PROTECTING THE VIRTUAL COMMONS Self-organizing open source and free software communities and innovative intellectual property regimes Ruben van Wendel de Joode Hans de Bruijn Michel van Eeten Delft September 2002 Draft version (official version to be published by Asser Press in 2003) For questions, suggestions or comments please contact: Ruben van Wendel de Joode at [email protected] © 2002 Ruben van Wendel de Joode, Hans de Bruijn and Michel van Eeten Table of contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................................5 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................6 Questions guiding the research...................................................................................6 Structure of the report .................................................................................................7 CHAPTER 1 - DESCRIBING OPEN SOURCE & FREE SOFTWARE COMMUNITIES...............................................................................................................9 1.1 - INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................9 1.2 - POPULARITY OF OPEN SOURCE AND FREE SOFTWARE.............................................9 1.3 - HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF OPENNESS & FREEDOM.......................................11 The origin of the Internet ..........................................................................................11 Richard Stallman and free software..........................................................................11 Berkeley Software Distribution .................................................................................12 Linus Torvalds and Linux..........................................................................................13 The name ‘open source’ ............................................................................................14 1.4 - THE COMMUNITIES................................................................................................14 Roles in open source and free software communities ...............................................14 Software in various forms .........................................................................................15 The software development process............................................................................16 The layers of an onion...............................................................................................18 1.5 - CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMUNITIES ............................................................19 Free availability of source code................................................................................19 Distributed ownership and control............................................................................19 Resources ..................................................................................................................21 Limited lock-in...........................................................................................................22 High tolerance for mistakes ......................................................................................23 Open and ambiguous performance indicators ..........................................................24 Selection through professional attention...................................................................24 Selection based on technical merits (elegance).........................................................25 Limited knowledge about end users ..........................................................................26 1.6 - SUMMARY .............................................................................................................26 CHAPTER 2 - INTERPRETING OPEN SOURCE & FREE SOFTWARE COMMUNITIES.............................................................................................................28 2.1 - INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................28 2.2 - THE CHALLENGE FACING OPEN SOURCE AND FREE SOFTWARE ............................28 On the nature of open source and free software .......................................................28 Problems facing public goods ...................................................................................29 2.3 - HOW INDIVIDUALS IN COMMUNITIES PROVIDE A PUBLIC GOOD ...........................30 Low entry costs..........................................................................................................30 Low transaction costs................................................................................................31 The user’s direct need ...............................................................................................32 1 Joy .............................................................................................................................33 Reputation .................................................................................................................33 2.4 - ON THE NATURE OF INNOVATIONS........................................................................33 Two different approaches..........................................................................................33 The individual and collective level............................................................................34 Innovation in open source and free software communities.......................................35 2.5 - VARIATION AND SELECTION IN OPEN SOURCE AND FREE SOFTWARE COMMUNITIES................................................................................................................35 Variation mechanisms...............................................................................................35 Selection mechanisms................................................................................................37 Consequences of the selection mechanisms ..............................................................39 2.6 - SUMMARY .............................................................................................................40 CHAPTER 3 - THE COMMONS UNDER PRESSURE: BUSINESS PROCESSES & IPR................................................................................................................................41 3.1 - INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................41 3.2 - WHAT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS?....................................................41 The economic rationale underlying IPR ...................................................................41 Different institutions under the IPR umbrella...........................................................42 The system of copyrights in the United States and the European Union ..................43 Patents in the United States and the European Union..............................................44 3.3 - COPYRIGHTS AND PATENTS ON SOFTWARE...........................................................46 Challenges.................................................................................................................46 Copyrights on software in the United States and the European Union.....................46 Software patents in the United States and the European Union ...............................47 Colonizing the commons? .........................................................................................48 3.4 - FIRMS AND THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARDS IPR IN THE DIGITAL AGE ........................49 The business model of companies .............................................................................49 Ownership of software ..............................................................................................49 Lock-in.......................................................................................................................49 Decision-making........................................................................................................50 Company resources...................................................................................................50 Characteristics compared .........................................................................................51 3.5 - THREATS FROM THE PHYSICAL DOMAIN ...............................................................51 Patents.......................................................................................................................51 Companies hiring core open source and free software developers...........................53 Free-riding ................................................................................................................53 Performance indicators.............................................................................................53 Commercialization ....................................................................................................53 3.6 - SUMMARY .............................................................................................................54 CHAPTER 4 - MECHANISMS TO PROTECT THE COMMONS..........................55 4.1 - INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................55 4.2 - OPEN SOURCE AND FREE SOFTWARE LICENSES.....................................................55 The BSD license ........................................................................................................56