licensing

The open-source license landscape is changing

There's no such thing as "the" open-source license. There are lots of them. Sixty-nine to be precise if one accepts the Open Source Initiative (OSI) as the definitive arbiter of what is open source and what is not.

Some are essentially legacy licenses; in general, the continued proliferation of licenses has abated in recent years but it's often more trouble than it's worth to fully retire licenses that are still in use by active software. Others won't be relevant to a specific type of copyrighted material, such as software programs. (Material under an open-source … Read more

HP CEO: We might license WebOS

During an interview at the D9 conference today, Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Apotheker dropped a mini-bombshell: HP would consider licensing its mobile operating system, WebOS, to other hardware makers.

In response to a question from the audience at the tech conference about potentially licensing the OS, Apotheker replied:

I happen to believe that WebOS is a uniquely outstanding operating system. It's not correct to believe that it should only be on HP devices. There are all kinds of other people who want to make whatever kind of hardware they make and would like to connect them to the Internet. We'… Read more

Lodsys: iOS developers still on the hook for licenses

The coast may not be clear for developers who thought that Apple could protect them against a company seeking to tax developer revenue.

A week after being told by Apple that its license of four patents covered iOS developers who use in-app purchasing, patent holdings group Lodsys has said that's not the case.

In a post on the group's blog this afternoon (via Macrumors), the group said that after reading Apple's claims as well as consulting "several legal experts," developers who have implemented in-app purchasing are still on the hook to pay Lodsys a percentage … Read more

Jet! Paul McCartney archive uploaded to cloud

While some brick-and-mortar libraries are converting to robot-style storage systems, Hewlett-Packard has put Paul McCartney's archive of music, video clips, and photos into a digital cloud library.

HP launched the private collection with MPL Communications, which the former Beatle founded in 1971, to digitize five decades of McCartney material.

It's called the Paul McCartney Digital Library, and it doesn't include Beatles material.

"The digital library is designed for Paul McCartney and his media company, MPL Communications Ltd," says Scott Anderson of HP Enterprise Business. "The library will help to power his media business, making it simpler and more efficient to identify, locate, and use assets across his vast personal collection."

So for the time being, the archive is a personal library for McCartney, but it could be opened up for licensing or fan use. A sample of some of the photos in the collection can be seen here.

The project is an example of HP's Instant-On Enterprise service, which embeds technology into everything a business or government does to make it more responsive to customers and partners. The private cloud also protects MPL's library in London from natural disaster since it will have backup files in a separate location. … Read more

Little divides Apple, music publishers on cloud deal

Hopes are high in the music sector that Apple will have all the licenses it needs to launch a cloud music service in time for the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, which starts on June 6.

Negotiations between Apple and music publishers have begun in earnest only recently but the amount of money that separates the two sides from reaching a deal is relatively small, according to two sources with knowledge of the talks. That said, these are cloud-licensing contracts, which are new and complex and there are still several ways Apple's service could be delayed, insiders say.

Apple … Read more

Lodsys posts FAQ on its in-app purchase patent

Lodsys, the intellectual property holdings firm behind last week's letters telling iOS app makers their use of in-app purchase was stepping on the toes of a patent, has come out with an FAQ (frequently asked questions) on the matter. In short, the group says that by creating and selling applications that make use of in-app purchase, app developers are responsible for paying a licensing fee.

The FAQ, which has been posted as a series of individual posts on the company's blog, delves into a number of topics, though primarily how its patent pertains to in-app purchases and why … Read more

Report: Apple mulling video license for AirPlay

Apple's AirPlay video streaming technology could be making the leap from the Apple TV set-top box to non-Apple living room hardware.

A report by Bloomberg, which cites anonymous sources, says Apple is weighing a licensing program for the video component of its AirPlay technology that would let gadget makers incorporate the wireless streaming into televisions and set-top boxes.

Apple introduced AirPlay late last year as the successor to its AirTunes wireless audio streaming technology. The renaming was also meant to explain to consumers that, with the incorporation of video streaming, the technology was no longer just for audio. With … Read more

Can't find your car? This mall knows where it is

For all the apps, gadgets, and gizmos on the market, a simple solution to finding a your car in a large parking lot is still a tall order. A Los Angeles mall seems to have figured out a way to reduce the number of wandering car owners with keys in hand searching for their vehicles, but it borrows technology normally reserved for government agencies.

License plate scanners are widely used by police departments to help locate stolen vehicles, or by transportation agencies to snag drivers who breeze through tolls without paying. But a few shopping malls are now using them … Read more

Intel to pay Nvidia $1.5 billion in licensing fees

Intel will gain access to Nvidia's patents while paying the graphics chip supplier $1.5 billion in licensing fees as part of a new six-year agreement.

"For the future use of Nvidia's technology, Intel will pay Nvidia an aggregate of $1.5 billion in licensing fees payable in five annual installments, beginning Jan. 18, 2011," Nvidia announced today.

Furthermore, Nvidia and Intel have agreed to drop all outstanding legal disputes between them.

The crux of the agreement is that Intel gains access to all of Nvidia's GPU (graphics processing unit) patents but Nvidia gains access … Read more