Palamida offers license verification tool [LWN.net]

Palamida, Inc. has announced general availability of IP AMPlifier 3.0 in the new market for automated software intellectual property (IP) management and compliance. ""The sheer volume of software code in use at the average enterprise company today creates a profound need for a solution that automates the process of software intellectual property detection and identification," said Mark Driver, vice president and research director, Gartner Inc. "The right solution will help companies establish a competitive advantage by accelerating the use of third-party components and open source software free from the inefficiencies of manual methods of software license and IP verification.""

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So you're telling me that

Posted May 3, 2005 21:33 UTC (Tue) by ccyoung (guest, #16340) [Link] (5 responses)

I take out a couple of weeks and program, then need to come back and spend a couple of months to make sure I haven't violated anyone's IP?

Well, excuuuuuse me. I figure if I came up with it in a couple of weeks then defacto it isn't patentable - any average bright programmer doing average bright work is liable to come up with something similar. I mean, this isn't trying 2000 different light filiments or inventing the transistor.

I feel like some big corporate dog has been pissing all around my state of mind telling me what I can think and not. Perhaps this evening there'll be a law as to whether I can drink my beer from my left or right hand on an even numbered day.

Excuse me while I get on with life.

um, this has nothing to do with patents...

Posted May 3, 2005 22:53 UTC (Tue) by stevenj (guest, #421) [Link] (3 responses)

If you read their press release, it seems clear that their tool searches for copyright violations, not patent violations (the latter being damned hard to automatically detect, if you think about it!).

I'm not exactly sure what problem their "Detector" is trying to address, however. Employees who cut-and-paste random code into the proprietary software they are developing for you, and are dishonest or incompetent enough that simply asking them what they used doesn't work? Or, perhaps, it's for finding evil GPL viruses with which RMS "infects" your code in the middle of the night?

Their "Compliance Library" sounds like a simple database of what free software uses what licenses, and what they are compatible with; I suppose that could be useful enough.

um, this has nothing to do with patents...

Posted May 4, 2005 8:41 UTC (Wed) by farnz (subscriber, #17727) [Link] (1 responses)

Stop thinking like a developer, start thinking like a pointy-haired boss. Your Microsoft sales rep told you over lunch about the danger of maverick programmers using F/OSS code with your secret stuff to force you to pay millions to publish it under GPL. You're now terrified that your programmers (who don't even play golf with you!) are going to expose you to this risk in order to get you fired.

This tool gives you something to ameliorate that fear; you can run it, and see that there's no GPL code in your secret stuff. If there is F/OSS stuff, it leaves you in a position to discuss it with your coders.

um, this has nothing to do with patents...

Posted May 4, 2005 16:02 UTC (Wed) by rgoates (guest, #3280) [Link]

You are so right it hurts.

um, this has nothing to do with patents...

Posted May 4, 2005 8:44 UTC (Wed) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

If you read their press release, it seems clear that their tool searches for copyright violations, not patent violations (the latter being damned hard to automatically detect, if you think about it!).

Nah, with the patent system in its present shape, it's easy: a loop which prints `Possible patent violation' for every line of code and every combination of lines.

If you're really paranoid, make it do it for every combination of characters.

So you're telling me that

Posted May 4, 2005 22:01 UTC (Wed) by dang (guest, #310) [Link]

Look at it this way: Lots of companies want to be pro Free/Open Source software, but many of them get it wrong despite their best intentions. Many other companies get it wrong because they aren't clear what intentions they are obliged to have. If this weren't the case, then the netfilter team would not have to be as active as they are.

I have no idea how good this particular tool is, but if it helps people well meaning people to get it right in practice, then this is a boon to the everyone. It isn't even a matter of "thinking like a pointy haired boss." It is all about helping negotiating the tricky lines between the proprietary and the Free in a way that allows the value of each be fully realized.

Ain't no one gonna achieve "world domination" if this kind of stuff is murky and laden with legal landmines.