Timothy Miller wrote:
I'm a sucker for press, so I thought this might be interesting. Tell
me what you think. This is just a concept, so I'm sure it's missing
lots of stuff.
Press is good. We just need to make sure it's good press. I'll read
through the wording more later, but this brought to mind some immediate
thoughts.
Open Graphics Project releases novel video timing controller design
under GPL
Is it actually novel? Should the design be patented? We have always
discussed the licensing of the core as a whole, but nothing should stop
us from considering the individual pieces as well. If the design really
is new and novel then it is a very good candidate for patenting. This
would also give a very firm foundation for licensing.
This of course brings up a number of questions and concerns regarding
patents and the like. "Who holds the patent?" being a big one. I would
argue this is a very good reason to have a non-profit foundation
associated with the project. It could act as the patent holder and
licensor of designs generated by the project. All patented items could
be freely licensed under OpenSource or similar licensing agreements.
Other alternate licenses could be made available at a cost as a way to
help fund the foundation and the Open Graphics project. I would propose
that any company (i.e. Travesal) assigning a patent to the foundation
should be granted special licensing rights (don't know what those are
yet) to implement the design. Because the HDL code is an implementation
and is separately copyrightable (as I understand it anyway), Traversal
or any other company contributing would still be able to protect their
investment. Anyway, just some food for thought.
On a similar front, I have been reading up on what is required to form a
non-profit corporation in the state of Texas (where I live). From what
I can tell, the requirements do not appear to be terribly onerous.
Getting IRS 501(c)(3) looks a bit more confusing, but so far I haven't
found anything that would imply it would be terribly hard either.
I've gotten to the point were further research involves deciphering
legalese as well as other things like coming up with a "mission
statement", etc. It also moves us towards a big step, for better or
worse. I figured I'd get peoples feedback before expending more time
here. I'd much rather be writing code or hardware, but I think it's
pretty important. Should we move towards the creation of a foundation?
Are there any objections to it being in Texas, or even the US for that
matter? I'm looking for people's inputs as this involves the creation
of legal entities and the capability to manage other people's donations,
etc. It's not a step to take lightly.
Patrick M
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