Managing IP Issues with Software

Black Duck's software sounds like an interesting product. As John explains it, protextIP "analyzes your source code, determines where every line of it came from, identifies and summarizes licensing issues affecting every scrap, and identifies areas of potential exposure."  They also recently introduced exportIP, which "scans your code and comes back instantly with a list of areas affected by crypto compliance regs . . . [and] streamlines the process of filling out government notification documents."

On a slight tangent - when we have well-defined licenses, we can respect licenses with little effort. Instead, we can rely on software to enforce any restrictions - so Scoble can continue his link blog without worrying. I see this as a superior model to DRM - under the assumption that the good guys will respect the published limitations if it doesn't take too much effort, and the bad guys are going to find ways to do what they want regardless of what technical measures are put into place.  Let's make it easier for the good guys to respect the licenses.

Software DevelopmentProgrammingIntellectual Property