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Sometime around 5,000 years ago, Chinese merchants learned to spread their cargo over several ships so that if one were lost, they would not lose their entire shipment. It was the birth of what we now call the insurance industry. Before too long, the concept spread. Phoenician ship owners on the hook for safe delivery agreed among themselves that if one of their members lost a ship, the others would kick in to cover the loss. Twenty ship owners might agree that if any one ship were lost, they would each turn over 5 percent of their cargo to the losing ship owner.
Re: Ancient Lessons and Open-Source Insurance
Posted by: harlan_ 2004-08-17 18:08:54 In reply to: Phil Albert
Unlike ships, no one was ever deprived of the use of intellectual property just because someone else used a copy.
OSDL members are developing Carrier Grade Linux, Data Center Linux, and Desktop Linux initiatives and sponsoring Linux development by employing OSDL "Fellows", or their own in-house developers. CELF will bring millions of products containing embedded Linux to market.
Patent cross-license agreements are a significant factor in the software and electronics industry. Several members of the Open Source Development Lab and the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum already have cross-license agreements in effect that neutralize any real threat from competitors like Microsoft (for example, Sun).
IBM, and Intel have numerous cross-license agreements too. Why not let the entrenched commercial interests address this problem (like we always have)?
OSDL members are developing Carrier Grade Linux, Data Center Linux, and Desktop Linux initiatives and sponsoring Linux development by employing OSDL "Fellows", or their own in-house developers. CELF will bring millions of products containing embedded Linux to market.
Patent cross-license agreements are a significant factor in the software and electronics industry. Several members of the Open Source Development Lab and the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum already have cross-license agreements in effect that neutralize any real threat from competitors like Microsoft (for example, Sun).
IBM, and Intel have numerous cross-license agreements too. Why not let the entrenched commercial interests address this problem (like we always have)?
