Hi All, Hope everyone is enjoying the last few days of summer (blackouts and all !) Well we have a bumper summer harvest of papers for our site. The Italians have been quite productive!!!. Many thanks to the authors for submitting the papers and also patience with my tardiness. As always, please send comments on papers to the authors directly or discuss them on our discuss list http://opensource.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/discuss thanks all!! Karim Paper 1 Author: Aigrain, Philippe Title: The Individual and the Collective in Open Information Communities http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/aigrain3.pdf Abstract: This paper is the written version of an invited talk at the 16th Bled Electronic Conference, Slovenija, June 2003. The text focuses on 2 critical issues for open information communities: how lowering transactions costs linked to becoming an active contributor is an essential factor for their success; and how free (as in freedom) licenses enable new forms of relationships between the individual and the collective. I bring some evidence that this permits to overcome some of the traditional limitations of commons in the physical world. The analysis uses as examples the free Wiki-based encyclopedia Wikipedia and the peer-reviewed free encyclopedia Nupedia, the Slashdot technical news community (commercial), and Web sites using the SPIP free co-operative publishing software. Paper 2 Authors: Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Cristina Rossi Title: Licensing schemes in the production and distribution of Open Source software. An empirical investigation http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/bnaccorsirossilicense.pdf Abstract: Contrary to what most people assume, Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. A software is considered Open Source if and only if its distribution terms [i.e. the license] comply with the set of criteria defined by the Open Source Definition (OSD). That is, to say that a code is Open Source is to say that it is subject to a member of a particular category of licenses (McGowan, 2000). As many others in the Open Source field, the research on Open Source licenses suffers from lack of empirical data. Although in the literature there are empirical studies that explore the relationships between license choice and project characteristics (Lerner and Tirole, 2002a), at present we are not aware of surveys that collect data on licensors, that is on firms producing and distributing software on an Open Source basis. This study addresses his shortcoming. We examine the license choice of the firms that supply Open Source products and services and relate it to their structural characteristics, business models and attitudes towards the movement and its community. Between September 2002 and March 2003 we conducted a survey on Italian firms that do business with Open Source software. We asked them to indicate the Open Source licenses with which they work, for the distribution of their software as well as the production process. We made reference to the distinction between copyleft and non-copyleft distribution schemes. Using these data, this paper aims at testing several theoretical hypotheses advanced by the literature on Open Source licenses. In order to make the discussion more lively, for each issue we present the hypothesis and our findings in sequence. Paper 3: Authors Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Cristina Rossi Title: Altruistic individuals, selfish firms? The structure of motivation in Open Source software http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/bnaccorsirossimotivationshort.pdf Abstract: A growing body of economic literature is addressing the incentives of the individuals that take part to the Open Source movement. However, empirical analyses focus on individual developers and neglect firms that do business with Open Source software (OSS). During 2002, we conducted a large-scale survey on 146 Italian firms supplying Open Source solutions in Italy. In this paper our data on firms’ motivations are compared with data collected by the surveys made on individual programmers. We aim at analysing the role played by different classes of motivations (social, economic and technological) in determining the involvement of different groups of agents in Open Source Paper 4: Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Cristina Rossi Title: Contributing to the common pool resources in Open Source software. A comparison between individuals and firms http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/bnaccorsirossidevelopers.pdf Abstract This paper studies the contributions to Open Source projects of software firms. Our goal is to analyse whether they follow the same regularities that characterize the behaviour of individual programmers. An exhaustive empirical analysis is carried out using data on project membership, project coordination and contribution efforts of 146 Italian firms that do business with Open Source software. We follow a meta-analytic approach comparing our findings with the results of the surveys conducted on Free Software programmers. Moreover, the availability of the data gathered by Hertel et al. (2003) on 141 developers of the Linux kernel will allow direct comparisons between the two sets. Paper 5 Author Camp, Jean L Title: Code, Coding and Coded Perspectives http://www.ljean.com/files/aoir/aoir.html Abstract: Building on computer science I consider code (as opposed to the Web, an instantiation of code) as a new technology of communication. Using the historical and sociological analyses of others, which have examined the results of print on perspectives and society, I offer four scenarios for the results of code. The four scenarios focus on the results of code on quantitative thought: the divergence of scientific perspective with popular reasoning resulting in reduced innovation; a broad-based popular explosion in innovation expanding the basis of reasoning; cypto-anarchy with those empowered by science corrupted with the power; and a loss of certainty of information with a return to tribalism. The last suggests a new era of ignorance, a moment in modern Dark Ages -- in that an excess of the light of information causes blindness as effectively as its absence. The openness of code is a determinant in the resulting social structure. Paper 6 Authors: Syme, Serena & L. Jean Camp Title: The Governance of Code: Open Land vs. UCITA Land http://www.computersandsociety.org/sigcas/subpage/sub_page.cfm?article=543&p... Abstract: Imagine two network societies. In one society, the transfer of information and use of software is governed by the various licenses used to protect open code today. For convenience, we dub this society "Open Land". The other society recently passed a law identical to the new Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act ("UCITA", passed in two U.S. states and pending in several others) to control its information and computer software. We will call this society "UCITA Land". This paper looks at the ways in which Open Land and UCITA Land differ. Although it might initially seem that a licensing framework is trivial in terms of the actual conduct of society, we posit that such frameworks in many ways define the mode of governance of network society. The establishment of a market involves the development of a bundle of rights that both create property and define the rules under which property-based transactions might occur. In Open Land and UCITA Land, fundamentally different approaches to the establishment of those rights lead to vastly different societies. Paper 7 Authors Shaikh, Maha & Tony Cornford Title: Version Management Tools: CVS to BK in the Linux Kernel http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/shaikhcornford.pdf Abstract: Version management tools might be seen as a prerequisite for open source development today as projects become too large to be managed by maintainers alone. Yet the OS process depends on fluid coordination and collaboration, with the underlying qualities of this process based on firm trust and respect for fellow developers. This paper is a study of how debate over version tools reflects governance and decision making in an OS community. The paper is based on a study of the Linux kernel community as it first saw a partial acceptance of the CVS tool, and then later adopted BK. The paper explains the adoption processes in relation to governance concerns, licence issue, and questions of technical performance. Paper 8 Author: Long, Anthony Title: How Firm Initiation and Control of Projects Affects Open-Source Development http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/long.pdf Abstract: After witnessing the success of open-source projects such as Linux and Apache, firms have sought to appropriate the open-source development model and integrate it into their own projects. Firms face a dilemma, however, since their initiation and control of open-source projects affects the traditional open-source development model in significant ways. Once a firm takes the role of starting and guiding an open-source project, the open-source development model that attracted the firm is forever altered. This paper examines the effects commercial firms have on the open-source development model when they initiate and control open-source projects. Paper 9 Author: Välimäki, Mikko Title: Dual Licensing in Open Source Software Industry http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/valimaki.pdf Abstract: This paper analyses how several open source companies use dual licensing: both open source and proprietary licenses for one product. Three case studies based on the experiences of companies Sleepycat Software Inc., MySQL AB, and TrollTech AS illustrate the issue. Especially the legal and economic requirements of dual licensing are identified. ******************************************************** Report 1 Bonaccorsi, Andrea, Cristina Rossi & Alessandro Scateni Title: An analysis of Open Source production in Italy http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/bonaccorsirossiccatenieliss.pdf Abstract: Final report of a survey on Italian firms that do business with Open Source software -- =============================================== Karim R. Lakhani MIT Sloan School of Management & The Boston Consulting Group, Strategy Practice Initiative e-mail: karim.lakhani@sloan.mit.edu | lakhani.karim@bcg.com voice: 617-851-1224 fax: 617-344-0403 http://spoudaiospaizen.net/ http://opensource.mit.edu | http://freesoftware.mit.edu http://userinnovation.mit.edu