Corporate Shenanigans

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


“Open Source Capture”


How the Game is Played


Trademarks

Certification Patents

Implementation(Code)

Specification

How the Game is Played: Java & Sun


Trademarks

CertificationPatents


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



Trademarks



SpecificationFree and open source people focus here



Trademarks



Specification

Control of the trademark is the most important and

most commonly over-looked aspect of platform dominance



Trademarks



Specification

Code is always free and easy to get for

developers.



Trademarks



Specification

There is actually two sources of code: open source and

proprietary.99.8% the same, but very different terms



Trademarks



Specification

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

requires a royalty-bearing license if bundled with

hardware.



Trademarks



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)



Trademarks



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).



Trademarks



Specification

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

Sun (now Oracle)



Trademarks



Specification

Each Spec must provide a:1. spec2. reference

implementation3. TCKEach with its own license!



Trademarks



Specification

Patents are pooled during the

specification process at the JCP



Trademarks



Specification

The license to the TCK binds the

implementer to a long list of business terms

which are in SunOracle’s favour.



Trademarks



Specification

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



Trademarks



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


Trademarks



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


Governance is Good

Open Source Consortia Today


...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…


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.”


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

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

http://openjdk.java.net/bylaws#openjdk-lead

http://openjdk.java.net/bylaws#at-large-members



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.”


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).”





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.”


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)


“Helpful Hacks”


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


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?


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


Thank You!

Questions?

[email protected]@mmilinkov


Corporate Shenanigans

Government & Nonprofit

Transcript of Corporate Shenanigans