Buying protection
- Article 3 of 16
- LinuxUser & Developer, June 2004
In the wake of SCO's legal action, a variety of indemnification and insurance schemes have sprung up. But are they worth the investment?
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“The main question is how society will evolve,” argues JBoss’s Labourey. “We’ve seen the growth of legal issues all over the place, and it was much less of a problem 15 years ago.” More copyright suits are likely in the future, maintains Labourey.
At the moment, indemnities are mostly designed to differentiate their providers in the marketplace and to reassure larger companies that open source is enterprise-ready and is not a risk. While they offer some protection, they often overlap with existing policies, are unlikely to be ever used, are not available to smaller customers and may provide little coverage if the worst happens – an unlikely event in any case. But those same accusations can be levelled at any form of insurance. With the chances of future SCO-like lawsuits occurring by no means unlikely and a SCO win not totally out the question, the issue comes down, as with any insurance policy, to risk: the worst will probably never happen, but if it did, could you afford it?
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