The Scripts Used to Control Installation of the Executable
333 | Fri 02 Aug 11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Presented by
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Bradley M. Kuhn is the Policy Fellow and Hacker-in-Residence at Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC). Kuhn began his work in the software freedom movement as a volunteer in 1992, as an early adopter of Linux-based systems and contributor to various FOSS projects, including Perl. He worked during the 1990s as a system administrator and software developer for various companies, and taught AP Computer Science at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati. Kuhn’s non-profit career began in 2000, when he was hired by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). As FSF’s Executive Director from 2001–2005, Kuhn led FSF’s GPL enforcement, launched its Associate Member program, and invented the Affero GPL. Kuhn began as SFC’s primary volunteer from 2006–2010, and became its first staff person in 2011. Kuhn's work at SFC focuses on enforcement of the GPL agreements, FOSS licensing policy, and non-profit infrastructural solutions for FOSS. Kuhn holds a summa cum laude B.S. in Computer Science from Loyola University in Maryland, and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Cincinnati. Kuhn’s Master’s thesis discussed methods for dynamic interoperability of Free Software programming languages. Kuhn received the Open Source Award in 2012, and the Award for the Advancement of Free Software in 2021 — both in recognition for his lifelong policy work on copyleft licensing and its enforcement.
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McCoy Smith
@mccoysmith
https://www.lexpan.law
P. McCoy Smith is the Founding Attorney at Lex Pan Law LLC, a full-service technology and intellectual property law firm based in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A and Opsequio LLC, an open source compliance consultancy. Prior to his current position, he spent 20 years in the legal department of a Fortune 50 multinational technology company as a business unit intellectual property specialist; among his duties was setting up the free & open source legal function and policies for that company. He preceded his in-house experience with 8 years in private practice in a large New York City-based boutique intellectual property law firm, working simultaneously as a U.S. patent litigator and U.S. patent prosecutor. He was also a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office prior to attending law school. He is licensed to practice law in Oregon, Washington State, California & New York and to prosecute patent applications in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office; he is also a registered Trademark and Patent Agent with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. He has degrees from Colorado State University (Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, with honors), Johns Hopkins University (Masters of Liberal Arts) and the University of Virginia (Juris Doctor). While in private practice, and continuing into his in-house career, he taught portions of the U.S. patent bar exam for a long-standing and well-known patent bar exam preparation course, and from 2014-2020 was on the editorial board of the Journal of Open Law, Technology & Society (JOLTS), and is currently on the editorial board of the American Intellectual Property Law Quarterly Journal (AIPLAQJ). He is the author or co-author of chapters on open source and copyright and patents in “Open Source Law, Policy & Practice” (2022, Oxford University Press). He lectures frequently around the world on free and open source issues as well as other intellectual property topics.
Bradley M. Kuhn is the Policy Fellow and Hacker-in-Residence at Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC). Kuhn began his work in the software freedom movement as a volunteer in 1992, as an early adopter of Linux-based systems and contributor to various FOSS projects, including Perl. He worked during the 1990s as a system administrator and software developer for various companies, and taught AP Computer Science at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati. Kuhn’s non-profit career began in 2000, when he was hired by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). As FSF’s Executive Director from 2001–2005, Kuhn led FSF’s GPL enforcement, launched its Associate Member program, and invented the Affero GPL. Kuhn began as SFC’s primary volunteer from 2006–2010, and became its first staff person in 2011. Kuhn's work at SFC focuses on enforcement of the GPL agreements, FOSS licensing policy, and non-profit infrastructural solutions for FOSS. Kuhn holds a summa cum laude B.S. in Computer Science from Loyola University in Maryland, and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Cincinnati. Kuhn’s Master’s thesis discussed methods for dynamic interoperability of Free Software programming languages. Kuhn received the Open Source Award in 2012, and the Award for the Advancement of Free Software in 2021 — both in recognition for his lifelong policy work on copyleft licensing and its enforcement.
McCoy Smith
@mccoysmith
https://www.lexpan.law
P. McCoy Smith is the Founding Attorney at Lex Pan Law LLC, a full-service technology and intellectual property law firm based in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A and Opsequio LLC, an open source compliance consultancy. Prior to his current position, he spent 20 years in the legal department of a Fortune 50 multinational technology company as a business unit intellectual property specialist; among his duties was setting up the free & open source legal function and policies for that company. He preceded his in-house experience with 8 years in private practice in a large New York City-based boutique intellectual property law firm, working simultaneously as a U.S. patent litigator and U.S. patent prosecutor. He was also a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office prior to attending law school. He is licensed to practice law in Oregon, Washington State, California & New York and to prosecute patent applications in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office; he is also a registered Trademark and Patent Agent with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. He has degrees from Colorado State University (Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, with honors), Johns Hopkins University (Masters of Liberal Arts) and the University of Virginia (Juris Doctor). While in private practice, and continuing into his in-house career, he taught portions of the U.S. patent bar exam for a long-standing and well-known patent bar exam preparation course, and from 2014-2020 was on the editorial board of the Journal of Open Law, Technology & Society (JOLTS), and is currently on the editorial board of the American Intellectual Property Law Quarterly Journal (AIPLAQJ). He is the author or co-author of chapters on open source and copyright and patents in “Open Source Law, Policy & Practice” (2022, Oxford University Press). He lectures frequently around the world on free and open source issues as well as other intellectual property topics.
Abstract
Come to this session to receive a whirlwind opportunity to dive deep into one of the most heavily discussed issues in the GPLv2 family of licenses. Namely, what is it that one must provide to meet the requirements to provide "the scripts used to control installation of the executable"? Why do some feel that the plain meaning of the word "install" doesn't really mean "install"?
Finally see the big debate that we've all been awaiting for years on this question. Time permitting, we'll cover other issues.
Come to this session to receive a whirlwind opportunity to dive deep into one of the most heavily discussed issues in the GPLv2 family of licenses. Namely, what is it that one must provide to meet the requirements to provide "the scripts used to control installation of the executable"? Why do some feel that the plain meaning of the word "install" doesn't really mean "install"? Finally see the big debate that we've all been awaiting for years on this question. Time permitting, we'll cover other issues.