Concept Paper: Network of Stewards for Free and Open Source Software projects
Citation: Catharina Maracke, Axel Metzger (2013) Concept Paper: Network of Stewards for Free and Open Source Software projects.
Internet Archive Scholar (search for fulltext): Concept Paper: Network of Stewards for Free and Open Source Software projects
Download: http://contributoragreements.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ConceptPaper NetworkV9 Abstract.pdf
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Summary
Claims "friction and transaction costs involved in moving rights between developers and free and open source software projects are still high" so wants to explore possibility of a "network of intermediaries" to manage "risk inherent in the development and use of free and open source software" ultimately "tprovide additional thoughts on potential frameworks that can support and improve the collaborative production model."
Inbound licenses are contributor agreements, outbound licenses are public licenses, little standardization especially of former, thus "most projects still tailor various different legal agreements relating to copyright and patents in order to structure and clarify rights in contributions."
The Stewardship Model
Value proposition:
- parties: "where neither the project nor the supporting organization seems trustworthy, developers may decline to contribute. To address this potential weakness in the free andopen source ecosystem, additional intermediaries should be identified or set up, chosen and trusted by the developers whom they serve"
- developer-steward and steward-steward elationship: different arrangements (contributor agreements, copyright assingment, inbound=outbound...) barrier to network of stewards. Could be based on agency(?)
- added value for developers: (1) "the opportunity to stop struggling with legal documents and delegate all licensing issues to their stewardship organizations ... developers would only have to clarify once the freedoms and restrictions they want their contributions to carry." (2) insurance and (3) "transparency will allow the stewardship network to collect information about the contributions of specific contributors and produce –at their request –a private or public programmer's CV" (4) "stewardship network could try to yield revenues and to distribute the revenues amongst the developer"
Business models:
- Rights and risk consultancy services
- License enforcement
- Proprietary relicensing "optional second level service offered to interested contributors"
- Donations and grants
Legal issues:
- Rights clearance, certificates
- (Sub)licensing (unlikely) or agency
- License enforcement: not all agreements put steward in position to do license enforcement in all jurisdictions
