Folks,
I have been seeking to have Google sign a corporate CLA
to cover contributions to the GeoTools projects so we could
feed back a few existing improvements, and some future
potential improvements. During internal review of the CLA
we have encountered some concerns from our legal staff.
>From our legal representative:
"""
Google is not willing to sign the agreement as it currently stands due to
how "the project" is currently defined in the agreement. The agreement
states
'The "Project" is the collaborative effort known as the Geotools Project,
currently described at
http://www.geotools.org which initially aims to design and create an open
source Java language library for
the management and analysis of spatial, geographic data.'
This does not actually define anything in particular, rather it seems
amorphous thing that apparently can be changed (since it's only "currently
described"). It's completely ambiguous what this is (a legal entity, a
piece of software, etc). In turn, this makes it completely indefinite what
terms such as "solely as part of the Geotools Project" mean in the patent
grant, and what "except where exercise of rights in the Contribution as
part of the Geotools Project is
not feasible without such modification or combination." means in the
definition of 'licensed patents'.
If these were tied to a particular software project, we'd be willing to
sign it.
"""
I'm going to seek an internal suggestion of a change to
the text, but I wanted to raise the issue here and get
a sense of whether others have encountered similar
issues and if there is any appetite for changes to the CLA.
For reference, I am pursuing this matter as a Google employee.
Best regards,
--
---------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
I set the clouds in motion - turn up | Frank Warmerdam,
[email protected]
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush | Geospatial Software Developer
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