Open-Source AI-Generated Art Raises Concerns Amongst Artists

Free software and comparative evaluation in the Italian Public Administration

The re-posting of this analysis is part of a cross-posting collaboration with MediaLaws: Law and Policy of the Media in a Comparative Perspective. The age-old question on the use of free and open source software in the Italian Public Administration (PA) seems to be coming to an end. Last January the Agency for Digital Italy […]

Who Coined It First? The Advent of Digital Currency

When the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) announced that it would be creating a digital representation of the Canadian Dollar in the form of MintChip, the digital currency sphere lit up with comparisons to numerous previous attempted forms of digital currencies – most notably Bitcoin, a decentralized electronic cash system developed by Satoshi Nakamoto. 

Open Source Textbooks: History and Recent Developments

On May 6, 2009, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger launched an initiative to make available free digital textbooks for high school students.  California's Secretary of Education, Glen Thomas, was responsible for ensuring that digital resources were available for use in high school math and science classes this September.  According to Governor Schwarzenegger, California's budget crisis motivated […]

Google’s Open Source Strategy and the U.S. Patent Reform Act of 2009

Brian Prentice of the Gartner Blog Network raises an interesting possibility in his post about Google's long-term business strategy. He speculates that Google's advocacy for the Patent Reform Act of 2009 coupled with its support of the open-source movement may not be as altruistic as one might first be led to think. The proposed legislation outlines various standards for […]

EU Consumer Protection Reform: Liability for Software Code

A recent proposal by European Commissioners Meglena Kuneva and Viviane Reding outlined a number of consumer protections relating to licensing agreements.  In the event that the proposal becomes law, software companies could be held liable for their code.  The directive requires that products, including software licensed under licensing agreements, be held to a higher standard […]

Open Source Copyright Issue Closed By Court

With the proliferation of open source web collaboration tools such as SourceForge, Wikipedia, and blogs, important concerns have been raised regarding a tool users’ ability to restrict the content they create.  At the heart of the debate is whether a work, released for free public use, can still have restrictions attached via an open source […]