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Posted to legal-discuss@apache.org by "John D. Ament (JIRA)" <ji...@apache.org> on 2017/05/22 03:33:04 UTC
[jira] [Created] (LEGAL-310) Handling of IP Clearance for
non-incubating projects
John D. Ament created LEGAL-310:
-----------------------------------
Summary: Handling of IP Clearance for non-incubating projects
Key: LEGAL-310
URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/LEGAL-310
Project: Legal Discuss
Issue Type: Question
Reporter: John D. Ament
Suppose that:
- A project is a TLP
- A company or some other entity has made signfiicant modifications to an Apache product
- Said entity indicates they would like to give the code back to the ASF
The process around this situation is ambiguous at best, confusing realistically. Presently, the IPMC is responsible for managing IP Clearance. The secretary is responsible for filing SGAs. The relationship between IP Clearance and SGA is undefined, but it seems like they should be an either-or.
An SGA, as I've understood it, is to relicense code under the Apache license for the sake of a donation to the foundation. Likewise, an IP clearance is to ensure that already licensed code is valid (valid being a term I've just made up, trying to indicate that the code is all Apache-v2, from some author(s) and can be used in entirity without changes to license).
In the scheme of things, there seems to be things missing that aren't called out in this flow. Specifically, if a company has already provided an SGA, there should not be a need for an IP Clearance and it should not be on the IPMC to review said IP if it is not going towards an incubating project. The IPMC cannot tell another TLP that their IP is wrong. Or maybe they can and this needs to be clarified (e.g. this shouldn't be a lazy consensus vote since we are responsible here).
So basically:
- The IPMC is or is not responsible for confirming these IP clearances
- If so, then the IPMC is or is not responsible for guiding projects (Podlings & TLPs) on how to handle (SGA vs IPC)
- If the IPMC is responsible, then giving a proper vote for any new IP coming in
http://incubator.apache.org/ip-clearance/
https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/INCUBATOR-74
http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-general/200804.mbox/%3c2C7D21B3-CA23-4086-809C-3B5ECC8EE7D5@gbiv.com%3e
http://incubator.apache.org/ip-clearance/httpd-mod_domain-clearance.html
http://www.apache.org/foundation/records/minutes/2003/board_minutes_2003_12_17.txt
{quote}
B. Discussion: code imports directly into projects vs incubation
(e.g. maven-wagon and ws-fx)
A discussion was had on how codebases arrive at the ASF. Last
year, the Board created the Apache Incubator Project to deal
with these incoming codebases, primary to ensure that the
proper IP guarantees have been made, and also to ensure that
any community arriving with the code is aware of ASF processes
and requirements.
However, there are many cases where codebases happen to have
been elsewhere by ASF committers, which makes it much easier to
"bring the code [into the ASF]". The Board is crafting
guidelines for when a codebase can be directly imported and
verified by a PMC, and when it is required to use the Incubator
for that process. Information will be posted to
general@incubator.apache.org when those guidelines have been
completed.
{quote}
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Re: [jira] [Created] (LEGAL-310) Handling of IP Clearance for
non-incubating projects
Posted by Ted Dunning <te...@gmail.com>.
One thing that I think is important is that there needs to be some group of
people who have seen IP contributions go bad or even just a little sour in
the past.
It is reasonable to expect a random PMC to want to do things well with
regard to larger donations, but it isn't reasonable to expect them to know
entirely how to do things well.
Exactly where that group of people lives who have practiced the discernment
to spot problems doesn't really matter. It only matters that there is such
a group and PMC's should be required to check with them in important cases.
Obviously the opposite limit is individual commits by committers where the
diligence is placed on the head of the committer, the release manager and
most importantly, the PMC.
Really, the most important difference is simply practice. Committers have
lots of practice doing commits and so they will probably be fine. Larger
contributions are more rare, especially from the view point of any single
PMC. We need some group who gets enough practice on those.
On Sun, May 21, 2017 at 11:33 PM, John D. Ament (JIRA) <ji...@apache.org>
wrote:
> John D. Ament created LEGAL-310:
> -----------------------------------
>
> Summary: Handling of IP Clearance for non-incubating projects
> Key: LEGAL-310
> URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/LEGAL-310
> Project: Legal Discuss
> Issue Type: Question
> Reporter: John D. Ament
>
>
> Suppose that:
>
> - A project is a TLP
> - A company or some other entity has made signfiicant modifications to an
> Apache product
> - Said entity indicates they would like to give the code back to the ASF
>
> The process around this situation is ambiguous at best, confusing
> realistically. Presently, the IPMC is responsible for managing IP
> Clearance. The secretary is responsible for filing SGAs. The relationship
> between IP Clearance and SGA is undefined, but it seems like they should be
> an either-or.
>
> An SGA, as I've understood it, is to relicense code under the Apache
> license for the sake of a donation to the foundation. Likewise, an IP
> clearance is to ensure that already licensed code is valid (valid being a
> term I've just made up, trying to indicate that the code is all Apache-v2,
> from some author(s) and can be used in entirity without changes to license).
>
> In the scheme of things, there seems to be things missing that aren't
> called out in this flow. Specifically, if a company has already provided
> an SGA, there should not be a need for an IP Clearance and it should not be
> on the IPMC to review said IP if it is not going towards an incubating
> project. The IPMC cannot tell another TLP that their IP is wrong. Or
> maybe they can and this needs to be clarified (e.g. this shouldn't be a
> lazy consensus vote since we are responsible here).
>
> So basically:
>
> - The IPMC is or is not responsible for confirming these IP clearances
> - If so, then the IPMC is or is not responsible for guiding projects
> (Podlings & TLPs) on how to handle (SGA vs IPC)
> - If the IPMC is responsible, then giving a proper vote for any new IP
> coming in
>
> http://incubator.apache.org/ip-clearance/
> https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/INCUBATOR-74
> http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-general/200804.mbox/%
> 3c2C7D21B3-CA23-4086-809C-3B5ECC8EE7D5@gbiv.com%3e
> http://incubator.apache.org/ip-clearance/httpd-mod_domain-clearance.html
> http://www.apache.org/foundation/records/minutes/
> 2003/board_minutes_2003_12_17.txt
>
> {quote}
> B. Discussion: code imports directly into projects vs incubation
> (e.g. maven-wagon and ws-fx)
>
> A discussion was had on how codebases arrive at the ASF. Last
> year, the Board created the Apache Incubator Project to deal
> with these incoming codebases, primary to ensure that the
> proper IP guarantees have been made, and also to ensure that
> any community arriving with the code is aware of ASF processes
> and requirements.
>
> However, there are many cases where codebases happen to have
> been elsewhere by ASF committers, which makes it much easier to
> "bring the code [into the ASF]". The Board is crafting
> guidelines for when a codebase can be directly imported and
> verified by a PMC, and when it is required to use the Incubator
> for that process. Information will be posted to
> general@incubator.apache.org when those guidelines have been
> completed.
> {quote}
>
>
>
> --
> This message was sent by Atlassian JIRA
> (v6.3.15#6346)
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: legal-discuss-unsubscribe@apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: legal-discuss-help@apache.org
>
>