开源运动专利防御体系扩容

    一个成员包括IBM的技术公司联盟正在扩大为开发商、销售商和开源软件（比如Linux）用户提供的专利保护范围。此举旨在遏制各大公司互相就专利侵权事件提起诉讼的趋势。

    这个名为开源发明网络（Open Invention Network）的联盟已经为某些在公司数据中心和后台服务器上开发的Linux和开源应用程序提供了一系列专利保护。该联盟最近宣布它们将把这些保护延伸至700多个其他的开源软件包，其中包括谷歌（Google）的安卓智能手机操作系统（Android）、颇受欢迎的程序员开发工具包OpenJDK，以及一些与网络管理和安全相关的应用程序。联盟CEO凯斯•伯尔格特说：“随着Linux社区的持续扩大，我们必须扩展保护的范围。”

    开源发明网络联盟是IBM、Novel、飞利浦（Philips）、红帽（Red Hat）、索尼（Sony）和日本电气（NEC）等公司于2005年组建的，旨在形成一种合作的氛围，促进免费开源软件的蓬勃发展。如今，开源发明网络已成为一个以创始成员为中枢的庞大社区，“特许使用的”公司超过了400多家，其中包括谷歌、甲骨文（Oracle）、雅虎（Yahoo）、富士通（Fujitsu）和LG电子等巨头，Facebook、Twitter和思科（Cisco）等公司也于去年加入了该联盟。

    免费开源软件由独立的程序员合作编写而成，并根据许可条款赋予用户某些通常被专有软件公司（比如微软公司）禁止的“自由”。这些自由包括阅读、修改、复制和重新发布软件源代码的权利。最有名的开源产品当属Linux操作系统（又称GNU/Linux）。这套完整的开源软件系统迅速受到财富500强（Fortune 500）公司的欢迎，被广泛应用于它们的数据中心服务器中。然而，免费开源软件的生态系统正受到专利权的威胁：如果联盟外部的某个人能够证实软件的某一特定构件侵犯了他合法持有的专利权，这些重要的开源自由就无从落实。

    因此，开源发明网络联盟防御性地收购了一组具有战略性的专利，任何承诺不向Linux社区成员主张其自身专利权的公司均可使用这些专利，且无需交纳专利权使用费。每个特许用户还可以免费使用任何其他特许用户持有的专利，至少是许可条款指定的某款Linux应用程序。现在，特许用户可集体使用的产品组合包括超过35万项专利及应用。

    由于开源发明网络联盟对Linux的原始定义已不再能反映Linux实际使用的广度，该联盟现在正在扩充这一定义。例如，由于这种变化，依托于Linux的安卓智能手机操作系统（该系统目前在市场上处于领先地位）将被Linux的新定义所涵盖。据网络趋势调查公司康姆斯科（ComScore）的数据，截止去年12月，安卓系统已经占据了47.3％的市场份额，苹果公司（Apple）位居第二，市场占有率为29.6%。

    伯尔格特对前景非常乐观。他说，未来一两年内，更多的公司将以越来越快的速度签署开源发明网络联盟颁发的许可证。这些新成员或许将包括三星（Samsung）、英特尔（Intel）、华为（Huawei）和戴尔（Dell）等公司，它们都在“大举投资Linux和开源应用”。他认为，未来某个时刻，开源发明网络联盟将抵达一个转折点，届时，还没有加入联盟的公司可能会感到日益孤立。“人们总喜欢跟让他们觉得轻松自在的人共事，如果某家公司不是特许使用者，外界或许会认为它不愿致力于Linux和开源应用运动。”

    译者：任文科

    An alliance of technology corporations, including IBM, is expanding the scope of patent protection it provides to developers, vendors, and users of open source software such as Linux. The move cuts against the grain of major companies going after each other, filing suit over patent infringement.

    The consortium, known as the Open Invention Network, already provides an array of patent protections to certain Linux and open-source applications found on corporate data-center and back-office servers. Today's announcement will extend those protections to more than 700 additional open-source software packages, including Android, Google's (GOOG) smartphone operating system; OpenJDK, a popular programmers' development kit; and applications relating to network management and security. "As the Linux community expands," says the network's CEO Keith Bergelt, "we've had to broaden the aperture of our protections."

    OIN was formed in 2005 by IBM (IBM), Novel, Philips, Red Hat, Sony (SNE), and NEC (NIPNF) to foster a cooperative environment in which free and open-source software (FOSS) could thrive. Today the OIN's original charter members form the hub of a community that includes more than 400 "licensee" companies, including such giants as Google, Oracle (ORCL), Yahoo (YHOO), Fujitsu (FJTSY), LG Electronics (LGL), and, as of the past year, recent signatories like Facebook, Twitter, and Cisco (CSCO).

    Free and open-source software is written collaboratively by independent programmers and, by its licensing terms, confers certain "freedoms" upon users that are usually forbidden by proprietary software companies, like Microsoft (MSFT). These freedoms include the right to see the software's source code, alter it, copy it, and redistribute it. The best known open-source product is Linux, or GNU/Linux, a complete open-source operating system that quickly became popular among Fortune 500 corporations for use on data-center servers. Patents threaten the free-and-open-source eco-system, however, in that none of the key open-source freedoms can be practiced if an outsider can establish that a given piece of software infringes a valid patent he holds.

    OIN has, therefore, acquired a defensive portfolio of strategic patents which it makes available, royalty free, to companies that commit not to assert their own patents against members of the Linux community. Every licensee also then enjoys royalty-free protection from every other licensee's patent portfolio, at least as it relates to the specific Linux applications that are designated in the license. Today, the licensees' collective portfolio includes more than 350,000 patents and applications.

    Because OIN's original definition of Linux no longer reflects the breadth of Linux's actual usage, OIN is expanding that definition. As a result of the change, for instance, Linux-based Android—today the leading smartphone operating system—will become covered by the OIN definition. (According to the comScore metrics service, Android had 47.3% market share as of December. Apple (AAPL) was second, with 29.6%.)

    Bergelt is optimistic, he adds, that additional companies will be signing OIN licenses at an accelerating pace within the next year or two, and that these new members might include, for instance, Samsung, Intel (INTC), Huawei, and Dell (DELL), which are "all making major investments in Linux and open source." He suggests that at some point the network will reach a tipping point at which companies that have not joined up may feel increasingly isolated. "You work with people you're comfortable with," he says. "If you're not a licensee, you might be seen as not committed to Linux or open source."