The Fallacy of OSS Discrimination by FRAND Licensing: An Empirical Analysis
27 Pages Posted: 22 Feb 2011
Date Written: February 22, 2011
Abstract
This article attempts to explain the interplay between open source software licensing and FRAND licensing in both the development of standards and with respect to firms seeking to use both OSS and proprietary software. Tension has risen in particular in the standards context, where those who create and distribute code under Open Source Software licenses claim that they are disadvantaged by standards where patent owners are allowed to seek royalties on patents that apply to the standard. The charge that "FRAND discriminates against OSS" is a popular belief among the OSS community. Many believe that FRAND is fundamentally incompatible with OSS viewing the complete absence of royalties as the only compatible option.
An empirical examination of all OSS licenses approved by the OSI reveals that there is no inherent conflict between OSS and FRAND. Of the eight most popular OSS licenses, only the GPL and the Lesser GPL license conflict with the FRAND model. And only a small fraction of the remaining 59 OSI-approved licenses have any conflict with FRAND. Indeed, the vast majority of OSS licenses are fully compatible with FRAND, with regard to both monetary and non-monetary terms.
Additionally, as a policy matter, it is in the best interests of consumers and the ICT ecosystem for different methods of software production to be allowed to compete and flourish in the marketplace through the creation of technology standards and products.
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