The other issue with assigning code copyrights to a US-based organisation is a simple one. The US has the strongest software patent machine and the most supportive courts (if you pick your state carefully ;) ).
As FOSSGIS applications bite ever harder into the profits of the dominant player(s), the chance of the game being changed to a legal one rather than a sales and marketing one is pretty high; a fight OSGeo couldn't afford to be in. Chris ----- "Landon Blake" <lbl...@ksninc.com> wrote: > One example of the restrictions Luis is talking about is the > prohibition > against distributing certain cryptographic software outside of the > US: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography > > Don't know that OSGeo would bump into that, but it is one example of > a > US specific restriction on organizations involved in software > development. > > Landon > Office Phone Number: (209) 946-0268 > Cell Phone Number: (209) 992-0658 > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: discuss-boun...@lists.osgeo.org > [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Luis W. Sevilla > Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 10:40 AM > To: OSGeo Discussions > Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Software Copyright ownership > > Hi, > one thing must be taken in account, IMHO. If I'm not wrong OSGeo > is > an USA foundation (is registered in the States, and must follow his > laws, of course. As USA maintains a commercial embargo to Cuba [1], it > > seems there are a lot of things in technology fields restricted to > American companies (and also foundations). > > If OSGeo will not became a more global (not so USA laws > conditioned) > > institution, it doesn't seem so good the idea of giving all and every > > copyrights to the foundation. > > My two cents > Luis > > [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_embargo_against_Cuba > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > Discuss@lists.osgeo.org > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss > > > Warning: > Information provided via electronic media is not guaranteed against > defects including translation and transmission errors. If the reader > is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any > dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is > strictly prohibited. If you have received this information in error, > please notify the sender immediately. > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > Discuss@lists.osgeo.org > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss ------ Files attached to this email may be in ISO 26300 format (OASIS Open Document Format). If you have difficulty opening them, please visit http://iso26300.info for more information. _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
