The high-stakes debate over open access
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Allowing consumers to mix and match wireless gadgets and service providers could spark innovation--and compromise security.
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Blog: Open source is not up to each individual to define.  It's up to the community, and the community has traditionally delivered its verdict on licenses through the OSI.  CentricCRM has given no good reasons for this to change.
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High rate of patents, open-source age increase importance of intellectual property issues.
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(InfoWorld) - In a bid to speed up the dissemination of scientific discoveries, the European Commission said Thursday it plans to shake up the old-fashioned world of scientific publishing by throwing its weight behind a move to make scientific research results freely available on the Internet. Until now, results have been published in journals along with peer reviews of the research. Publishers of scientific, technical, and medical journals argue that the peer review system wouldn't work as reliably if results were published willy-nilly online. "Nobody will benefit if a major European industry is undermined and with it the peer review system upon which science and society depend," said the International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers (STM) in a statement ahead of Thursday's announcement by the Commission. The publishers, which include giants like Reed Elsevier and McGraw-Hill, cosigned a petition to Europe's lawmakers dubbed the Brussels Declaration, calling for leniency. The Commission is hosting a two-day conference starting Thursday with the publishers as well as with advocates of a free, Internet-based model for scientific publishing. In its statement, the Commission made it clear that it favors freer access to research results. It is planning to spend about â¬85 million ($111 million) over the next two years improving the digital storage and online accessibility of scientific results. Digital technologies are reshaping how research information is viewed, analyzed, and eventually published, the Commission said. For example, about 90 percent of all science journals are now available online, often by subscription. But digital technologies are also leading to more "open access" publishing. This provides free and wide access to publications online. Better access to research data also opens the way to new types of uses and services, often through the reusing of past results as the raw material for new experimentation. However, the Commission added that online access to current scientific information does not guarantee its future availability. Digital information has a limited lifetime and needs to be maintained over time. Better tools and organizational steps are necessary to ensure digital preservation and thus prevent the loss of important scientific information, the Commission said. "The digital revolution has led the European scientific community to suggest that an alternative publishing model with better access to research publications could further stimulate research excellence and innovation," Commissioner for Research Janez Potocnik told delegates at the conference. Publishers association STM had argued that it would be wrong for the Commission to favor one business model over another and urged it to back off from the scientific publishing sector. But the association changed its tune Thursday, after learning how serious the Commission is about taking action. "I am pleased that the Commission has recognized the complex issues that surround the publication and preservation of scientific information and has seen fit to initiate a dialogue rather than prematurely imposing a policy that could undermine STM publishing, which is such an important industry for Europe," said Michael Mabe, CEO of STM in a statement released Thursday. The STM welcomes the Commission's action plan "in the area of creating a level playing field for publication business models, recognizing that further research on preservation and economics is essential before adopting any policy positions," the association said in its latest statement.
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No one is forcing anyone to put their work into the public commons. But, once you do, you need to accept that you no longer can wholly control how it is used. The open-source software world understands this to its benefit.
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After tossing WiFi start-up bids for exclusive control of fallow spectrum, federal regulators want public input on how to proceed. Will a new fight over "open access" rules emerge?
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Nat Torkington stirred up some controversy when he asked, "Is 'Open Source' Now Completely Meaningless?" He has a good point, however. With so many companies claiming to be "open source" -- despite seemingly disparate business models and licensing schemes -- it's getting hard to tell what is legitimate open source and what isn't. The mere fact that so many voices have begun to weigh in on the issue is proof of how murky these waters have become.
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Open Text's major software acquisition takes flight.
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The dangers of software patents for free software have always been a hot issue.  But with the news that Red Hat and Novell are being sued for alleged patent infringement by IP Innovation, the matter has moved from theory into practice.  In fact, in the battle against software patents, it turns out that the open source world already has a rather powerful weapon in its armoury â even if it's one that few people know about. read more
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A debate over an anthropologist's book on ancient Hebrew history isn't just academic &#151; it's spilled over into an online dispute between critics trying to keep her from getting tenure and supporters who say the effort stifles scholarly freedom.
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Christopher Lydon's RadioOpenSource is one of the best programs on radio. It's not about open source code, but about radio modeled on open source values and methods. As the show puts it, Open Source has become one of the most talked-about experiments in public media &#151; a civil union of online and on-air communities that trust each other to talk about pretty much anything.  \
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New chapters in the portal's quest for user-generated content.
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PC Magazine - The issues of patents, indemnification and the potential risk of using open-source software took center stage at the keynote panel of industry leaders at the Gartner Open Source Summit.
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The networkâs charge for access to content over the Internet has been troubling.
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Advocacy is the hot topic at the world's biggest general science conference as researchers take on everything from climate change to creationists. By Randy Dotinga.
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Open source is wonderful. Everything is so open, warts and all. Roshan Naik complains about the state of PHP:
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One great way to determine whether your digital product is destined for greatness is how many people want to steal it. The same goes for open source.