[177996] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Intellectual Property in Network Design
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bill Woodcock)
Thu Feb 12 03:45:19 2015
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
From: "Bill Woodcock" <woody@pch.net>
In-Reply-To: <CAEUfUGMmmcnUqrpwfOUv97X0Y87KSQo=gDcaMKgbhYLOOGtTXQ@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 17:45:11 +0900
To: Skeeve Stevens <skeeve+nanog@eintellegonetworks.com>
Cc: "nanog@nanog.org" <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
I include a "no intellectual property ownership is transferred between the P=
arties" clause in just about everything we do. Doesn't demand that any of t=
he questions you raise be answered, but shuts the door to problems pretty fi=
rmly.=20
=20
-Bill
> On Feb 12, 2015, at 17:20, Skeeve Stevens <skeeve+nanog@eintellegonetworks=
.com> wrote:
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> Hi all,
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> I have two perspectives I am trying to address with regard to network
> design and intellectual property.
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> 1) The business who does the design - what are their rights?
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> 2) The customer who asked for the rights from a consultant
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> My personal thoughts are conflicting:
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> - You create networks with standard protocols, configurations, etc... so i=
t
> shouldn't be IP
> - But you can design things in interesting ways, with experience, skill,
> creativity.. maybe that should be IP?
> - But artwork are created with colors, paintbrushes, canvas... but the
> result is IP
> - A photographer takes a photo - it is IP
> - But how are 'how you do your Cisco/Juniper configs' possibly IP?
> - If I design a network one way for a customer and they want 'IP', does
> that mean I can't ever design a network like that again? What?
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> I've seen a few telcos say that they own the IP related to the network
> design of their customers they deploy... which based on the above... feels=
> uncomfortable...
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> I'm really conflicted on this and wondering if anyone else has come across=
> this situation. Perhaps any legal cases/precedent (note, I am not looking=
> for legal advice :)
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> If this email isn't appropriate for the list... sorry, and please feel fre=
e
> to respond off-line.
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> ...Skeeve
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> *Skeeve Stevens - Founder & Chief Network Architect*
> eintellego Networks Pty Ltd
> Email: skeeve@eintellegonetworks.com ; Web: eintellegonetworks.com
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> Phone: 1300 239 038 ; Cell +61 (0)414 753 383 ; Skype: skeeve
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> Facebook: eintellegonetworks <http://facebook.com/eintellegonetworks> ;
> Twitter: eintellego <https://twitter.com/eintellego>
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> LinkedIn: /in/skeeve <http://linkedin.com/in/skeeve> ; Expert360: Profile
> <https://expert360.com/profile/d54a9>
>=20
>=20
> The Experts Who The Experts Call
> Juniper - Cisco - Cumulus Linux - Cloud - Consulting - IPv4 Brokering
