[opensource-dev] New TOS - Compulsory patent licensing gone?
Gigs
gigstaggart at gmail.com
Wed Mar 31 12:13:27 PDT 2010
Second Life used to be a software patent-free zone in that the TOS
compelled every user to grant a license under any patent rights,
effectively making patents inside of Second Life void.
---
3.2 paragraph 3 in the old TOS:
You also understand and agree that by submitting your Content to any
area of the Service, you automatically grant (or you warrant that the
owner of such Content has expressly granted) to Linden Lab and to all
other users of the Service a non-exclusive, worldwide, fully paid-up,
transferable, irrevocable, royalty-free and perpetual License, under any
and all patent rights you may have or obtain with respect to your
Content, to use your Content for all purposes within the Service. You
further agree that you will not make any claims against Linden Lab or
against other users of the Service based on any allegations that any
activities by either of the foregoing within the Service infringe your
(or anyone else's) patent rights.
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The new TOS does not include a section on compulsory patent licensing.
I hope that this omission was unintended and will be rectified, as
software patents are a particular danger to open source developers.
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