This presentation comes down from theory into practice - what issues are there in using OSS licensed software? Alfred Kellog is an IP lawyer who specializes in software technology issues at UBS.

First off, there's a compelling value proposition (free!) On the legal side, it's an untested frontier:

• no judicial opinion validating the concept
• virtually no judicial opinion interpreting the provisions of the various OSS licenses
• no warranties or proof of non-IP infringement
• Reciprocal (viral) aspect of some licenses creates risk of unintended IP loss

So how do you utilize OSS without exposing yourself to excessive risk? What about risks you don't know about? (i.e., employee downloads that you are unaware of). Some of the risks you have to mitigate:

• Support - will you need it? Where will you get it?
• Lack of Warranties - What's the liklihood of a problem?
• Infringement claims - What is the risk, how do you figure it out? What are the consequences of a bad event?
• Non-compiance with license restrictions - are these easily satisfied?
• Loss of owed IP due to reciprocal features - How does your use impact? What is the uncertainty?
• License invalidity - hard to tell
• Unauthorized downloads - is there a policy in place explaining rules? Are there technical blocks? Can there be? What about open source that piggybacks with commercial products?
• Unauthorized open sourcing of your proprietary code by developers within your organization - need well known policies so that open source releases are planned