Insurance group: Linux free of copyright violations

IDG News Service - A start-up company looking to provide legal insurance for copyright claims against open-source software has declared the Linux kernel free of copyright infringement.
Open Source Risk Management LLC (OSRM) today announced that it can't find any copyright violations in the 2.4 and 2.6 Linux kernels, counter to claims from The SCO Group Inc. SCO is suing IBM and other Linux users, claiming that the Linux operating system violates its Unix copyrights.
"We are saying that SCO has no copyright claim," said Daniel Egger, founder and chairman of OSRM. "We think they will lose."
Blake Stowell, a spokesman for Lindon, Utah-based SCO, said his company's legal activity so far hasn't been done in a vacuum, despite the claims from OSRM. "I think a quick read of any of the filings we've made so far against Linux end users would summarize where we believe Linux copyright infringement exists," Stowell said.
"We feel we're in a pretty good position to say where it exists, which is why there are Linux end-user lawsuits out there," he said.
OSRM also announced that it will offer indemnification on legal costs for open-source software, priced at about 3% of the desired coverage; for example, $1 million worth of legal protection would cost $30,000 a year. Open-source developers can also receive $25,000 worth of legal protection for $250 per year. The indemnification packages will be supported by OSRM's new Open Source Legal Defense Center, which has contracted with intellectual property lawyers across the U.S. to defend copyright claims against Linux.
"It's critical that contractors don't feel demoralized by this [lawsuit]," Egger said.
OSRM's legal experts studied the Linux code for six months to hunt for potential copyright violations and found none after tracing the origins of Linux's code, Egger said. OSRM checked the Linux kernel against an undisclosed number of Unix software packages. As a result of those checks, the company is comfortable offering indemnification against Linux copyright claims, Egger said.
The OSRM insurance package is more of a shared legal defense fund than a traditional insurance package. "[Claims] would be handled by a lawyer who's already an expert in this area," Egger said. "What you get is an aggressive defense."
While the SCO lawsuits gave Eggers the idea for the OSRM open-source insurance, SCO's actions illustrate a larger need for insurance against copyright claims on open-source software, he said. "[Linux developers] created something really, really valuable," he said. "In America, that attracts lawyers. We think SCO will lose, but [Linux users and developers] still need protection againstlawsuits that have no merit."
Computerworld's Todd Weiss contributed to this report.