Samba and any other free software project (via the PFIF) has a royalty free license to most of the patents that are important for these
protocols.
There are some patents that are excluded from this
(see appendix 4 of the agreement for a list
of the excluded patents), and we do indeed need
to avoid infringement of those patents. That
has not so far proved to be an insurmountable
obstacle, although it is an inconvenience.
yes, this is news. Most good lawyers tend to stay out of the limelight. Mark is a good lawyer, and has helped many things that could have become problematic for the free software community not become problematic. You don't hear of those successes on sites like Slashdot.
I'm glad to hear Mark is joining the SFLC. The SLFC has some really great people, including one of my personal heros, Eben Moglen, but they are very busy, and I suspect they will get busier over time. More good, experienced lawyers like Mark can only help.
You may wish to look at http://evacs.samba.org/ and http://www.elections.act.gov.au/EVACS.html#code
The EVACS system was developed by some Linux developers here in Canberra, and was used very successfully in the 2001 ACT elections. The full source code is available at the above link (the tarball on the act.gov.au site is the most recent, and is the actual code used in the election).
The EVACS system includes a 'booth' system, with bar codes used as voting tokens, and a graphical system for vote entry, using a small keypad.
The backend system includes a counting system that implemets the rather complex 'hare-clarke' counting system that is used in ACT elections.
I'd be interested in knowing more about this so
I can contact them. Could you send me an email
letting me know how I can contact you?
For those who are interested, the Samba Team
generally takes a fairly soft approach initially,
explaining to the company why it benefits them
to follow the GPL and how they can become
compliant without adverse affects on their
business. We only take firmer action as a
last resort.
In all but one case so far the company has agreed
to follow the GPL in the future after we approached them.
Slashdot Mirror
http://samba.org/samba/PFIF/
Samba and any other free software project (via the PFIF) has a royalty free license to most of the patents that are important for these protocols.
There are some patents that are excluded from this (see appendix 4 of the agreement for a list of the excluded patents), and we do indeed need to avoid infringement of those patents. That has not so far proved to be an insurmountable obstacle, although it is an inconvenience.
Cheers, Tridge
Anthony's webserver has been slashdotted, but
he has copied the files to:
http://jupiter.samba.org/
He is now trying to login to his server so he
can redirect the pages to the above site.
As well as being an amateur astronomer, Anthony
is a keen Linux enthusiast. His home built
telescope is controlled by his Linux box.
Cheers, Tridge
yes, this is news. Most good lawyers tend to stay out of the limelight. Mark is a good lawyer,
and has helped many things that could have become problematic for the free software community
not become problematic. You don't hear of those successes on sites like Slashdot.
I'm glad to hear Mark is joining the SFLC. The SLFC has some really great people, including one
of my personal heros, Eben Moglen, but they are very busy, and I suspect they will get busier
over time. More good, experienced lawyers like Mark can only help.
If you don't know Marks work at all then you might like to read this bit he wrote about the Microsoft/Novell deal: http://blogs.redhat.com/executive/archives/000274.html
Cheers, Tridge
You may wish to look at http://evacs.samba.org/ and http://www.elections.act.gov.au/EVACS.html#code
The EVACS system was developed by some Linux developers here in Canberra, and was used very successfully in the 2001 ACT elections. The full source code is available at the above link (the tarball on the act.gov.au site is the most recent, and is the actual code used in the election).
The EVACS system includes a 'booth' system, with bar codes used as voting tokens, and a graphical system for vote entry, using a small keypad.
The backend system includes a counting system that implemets the rather complex 'hare-clarke' counting system that is used in ACT elections.
Cheers, Tridge
I'd be interested in knowing more about this so
I can contact them. Could you send me an email
letting me know how I can contact you?
For those who are interested, the Samba Team
generally takes a fairly soft approach initially,
explaining to the company why it benefits them
to follow the GPL and how they can become
compliant without adverse affects on their
business. We only take firmer action as a
last resort.
In all but one case so far the company has agreed
to follow the GPL in the future after we approached them.
Cheers, Tridge