OSE License Requirements
Meeting notes - [1]
Requirements
- Duration - permanent protection of IP
- Protection - In general, bilateral - or both developer and user of any sort is protected. Protects users of technology, builders of technology from potential patent suit against them; downstream users, on-demand manufacturers and commercial producers. Protects developers from any issue resulting from other individuals or corporations producing the product. Protects OSE from any foreseeable lawsuits.
- Includes a logo and clear branding of license
- Follows OSHWA definition of open hardware, but is more specific about sufficiency requirements for full documentation by citing examples of specific hardware
- Allows for licensing of components that are open source, within larger harware artifacts that may not be open source. Distinction must be made for which part of the overall artifact is open source.
- Documentation - no requirements for sending updates/emails to any developers, but just providing a link to a repository. OSE must provide a clear link to its documentation from its website
- Standardized taxonomy is to be developed for documentation. License encourages standards for findability and taxonomy if someone uses a repository other than OSE repository
- License encourages other repositories for other projects - while encouraging above standards for findability and taxonomy - to allow repositories to be interoperable/remixable.
- License framework creates a framework for a registry of hardware projects following the OSE license, and creates a framework for 3rd party verification of verifying OSE label.
- Specifications for documentation - we are currently in the process of refining the specific taxonomy for all documentation content in 2 categories: (1) absolutely mandatory content that any OSE-Licensed product must have to assure full replicability of a hardware artifact; (2) nice-to-have content that assists in continued development, but is not necessary to the replication per se
- Documentation must be in open file format, but may allow proprietary formats if no other open format exists. Encourages closed formats to be submitted with aim that closed formats may be converted to open formats by other contributors.
- Involves 3 layers - software (GPL), hardware, and media (CC)
- Amendment of License - license is versioned, and any product using license must display specific license version. License may be amended by OSE according to a specific protocol, to be defined.
- Versioning - versions of hardware artificts must be versioned clearly, with
- Commits - A specific process for commits involves the Founder and 'lieutenants' equivalent of the linux model. Process to be defined specifically. Official commits are found at repository. Commit control may be assigned to specific parties as project grows.
- Repository - official OSE repository is held by OSE or its assigns; other repositories are encouraged for other projects. This may be up for discussion.
- Explicit allowance of commercial use, including on-demand manufacturing
- Explicit ethical stand on Distributive Enterprise - or open publishing of enterprise blueprints based on the hardware artifacts
- Specific license is needed for producers - to be granted by OSE for those wishing to use the OSE trademark - similar to Arduino model. Terms to be specified, requires payment to maintain the licensing infrastructure.
- Licensing to others involves a quality control protocol.
- OSE products under OSE label go through an internal and external quality control process, to be defined.
- Any OSE-licensed product must be shipped with a clear link to documentation
- Product warranty requires that any manufacturer provide only operations/safety/maintenance information, and it only suggests that a service infrastructure be created for products sold
- Patents - I would like patents to be replaced with a court test case of the OSE license
