The recent popularity of sharing economy businesses demonstrates the innovation in exercising different strategies in property rights can lead to further increase the efficiency in the market. Open Source Business Models are similar to the sharing economy in the area of copyright. I am going to briefly introduce the different licences including Free and Open Source Licences and Creative Commons Licences. Examples of interesting business models built around these licences will then be presented.

1. Be Innovative with Copyright
Introduction to Open Source
Business Models
Dr. Haggen So
Released under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong Licence

2. Dr. Haggen So
●
PhD Thesis on Free/Open Source Software
(FOSS)
●
Former Project Manager for Creative
Commons Hong Kong
●
Founder of Hong Kong Creative Open
Technology Association

3. Why Copyright & Licences?

4. !! No Legal Advice !!

5. Agenda
Sharing Economy
Intellectual Property & FOSS
Scope of Open Business Models
●
Software
●
General Copyrighted Works (CC)
●
Open Hardware
Conclusion

6. Sharing Economy
Uber – Redefining the Property
Boundary of Cars
Airbnb – Redefining the
Property Boundary of Home

7. Copyright
All Rights Reserved
Total control over Distribution of
Copies

8. Some Rights Reserved?

9. Intellectual Property
A Strange Concept
One is Physical,
Another One is Non-Material
and Non-Rival

10. Intellectual Property

11. Intellectual Property
Trademark - Sign that distinguishes a Trader
Patent - protects an Invention → Function
Copyright - Rights over distribution of Copies

12. Richard M. Stallman
http://www.stallman.org/saintignucius.jpg, CC-BY-ND 3.0

13. General Public License (GPL)
• Software must be developed by a community
• Source Code must be shared
• Contract based on Copyright
• I gave up my rights, but you must share!

14. A Hack on Copyright
• Copyleft - All Rights Reversed
• Viral
• Restrictive
• Emphasis on Freedom of Users and
Community

15. Business Use
Employ Binaries
• 25% VM on Microsoft Azure runs Linux
• Avoid Vendor Locking-in
• Multiple Vendor investment

16. Business Use
Include Source Code
• Licences may require release of linked code
• Permissive Licenses

17. Permissive Licences
• Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Licence
• Apache Licence
• Non-viral, Permissive - can close up one's own
copy

19. Free Software
Business Models for Programmers
• Programming as a Service
• Donation Model
• Crowdsourcing Model?
• Software Tax

20. Linus Torvalds and
the Penguin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Linus_Torvalds.jpeg, CC-
BY-SA 3.0
http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/ using the GIMP

21. The Next Generation
• Linus Torvalds, a new comer, building upon the
Minix, provided an alternative kernel, Linux,
v0.01 release in 1992
• Linux was built upon the GNU project and
released under GPL

22. Eric Raymond
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Esr.jpg

23. The Cathedral and the Bazaar
• Planned Economy vs the Market – 1997
• Coined the term "Open Source"
• Capitalistic Explanation/Branding
• 2nd
Follow-up Essay: The Magic Cauldron

24. Use-Value Funding Models
• The Apache Case: Cost-Sharing
• The Cisco Case: Risk-Spreading

25. Indirect Sale-Value Models
• Loss-Leader/Market Positioner
• Widget Frosting (Hardware Manufacturer)
• Give Away the Recipe, Open a Restaurant
(Red Hat)
• Accessorizing
• Free the Future, Sell the Present

26. Innovation Happens Elsewhere
Ron Goldman & Richard P. Gabriel
• Attracts Innovation outside of the Company
• Comprehensive list of reasons to Open up the cod

27. Case Study
VA Research / VA Linux
• VA Research / VA Linux – PC with pre-installed
Linux
• VA Linux (NASDAQ:LNUX) offered at $30,
highest at $320, first day closed at $239.25

28. Dot com Boom
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LNUX.png

29. Case Study
VA Research / VA Linux
• Developed SourceForge (Forerunner of Github)
• Acquired Slashdot, Freshmeat, ThinkGeek, etc.

30. Case Study
VA Software / SourceForge
• VA Software / SourceForge - Quit Hardware
• SourceForge as the most well-known product
→ SourceForge Enterprise Edition
• SourceForge Enterprise Edition eventually sold
to Collab.Net

31. Case Study
What's Left?
• Geeknet – sold everything except ThinkGeek
• Current Business Model – Accessorizing?

32. General Copyrighted Works
Creative Commons
Attribution 署名
Non-Commercial 非商業性
No Derivative Works 禁止衍生
Share Alike 相同方式共享

33. Creative Commons
6 Licenses
Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives
(by-nc-nd)
Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike
(by-nc-sa)
Attribution Non-commercial
(by-nc)
Attribution No Derivatives
(by-nd)
Attribution Share Alike
(by-sa)
Attribution
(by)

35. Are FOSS models
Applicable to Broader Context?
• Yochai Benkler, "The Wealth of Networks: How
Social Production Transforms Markets and
Freedom"
• Social Production conditions: Modularity and
Granularity

36. CC Open Business Models

37. Open Hardware

38. Beyond Copyright

39. If the copyright of
the detail drawings
of hardware is Open...

40. IP Revisit
Trademark - sign that distinguishes a Trader
Patent - protects an invention → Function
Copyright - Rights over distribution of Copies

41. Case Study
LittleBits
• Electronic building blocks
• Snap together with magnets
• Learn Electronics easily

42. What parts of littleBits
products aren't Open Source?
Trademark – "LittleBits" & Logos, etc.
Patent - magnetic connectors and system of
electrical circuits
Copyright – Open up circuit design in between the
magnetic connectors

45. Step 1
Use
• Software – Use Binaries
• Creative Commons – Learn Attribution
• Open Hardware – Buy them

46. Step 2
Learn
• Learn History of the Movements
• Learn Copyright
• Learn Intellectual Property
• Observe existing Projects

47. Step 3
Open
• Open part of the IP of your Organisation
• !! Attract Innovation !!