Blog

  • Digital activists and open movement leaders share their perspective with Open Future in new research report, “Shifting tides: the open movement at a turning point”

    Digital activists and open movement leaders share their perspective with Open Future in new research report, “Shifting tides: the open movement at a turning point”

    Open Future conducted a study to gain a better understanding of the current state of the open movement, as seen through the eyes of people actively involved in its endeavors and leading organizations within the movement. Open Future believes that a shared movement identity and a shared advocacy agenda can make the collective effort stronger

  • OSI calls for revision of disclosure rules in CRA

    OSI calls for revision of disclosure rules in CRA

    OSI is a co-signatory of an open letter sent this week to the European Parliament by European Digital Rights (EDRi) expressing concern that the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) draft currently under consideration still includes mandatory requirements for vulnerability disclosure that violate best practices in Open Source software collaborations and are likely to actually undermine the security…

  • Now is the time to define Open Source AI

    Now is the time to define Open Source AI

    You’ve seen so many announcements about new releases of AI large language models, foundational models, tooling, services all claiming to be “open” or “Open Source”. But none of them are shared with the same conditions.

  • Action needed to protect against patent trolls

    Action needed to protect against patent trolls

    The Linux Foundation, Unified Patents and Electronic Frontier Foundation hosted a webinar this week to give an overview of the serious issue of patent trolls and the recent proposal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to change the current rules for protecting and defending Open Source software from patent trolls.

  • The AI renaissance and why Open Source matters

    The AI renaissance and why Open Source matters

    Sharing knowledge and sharing code has always been a key driver for innovation in Artificial Intelligence. Researchers have gathered together since AI was established as a field to develop and advance novel techniques, from Natural Language Processing to Artificial Neural Networks, from Machine Learning to Deep Learning.

  • Regulatory language cannot be the same for all software

    Regulatory language cannot be the same for all software

    In reviewing the language and concepts being used in the various draft bills and directives circulating in Brussels at present, it is clear that the experts crafting the language are using their understanding of proprietary software to build the protections they clearly intend for Open Source.

  • Why open video is vital for Open Source

    Why open video is vital for Open Source

    The news that the European Commission’s competition directorate (DG COMP) has decided not to conduct a full antitrust investigation into the Alliance for Open Media’s (AOM) licensing policy is to be welcomed.

  • Webinar: ClearlyDefined proceeding towards a clear governance structure

    Webinar: ClearlyDefined proceeding towards a clear governance structure

    The ClearlyDefined project was invited to give an update as part of the OpenChain webinar series. I had the opportunity to share with this global community the project’s mission: to create a global database of licensing metadata for every Open Source software component ever published.

  • Another issue with the Cyber Resilience Act: European standards bodies are inaccessible to Open Source projects

    Another issue with the Cyber Resilience Act: European standards bodies are inaccessible to Open Source projects

    Europe’s standards bodies have no functional relationships with Open Source charities and do not consult them.

  • The Cyber Resilience Act introduces uncertainty and risk leaving Open Source projects confused

    The Cyber Resilience Act introduces uncertainty and risk leaving Open Source projects confused

    What might happen if the uncertainty persists around who is held responsible under the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)? The global Open Source community is averse to legal risks and generally lacks access to counsel, so it’s very possible offers of source code will simply be withdrawn rather than seeking to resolve the uncertainty.