OSRM was founded in March 2004 to give open source developers and users some legal protection against intellectual property infringement claims, such as SCO Group Inc’s assertion that Linux contains Unix System V code, as well as consulting services.
Perens is the creator of the Open Source Definition and founder of the Open Source Initiative and has given his seal of approval to both OSRM and moves to protect the legal image of open source software.
Collective legal defense is the next necessary step for open source to be ready for business, he said. Through a concentration of legal resources and expertise, OSRM will be a formidable power against the legal opponents to open source. My intention is to help ensure its efforts are consistent with the ethos of the open source movement.
In April OSRM launched its first indemnification package, providing coordinated legal defense services for potential SCO defendants, a central forum for gathering and sharing legal resources, and access to specialized intellectual property lawyers.
This article is based on material originally published by ComputerWire
