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Microsoft Linux Release: Legal Pressure or Purely Selfish? (UPDATE)

Dana Oshiro — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:46:56 -0800

Earlier this week Microsoft announced the release of 20,000 lines of device driver code to the Linux community. The code is meant to enhance Linux performance when virtualized on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V or R2 Hyper-V. Essentially it is aimed at server resource efficiency and reducing the costs associated with managing a company's IT infrastructure. Nevertheless, as revealed by Vyatta engineer Stephen Hemminger, the release may have been a legal requirement as Microsoft's code was originally in violation of the GNU General Public License.

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]]> Hemminger's claims that until recently, the device driver code made use of both open and closed source parts - something clearly forbidden by the GPL. Under this license all software and derivative works must be released under the same open source license. It appears Microsoft may have been forced to release the code due to legal pressures. Nevertheless, omitting any reference to legal issues, Microsoft spokesperson Sam Ramji made the statement on the Linux release, "Our strategy is to enhance interoperability between the Windows platform and many open source technologies, which includes Linux, is to provide the choices our customers are asking for."

For now, the code has not yet been submitted to the Linux kernel and the community will most definitely look at it with a fine tooth comb. The Linux community's backlash against Microsoft is somewhat justified. In 2001, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times and likened Linux to a cancer. He said, "Open source is not available to commercial companies. The way the license is written, if you use any open-source software, you have to make the rest of your software open source... Linux is not in the public domain. Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches. That's the way that the license works."

Nevertheless, whether for legal purposes or business purposes, it appears that Microsoft is wholly ready to release the isolated device driver code to the open source community. The code would directly benefit the company in expanding Microsoft's market share amongst administrators running Linux.

The granddaddy of Linux, Linus Torvalds has not yet looked at the code; however he made the statement to Linux Magazine, "We all "scratch our own itches". It's why I started Linux, it's why I started git, and it's why I am still involved...Complaining about the fact that Microsoft picked a selfish area to work on is just silly. Of course they picked an area that helps them. That's the point of open source - the ability to make the code better for your particular needs, whoever the 'your' in question happens to be."

UPDATE: In response to Stephen Hemminger's accusations, Microsoft spokesperson Sam Ramji made the following statement to Port 25, "Microsoft's decision was not based on any perceived obligations tied to the GPLv2 license. For business reasons and for customers, we determined it was beneficial to release the drivers to the kernel community under the GPLv2 license through a process that involved working closely with Greg Kroah-Hartman, who helped us understand the community norms and licensing options surrounding the drivers." Too see the full statement, visit Port 25.

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News Registry: The Associated Press is Watching

Dana Oshiro — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:08:59 -0800

The Associated Press is set to create a news registry to protect their online content from copyright violations. The organization amassed critics on the issue after a number of DMCA take down notices were issued to bloggers who had linked to the AP, used their headlines or paraphrased AP stories. One such blogging network, the Drudge Retort, was asked to remove seven items containing AP quotes. Nevertheless, after prominent bloggers created an uproar on the matter and claimed fair use on the content, the AP backed down. In a conversation with the New York Times, AP spokesman Jim Kennedy said, "We don't want to cast a pall over the blogosphere by being heavy-handed, so we have to figure out a better and more positive way to do this" It appears the news registry is the AP's answer.

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]]> After seeing the AP apologize for its initial DMCA take down to the Drudge Retort, bloggers may have expected a simple set of blogging standards; however, under the new registry, the organization goes much further. The AP's content will be attached to a digital-permissions framework and monitored for its usage. This means that every time a blogger uses AP materials, they'll be alerted to its permissions and someone will be watching to see that it's being used correctly. AP posts will actually bare pop ups with permissions and sources. The system also allows the organization to gain proof of what it defines as violations in order to enforce its copyright policies. And how policies are enforced will most definitely determine if Kennedy's comment about heavy-handedness was bona fide. A slide show of the system is available here.

While this is perhaps one of the first major news organizations to codify and automate the tracking of copyright violations on the web, several large organizations employ automated tracking to protect their content from misappropriation. In particular, photo organizations such as Getty and Corbis have worked with PicScout's Image Tracker for a number of years to seek out and confront copyright infringers. However, where Getty and Corbis can make clear claims to their licensed stock photography, the AP's claims to news-related content is blurry. Still, the blogosphere will have to tread lightly when it comes to using AP-related sources.

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Getty to License Images from Flickr Users

Frederic Lardinois — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:21:16 -0800

Yahoo and Getty Images announced a partnership today which will allow Getty to contact Flickr users and offer them to add their images to Getty's collection. Getty would then license these images and offer them to its clients. A notworthy aspect of this program is that the photographer on Flickr simply has to wait to be contacted by Getty. There is no way to directly submit photos to this program.

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]]> Flickr members will receive between 20 to 40 percent of the licensing fee, depending on the terms of the license.

Flickr, unlike sites like deviantArt or SmugMug, does not offer its members the option to sell prints of their photos outright. Flickr, just like most of its direct photo sharing competitors, only offers its users the option to order prints for themselves.

Clearly, Flickr and Getty are going after more casual photographers here, who would not normally submit their work to Getty's own iStockphoto or its competitors. Given the outstanding work that a lot of photographers post to Flickr, this relationship will probably be beneficial to both Flickr, as it can promote this opportunity to its members, and to Getty, which gets easier access to more photos.

This announcement is not going to make much of a difference to professional photographers, who would probably not want to rely on serendipity to have their photos found, but it would give casual photographers a reason to put their pictures up on Flickr instead of a competitor's site.

As Thomas Hawk notes, it is interesting that Getty will put the Flickr images into a special "Flickr Collection" on its site. Getty's own profession photographers are most likely not too happy to have amateurs compete with them on the same level, which would explain this firewall between the regular Getty collection and the Flickr collection.

In an interview with pdnonline, Flickr's general managers Kakul Srivastava mentions that Flickr and Getty have a business relationship that goes beyond this deal, but declined to comment about the details. It will be interesting to see how this partnership develops over time.

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