Open Source Licences in the Cloud

By Karen Ngan, Partners and Averill Dickson, Senior Associates

In our June 2011 x-tech article, ' Making Open Source an Asset, and Not a Liability, In Your Commercialisation Strategy', we discussed some of the basic types of open source licences, and steps to take to ensure open source materials do not jeopardise the commercial exploitation of proprietary products. In this article, we look at some of the implications of open source licences in the cloud environment and, in particular, whether the terms of some popular open source licences adversely impact the ability to commercialise cloud computing offerings.

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