Details
- First title to combine a practice-oriented survey of "clickwrap" law with a theoretical treatment of legal and economic theory
- Written by a visionary legal practitioner with extensive experience in software licensing
- Includes discussion of today's software licenses from both practical and conceptual vantage points, including analysis of license examples, discussion of key judicial decisions, and consideration of theoretical perspectives.
- Explains how the terms of "clickwrap" agreements and other software licenses give rise to a largely unread and unseen law of software, which often displaces intellectual property law
- Discusses digital rights management ("DRM") and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") and how these critical developments are and are not related to software licensing
- Discusses the new version 3 of the General Public License ("GPL"), which applies to Linux and other free software programs
- Includes a brilliant new perspective on the proliferation of open-source software licenses that will help to frame the ongoing debate within the free and open-source software communities.
Nearly every use of a computer is subject not only to public intellectual property law, but also to the privately-written law of the software license. Although the United States has only one Copyright Act and one set of patent laws, there exist thousands of different licenses - to which millions of computer users legally bind themselves by the click of a mouse, usually without reading anything but the word "agree." How do these proliferating but largely unread licenses affect access to software, one of the economy's most valuable resources? In The Software License Unveiled, visionary practitioner Doug Phillips aims to illuminate the unseen law of software to which the software license gives rise.
Introduction
Part 1: Today's Software License
Software and Intellectual Property Law
Basic Functions of the Software License
Evolution of Today's Software License
Digital Rights Management, Software as a Service, and the Fluidity of Code
Linux, Open Source, and the GPL
Part 2: Philosophies of Software Access
The Constitutional View
Saint Ignucius
Proprietary Licensing
The Merits of Legislation by License
The Legitimacy of Clickwrap Law
The Utility of Clickwrap Law
The "Commons," the GPL, and the Public Domain
Where We Are Likely to Go from Here
Douglas E. Phillips is Vice President and General Counsel of Promontory Interfinancial Network, a company based in Arlington, Virginia, that provides technology-based services to financial institutions. He joined Promontory from the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., where over two decades he was involved with some of the most significant legal issues affecting software on behalf of a variety of clients, including both licensors and licensees and ranging from startup companies to large corporations.
"This is a thorough tour of the software license. Phillips challenges conventional models and ideologies, and offers real-world examples and insights for anyone who has a stake in software distribution."
--Eric Schmidt,
Chairman of the Board and CEO, Google Inc.
"Douglas Phillips has provided us with a wide-ranging and thoughtful analysis of current problems with software licensing, and his proposed solution is clear and sensible."
--Jameson W. Doig,
Professor of Politics and Public Affairs Emeritus, Princeton University
"In Doug Phillips' skillful hands, the subject of software licensing comes alive. He has a lot of smart things to say about this novel but important legal issue -- and he says them well."
--Alan S. Blinder,
Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Princeton University
"If you're at all interested in privately made "laws", technology and its legal framework or the history of the software industry, you'll enjoy taking a gander at The Software License Unveiled."
--IPWhatsUp.com
"The Software License Unveiled is a well-written and illuminating book. Caselaw citations are listed in a Table of Cases, and the well-constructed index contains many cross-references. I recommend this book for all types of law libraries..."
--Bryan M. Carso, Coordinator of Reference & Instructional Services, Western Kentucky University Law Libraries, Bowling Green, KY, Legal Information Alert
"This book will persuade you to question the assumption that complex legislative software licenses are desirable or inevitable. Phillips writes about this technical subject with humor and ease, as someone who has been in the trenches representing software licensors and licensees for decades." -California Lawyer
"An enlightened point of view."-les Nouvelles
