Open Source Law Community Involvement

At OSL we believe strongly that it is important for business to play an active role contributing to the community. This section sets out some of the ways in which OSL contributes back to both the open source community and the broader community.

OSL's community contributions include:

• A number of papers aimed at promoting or enabling open source adoption. All papers are in the publications section of this website, including "Why Free Software's Long Run TCO must be Lower" and "Why Government Should Release its Software under an Access Regime"

• Representing the Open Source industry at the Senate Committee Hearings on the Free Trade Agreement in 2004

• OSL's principal, Brendan Scott, donates his time to serve as a director of Australia's peak Open Source business body Open Source Industry Australia Limited

• Referral of work and leads to industry participants

• Discounted rates for open source businesses

• Preparation of submissions advocating use of open source to Government inquiries, including in relation to Encouraging Philanthropy (2003), and the AUS FTA (2004)

• The ongoing production of the Oswald weekly open source news clippings service.

• Being involved in opposing software patents since 1993.