O'Reilly News & Commentary

An Open Letter to Roy Blount, Jr. on the Occasion of Him Speaking Like a Dinosaur

By James Turner
February 25, 2009

The author Roy Blount, Jr., just took to the pages of the New York Times, arguing that the audio capabilities of the Kindle violates his intellectual property rights. My resonse.... Dear Mr. Blount, I've been a long-time fan of yours,...

Another ditzy patent application comes up for examination by Peer-to-Patent

By Andy Oram
February 19, 2009

Peer to Patent project is examining a patent application that tries to get a monopoly on a trivial tagging mechanism similar to what millions of people use on blogs, social networks, and media sharing sites.

Peer-to-Patent and Article One Drag the Reclusive Patent Onto the Thoroughfare

By Andy Oram
February 2, 2009

Peer-to-Patent, a research project affiliated with several patent offices, and Article One Partners, a commercial venture, are trying to bring public participation into the patent system. This article describes and compares these organizations, highlights a new "post-issue" site erected last week by Peer-to-Patent to seek prior art on patents that have already been issued, and tries to tease out the social and economic trend represented by the organizations.

Creative Commons needs your donations

By Andy Oram
December 15, 2008

Creative Commons is more dependent than ever before on the funds of individuals. More and more people these days are grabbing pictures, text, and other random goods they find online and using them in their own presentations or creative efforts; some of us even build businesses on open contributions. All of us should be promoting the Creative Commons, which has provided licenses to support such sharing in 50 countries and is working with people in many more.

Bilski patent decision: trying to return patents to their technological origins

By Andy Oram
November 10, 2008

The software industry is abuzz--almost as much as the legal field--with a October 28 court decision that everyone regards as a verdict on business patents, and that some think it will change software patenting as well. I've just published an exploration of the issue. What I offer here is an inductive exploration based on hypothetical examples.

Firefox EULA: Free as in ...?

By James Turner
September 16, 2008

Everyone seems to be in a huff about the EULA that Mozilla is displaying when you start Firefox under Ubuntu. There are even calls to pull Firefox out of the distribution altogether. But in reality, it's a tempest in a teapot, a waste of valuable energy, and harmfully divisive. Here's why.

On Slashdot-- A 10/10 Review for Intellectual Property and Open Source

By Sara Peyton
September 15, 2008

In a review published by Slashdot today, writer JR Peck gave "Intellectual Property and Open Source: A Practical Guide to Protecting Code" a perfect 10/10. Written by Van Lindberg, a software engineer and practicing attorney, "Intellectual Property and Open Source" aims to guide readers through critical intellectual property issues from a developer's point of view--without getting bogged down in legalese. And, according to JR, Lindberg admirably succeeds in his mission. Read more.

Fences in the ether: Brazil's proposed Internet laws

By Andy Oram
August 29, 2008

The subject of this article sounds like a mock-cartoon version of repressive censorship laws. But the proposals are real. They have been widely discussed in the Brazilian blogosphere and to some extent in the Brazilian press and TV, but they've received hardly any attention in the United States.

How copyright got to its current state (Patry blog ending)

By Andy Oram
August 14, 2008

William Patry, one of the most respected online commentators on copyright, has shut down his weblog. It so happens that copyright is a major subject covered in a book recently released by O'Reilly, Van Lindberg's Intellectual Property and Open Source A Practical Guide to Protecting Code. This blog continues with a brief statement by Van about Patry's decision, then a brief statement of my own, and finally an excerpt from Van's book about how copyright got to the state it's in, an excerpt I hope you'll enjoy and learn from.

How copyright got to its current state (Paltry blog ending)

By Andy Oram
August 7, 2008

William Patry, one of the most respected online commentators on copyright, has shut down his weblog. It so happens that copyright is a major subject covered in a book recently released by O'Reilly, Van Lindberg's Intellectual Property and Open Source A Practical Guide to Protecting Code. This blog continues with a brief statement by Van about Patry's decision, then a brief statement of my own, and finally an excerpt from Van's book about how copyright got to the state it's in, an excerpt I hope you'll enjoy and learn from.

1 to 10 of 10