Overview

"Millions of computer users regularly bind themselves to software license terms with the click of a mouse, usually without reading anything but the word ""agree."" Licenses for software as diverse as Microsoft Windows and Linux, and terms of use for websites such as Facebook, are all subject not only to intellectual property and commercial law, but also to the private law of the license, which comes in many forms, each with its advocates. Microsoft, for example, maintains that its proprietary model gives users the rights they need while creating the incentives that have made the United States the global software leader, while Richard Stallman - creator of the GNU General Public License and author of a number of free software programs - asserts that proprietary licensing enables software companies to ""hoard"" software they should be sharing. In The Software License Unveiled, Douglas Phillips looks at both of these extremes and questions how these proliferating but largely unread license terms affect access to software, one of the economy's most valuable resources. While highlighting the obvious divergences, he makes the more illuminating case that most current models - spanning the spectrum from proprietary to free - have one key feature in common: to an increasing extent, each license model extends, modifies, or displaces public law that would otherwise apply. Unlike books that advocate one form of licensing or another, this one reframes the debate to propose that going forward a key challenge for lawyers, scholars, policymakers, and the public is to consider whether ""legislation by license"" should be the means for controlling software access."

Full Product Details

Author:   Douglas E. Phillips (Vice President and General Counsel, Promontory Interfinanciary Network)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 16.20cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 24.30cm
Weight:   0.474kg
ISBN:  

9780195341874

ISBN 10:   0195341872
Pages:   232
Publication Date:   04 June 2009
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

"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"

Reviews

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

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 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

<br> 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. <br>--Eric Schmidt, <br>Chairman of the Board and CEO, Google Inc.<br> 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. <br>--Jameson W. Doig, <br>Professor of Politics and Public Affairs Emeritus, Princeton University<br> 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. <br>--Alan S. Blinder, <br>Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Princeton University<br> If you're at all interested in privately made laws, technology and its legal framework or the history of the software industry, you'

Author Information

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.

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