June 02, 2021Michael Weinberg

HardwareX Integrates OSHWA Certification into Paper Submission Process

This post originally appeared on the OSHWA blog

May 24, 2021Michael Weinberg

A Second Cambrian Explosion of Open Source Licenses
or
Is it Time For Open Source Lawyers to Have Fun Again?

As the open source world has grown, so have concerns about the context in which openly licensed items are used. While these concerns have existed since the beginning of the open source movement, today’s larger and more diverse movement has brought new urgency to them. In light of this revived interest within the community, the time may be ripe to begin encouraging experimentation with open source licensing again.

May 17, 2021Michael Weinberg

A Digital Warranty of Habitability - Forcing a Choice on ‘Sellers’ of Digital Goods

The shift to digital goods has allowed merchants of digital goods to combine the advantages of both selling and renting, leaving purchasers with the disadvantages of both.¹ A better approach would be to maintain traditional sales and renting norms into the world of digital goods. Specifically, merchants should be forced to choose between licensing their goods under an ongoing duty to maintain them or selling the goods outright, removing their obligation to maintain them in the future.

I apologize in advance for the strained grammar of this blog post. Because it turns on a distinction between selling and renting, I don’t have an accurate and consistent way to refer to the two parties involved in the transaction in a way that avoids blurring the distinction. I’m doing my best! ↩