Corporate Shenanigans

Mike MilinkovichExecutive DirectorEclipse Foundation@mmilinkov

FOSDEM4-FEB-2017

My Hats

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 2

Agenda

• Open source capture strategies• Consortia shenanigans

• Some helpful hacks

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 3

“Open Source Capture”

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 4

How the Game is Played

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 5

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 6

Trademarks

CertificationPatents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

I’m picking on Java here because I know it

best….but a similar analysis can be done

with Android, and other “open” platforms

How the Game is Played

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 7

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

SpecificationFree and open source people focus here

How the Game is Played

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 8

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

Control of the trademark is the most important and

most commonly over-looked aspect of platform dominance

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 9

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

Code is always free and easy to get for

developers.

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 10

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

There is actually two sources of code: open source and

proprietary.99.8% the same, but very different terms

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 11

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

The proprietary license is free for use on a “general purpose computer”, but

requires a royalty-bearing license if bundled with

hardware.

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 12

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

The open source code is available only as source code, not binary. If you want to run it, you must

build it yourself (inconvenient)

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

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Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

The platform is “open” as it is maintained at OpenJDK under GPL+CE with developers from

Oracle (Sun), IBM, Red Hat, SAP, ….

Everyone must agree to give joint ownership of all contributions to Sun

(now Oracle).

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 14

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

Specifications are created by the “Java Community Process”, which is a division of

Sun (now Oracle)

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

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Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

Each Spec must provide a:1. spec2. reference

implementation3. TCKEach with its own license!

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 16

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

Patents are pooled during the

specification process at the JCP

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 17

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

The license to the TCK binds the

implementer to a long list of business terms

which are in SunOracle’s favour.

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 18

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

You only get a license to the patents once you pass the TCK

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 19

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

You cannot use the trademarks until you

pass the TCK. Implementing a Java spec without the TCK

could make you a target for a lawsuit.

Summary

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 20

Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

● A project is not completely free unless *all* of it is free, including copyright, patent, trademarks and governance

● Developers are easily fooled by easily acquirable software.

Agenda

• Open source capture strategies• Consortia shenanigans

• Some helpful hacks

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 21

Governance is Good

Open Source Consortia Today

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...and many more….

Astroturfing

Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization (e.g., political, advertising, religious or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participant(s). It is a practice intended to give the statements or organizations more credibility by withholding information about the source's financial connection. The term astroturfing is a derivation of AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass, a play on the word "grassroots." The implication behind the use of the term is that there are no "true" or "natural" grassroots, but rather "fake" or "artificial" support…

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 24

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing

“Founder” seats“The Governing Board manages the structure and operation of the OpenJDK Community.

• The Governing Board consists of five Contributors:

• The Chair, appointed by Oracle;

• The Vice-Chair, appointed by IBM;

• The OpenJDK Lead, appointed by Oracle; and

• Two At-Large Members, nominated and elected as described below.”

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 25

http://openjdk.java.net/bylaws#_9

Extra Votes

“The Platinum Director appointed by Pivotal (“Pivotal Director”) shall have five (5) votes on any matter submitted to a vote of the Board.”

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https://www.cloudfoundry.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Current-CFF-Bylaws.pdf

Affiliate Gerrymandering

“At no time may a Member and its Affiliates have more than one Director who is an employee, officer, director, or consultant of that Member, except that Pivotal, EMC, and VMware, though Affiliates, shall each have one (1) Director on the Board).”

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 27

https://www.cloudfoundry.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Current-CFF-Bylaws.pdf

Flat Fees for Board Seats

“…the Platinum Members each contribute $500k USD per year to the foundation and must also have the equivalent of 2 full time employees contributing to OpenStack.”

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https://www.openstack.org/join/

Trademark Ownership

• For an open source project to be truly independent, its trademarks must not be owned by any for-profit entity– “…we regret that Docker does not permit the trademark

Docker® to be used as the first word in any product or project name.” (private email to me)

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 29

“Helpful Hacks”

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 30

Committers are Members

• Trade associations are by definition responsible for acting in the interests of their members

• Make your development community Members, and ensure that they have a significant role in governance

• Interesting things happen when Members == Community

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 31

Governance Diversity

• Variable due structure for all classes of members– Ensures a range of company sizes in all membership tiers

• Guaranteed seats for Committer and other(smaller) member types

• Elected annually– Term limits?

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 32

Conclusions

• Pay attention to the full range of mechanisms by which community capture can occur

• It is definitely possible to have a happy marriage of open source projects and consortia– Requires careful attention to details, as people and

companies will try to seek control points

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 33

Thank You!

Questions?

mike@eclipse.org@mmilinkov

4-Feb-2017 Copyright (c) 2017, Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Made available under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 34