Law Commons^™

Commercializing Open Source Software: Do Property Rights Still Matter?, Ronald J. Mann

ExpressO

A major shift toward open source software is underway. Companies are more critically evaluating the cost effectiveness of their IT investments, seeing the benefits of collaborative development, and looking for ways to avoid vendor lock-in. At the same time, academics and industry visionaries are criticizing the use of a traditional appropriation mechanism for innovation—the patent—by bemoaning the decisions of U.S. and foreign governments to permit software patents, the rising numbers of patents on software-related innovations (the so-called “arms race” build-up), and the cost and frequency of patent litigation in the software industry. The critics generally have applauded the shift towards …