any company would actually need such a service ...

  Why does any company need any service?  When they don't have the
expertise in-house to do something themselves.  Seems kinda
self-evident to me.

-- Ben
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