Quote:
Originally Posted by BillWhedon
Interestingly, the only ones willing to put serious money into the project are those who expect some ownership as a result, and that can't happen, based on our corporate charter. When we have a fully functional device, the details will be released under an open source contract .. no patents.
When that happens, anyone who wants to build one to learn or improve on it will be free to obtain the plans at duplication and shipping cost only. Probably under 10 bucks (a CD and postage don't cost much). And once you've checked it out, I think our Legal Eagles will have some kind of Associate plan for you if you want to market the licenses.
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Open Source Contract is an interesting concept. It implies that behind it is an open source license. I.e. an addendum or addition to the open source license. Will you have an open source license and if so which one? If you will not have an open source license then you are misleading when you say Open Source Contract. The term itself is an oxymoron or at least contradicts the well established intellectual property rights brought about through the Berne Convention and World Trade Organization concerning open source licensing and contracts.
Why not simply publish your contract for examination by the open community or at least change the name from 'Open Source Contract' to 'Contract' so that there is no confusion on anyone's part.
Also, your web site can easily make your plans available for download, thereby eliminating any work on your part for providing a copy of the plans, allowing the public access to the plans instantly instead of waiting a week and is won't cost $10....it will be free as 'open source' implies.
This is indeed an interesting project, one worth pursuing, I would simply like a little clarification on the above couple of points.
Thanks,
Eric