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Martin Fink, HPs vice president for Linux, has other IP concerns. He fears that DRM (digital rights management) may eventually get in the way of open-source development. In his Tuesday keynote at LinuxWorld, Fink said, "DRM and open-source software are today largely incompatible because of an extension to copyright law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act." In addition, Fink believes that the open-source movement isnt doing itself any favors by having so many licenses. "People dont realize that there are already dozens and dozens of open-source licenses. The number has reached 52 open-source licenses, and there is likely to be 55 by the end of the week."
Fink doesnt see the point: "There really is no value, and there is only confusion in having that many licenses." Still, Fink is sure that because "open source will allow companies to take cost out of the system at an amazing rate," Linux is certain to become big business for todays big businesses, despite this rise of new Linux IP concerns. Check out eWEEK.coms Linux & Open Source Center at http://linux.eweek.com for the latest open-source news, reviews and analysis.

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