I am a relative newbie here on DT, but I've been a tactile-keyboard enthusiast for a long time. Some of you may remember the Tactile Keyboards community I ran on G++ before Google let G++ die. Before that I was the founding president of the Open Source Initiative; as such, I have a lot of experience wrestling with IP law. I also have skin in the game, as I'm using a Soarer's Converter on a Model F and the fact that I can't mod the code makes me twitchy.
Soarer has now been disappeared for over 7 years, which would be sufficient time in most relevant jurisdictions for a declaratory judgment that he is legally dead. Soarer's binary code has been decompiled. It's time to clear up the murk around Soarer's code and create circumstances under which his work can be carried forward using the decompiled source issued under a proper open-source license.
I believe this can be done at low cost and risk, and have assembled some help in doing so - an attorney and an IP compliance officer at a hyperscale Internet company. I'll let them introduce themselves when they deem it appropriate.
First, though, we need to publicly assemble a collection of facts. I'm going to list some questions. Some of these have answers which have been communicated to me privately; some do not. These are questions we need to answer in public and on the record to document the good-faith effort that Anglo-American law requires in situations resembling this one.
Answers should be accompanied by reference links. We do not want hearsay, speculation, unsupported opinion, or debate. We need factual evidence about Soarer's work, behavior, and intentions that would stand up in a court of law if need be. I will start another thread for discussion of ethics, law and strategy once we have assembled a fact base.
If you have beliefs you cannot document with evidence, but want to express them, PM me. If you post them on this thread without support you could actually damage our chances of a good resolution.
Here are the questions:
((Answers are inserted as we develop them. Evidence downthread.))
1. Did Soarer ever attach a license to any of his code?
((Sadly, no. We've looked through all his code drops for he converter and the controller. No licenses.))
2. What do we know about his intentions for distribution and reuse based on what he posted?
((We have multiple posts from Soarer expressing intent to release his code as open source.
For example, at viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2510&p=122796#p122796 Soarer says:
More instances are linked to downthread.I want to rewrite some of my USB descriptor handling to be more flexible, so perhaps I'll add a low-speed 6KRO mode at some point. Shame, because apart from KVMs and PS3s the current setup is very compatible with the main OSs. I haven't opened the source yet.
))
3. Did he ever push code to a public open-source repository? If not, under what authority do source forks of his code exist?
((Soarer did not at any point push code to an open-source repository. Several forks of his configuration tools exist; all were made after he vanished.))
4. Was anyone making and selling Soarer's Converters with his knowledge?
((Yes. He knew orihalcon was making and selling converters in 2014 and approved.))
5. What other fora was he on? We need the entire relevant history, not just DT's.
((He was active on geekhack.org. This is his profile: https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=profile;u=4274 ))
6. We're going to need to make a serious and public effort to identify Soarer and/or his heirs. Even if we don't find anything, the fact that we did so and how much we know or don't know needs to be part of the record.
((We know he was resident in Great Britain, and that's it.))
7. The process by which his binary code was decompiled needs to be documented and public. We need to know what tools were used, what dependencies it has, and how the process can be replicated.
((Arakula described the process at
https://trello.com/c/49xeEOPm/15-arakul ... -converter
and there's a public repository at
https://github.com/antonizoon/arakulas- ... -converter
Note that this code has no license.))
It would be useful if we could assemble a list of links to every Soarer post ever, as an evidence exhibit.
((See next post in this thread.))
For anyone who is nervous about answering these questions, it is my informed belief that no criminal charges could be made in this matter, and that under American law it is extremely unlikely that any court would assess more than $200, which is the minimum award of statutory damages for infringement. Provided we don't annoy the judge - which means being open and honest and clearly acting in good faith with care for Soarer's declared intentions.
This problem can be solved. It's a different kind of hacking than most of you are used to. Messier. But I've been around the track a few times and I'm pretty sure I know what can be done.
