[wos] policing free licenses and code with AI

[Andrea Glorioso]

>>>>> "Volker" == Volker Grassmuck <vgrass at rz.hu-berlin.de> writes:

    > Just came across this company. This is a bit older already,
    > their online service was launched a year ago, and the protexIP
    > suite is even older. http://www.blackducksoftware.com/

    > Does anybody have any experiences with this service?

    > This seems to be part of a general trend towards
    > identification. Spidering everything into the databases of
    > search engines was the thing of the 1990s. Now all this gets
    > fingerprinted and tracked: music, software. Next thing you know
    > and teachers can do a fuzzy- logic search for the originals that
    > their students have plagiarized.

    > Just curious whether there are any freedom-enhancing aspects
    > about this or if it's just good for IP management and
    > surveilance.

It depends on  how you define   freedom, of course -  but  for a FLOSS
project, having automated  means to check  IP compliance can be a good
thing, as it saves time spent in often endless discussions.

I have my doubts  whether automated systems, given current technology,
can truly  capture the complexities  of the law,   but systems such as
this can at least provide  a good start  from where to conduct  actual
legal analysis.

Cheers,

--
Andrea Glorioso		andrea at digitalpolicy.it
                        +39 348 921 4379
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