Mephisto or Typo, Upcoming Supreme Court Case | 8/27/2006 Meeting

Posted by Ken

OVERVIEW

Javahouse, Sunday 27 August 2006 Matthew, Vince, Pius, Andrew, Ken

SUMMARY

A group of five attendees talked about the larger issue of coming together as a group.

DETAILS

  • Ken and Vince discussed rubydc.org website work. Ken wondered if there was a way to improve communication on meetings and work done. Vince emphasized that the website work is volunteer.
  • Ken mentioned his follow up work with loading Mephisto on a shared server. He also mentioned Apache2's efforts to improve FastCGI. Apache2 is used on the rubydc.org webserver at railsplayground.net.
  • The group discussed dropping Mephisto and using Typo on RubyDC.org since Mephisto is not fully functional. A decision was made to install Typo and drop Mephisto. [Addendum: After this meeting, a new release of Mephisto called Immortus v.0.6 was released. This version was able to be installed on RubyDC.org. So Mephisto is still on RubyDC.org, not Typo. -Ken]
  • The group quickly reviewed a printout of the requirements list from the grouphub.
  • Vince and the group discussed a points system for rewarding members for group action.
  • Several members talked about worth of the group to the individuals. Pius mentioned that having like-minded people to talk to for an hour or more is invaluable to him.
  • Ken made a quick presentation on a Supreme Court case (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc) that will be reviewed this fall . A Supreme Court ruling on this case could make it difficult for Opensource software to defend itself against patent infringement claims as presented by an EFF amicus brief. One of the arguments in the amicus brief indicates that a new standard called the "Suggestion Test" as proposed by Federal Circuit court allows patents to be easily awarded for commonplace opensource fixtures. Patent Trolls, or those that have successfully claimed to be the inventors of commonly used opensource conventions, can then make time and money-consuming claims against lucrative opensource software projects. EFF proposes a return to the Graham Test, which would remove such a tactic from the arsenal of patent trolls.
  • The group talked about EFF, and the location of EFF, and how they had a DC office at one time. [Addendum: EFF had a DC office before moving to San Francisco during a managerial split. EFF will be opening a small office again in DC. See link below. -Ken]
  • Talked about AMRUG in DC and making use of AMRUG's unique proximity to the Supreme Court. No concrete proposals were made. [Addendum: All oral arguments are open to the public, but seating is limited and on a first-come, first-seated basis. Before a session begins, two lines form on the plaza in front of the building. One is for those who wish to attend an entire argument, and the other, a three-minute line, is for those who wish to observe the Court in session only briefly. -Ken]

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