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Open Source Risk Management, LLC (OSRM), an open-source risk management company, announced today that Pamela Jones, the editor and moderator of Groklaw.net has agreed to become the companys Director of Litigation Risk Research. Groklaw.net is the most popular sites devoted to reporting and commentary on the SCO case and other present and threatened litigation against the Linux kernel and other open source software.
Jones will be working on a year-long contract on the companys Open Source Insurance Initiative. Daniel Egger, founder and Chairman of OSRM said, “We are developing an important new insurance product. We believe that fostering a collaborative, community-based model for identification and mitigation of relevant litigation risks provides a novel advantage that will enable OSRM to offer our comprehensive defense insurance for Free and Open-Source Software at the lowest possible cost.”
At the same time, Pamela Jones will continue to manage the non-commercial Groklaw.net web site, which is editorially independent from her research work for OSRM.
“Groklaw is my own and has always been separate from my other professional work. But, there is obviously a synergy between what Ill be doing for OSRM and what Groklaw does. The community has a stake in protecting its software from future legal attack, and I hope we can contribute meaningfully by means of this project,” said Jones in an eWEEK.com interview.
Jones continued: “I hope our research will result in building a bulwark of legal protection for GNU/Linux software. I am excited to join forces with OSRM, because I believe in their vision. I see a need for low-cost vendor-neutral protection that will at the same time make it possible to allow continued free modification of the code. No one else has successfully done so. I believe OSRM has come up with the right answer.”
Jones will continue to keep her hand in paralegal work, but shes “thrilled” to have started this job. “I do believe we will solve the indemnification issue. And well do it without requiring people to stop modifying the code. That is worth setting other things aside for a year,” said Jones.
Groklaw though will not be put on the back burner. “This arrangement keeps Groklaw editorially independent and noncommercial,” (while giving) me more time to give it my full attention. Basically the work for OSRM is replacing most of the paralegal work I normally do on the side, and by their graciously donating some of my time to Groklaw and the Timeline project; I might even get some sleep now.”