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License risks from ad hoc reuse of code from the internet.

The article discusses the reuse of ad hoc code from the Internet, arguing that the use of such code by software developers bears both economic and legal risks for employers. The authors say that Internet code including open source software (OSS), while suitable for reuse in commercial software, is o...

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Published in:Communications of the ACM Vol. 54; no. 12; pp. 74 - 82
Main Authors: Sojer, Manuel, Henkel, Joachim
Format: Article
Published: Association for Computing Machinery Dec2011
Subjects:
Computer software development
Coding theory
Open source software
Computer programming
Software license agreements
Computer software laws
Law
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:The article discusses the reuse of ad hoc code from the Internet, arguing that the use of such code by software developers bears both economic and legal risks for employers. The authors say that Internet code including open source software (OSS), while suitable for reuse in commercial software, is often under licenses which require users to comply with conditions such as obligations under the GNU General Public License (GPL). A survey conducted by the authors found that many software developers do not follow these requirements. The article provides advice on how to mitigate risk by making developers aware of license issues and establishing policies on Internet code.