| The open source software developed rapidly and became very popular in the past more than twenty years, which has been played an important role in the area of system software application. Lots of organization comes into existence and a series of rules are set down and put in practice. Nowadays there are plenty of open source software having the merit of stabilization, credibility and security. The open source software has been taken a considerable share in the software industry and powerfully challenges the traditional commercial software. The open source software brings a new domain in software industry. A lot of open source corporations come into existence and some business software corporations, such as IBM, HP, SUN, and Novell etc. devote in open source software. Under the influence of international trend, the open source software industry in China also develops rapidly. In particular, the open source software brings China a very good chance of making a big progress in software industry. This is because the open source software may help Chinese break down the monopolization and blockage of technology.The reason why the open source software develops rapidly is that it creates a series of new idea and rules which are much different from tradition intellectual property. Most rules of the open sources software are a part of the open source software license. In order to promote the development of the open source software industry in China, it is necessary to study the issue of the open source software. The thesis is composed of four parts as follows:Partâ… , Open source software. Firstly, the history of free software and open source software are reviewed. This history can be felt into three successive phases as follows: software was privately owned in order to make money, applying software into business leaded to the birth of free software, applying free software into the business leaded to the birth of open source software. Secondly, the definition of the open software is discussed. The part also discusses the similarities and difference between the free software and the open source software, and the open source initiative (OSI) was also discussed. This part finally discusses the important changes made by the open source software. Partâ…¡, Open source software license. There are many differences between the open source software license and the traditional commercial license. This part firstly analysis these differences, and then discuss the development and the classification of the open source license. Then, the legal quality of the open source software is discussed. Finally, this part summarized the common ground of the open source software license.Partâ…¢, Open source software license and special law. The purpose of this part is to provide the law question of open source software with basic theory. Copyright law, patent law, trademark law and contract law are discussed here.Partâ…£, Legal risk .This part makes use of the conclusions which are discussed in partâ… â…¡â…¢to analysis tree legal risks of the open source software license. The three legal risks are as follows: the legal risk of no warranty, the legal risk of the possession of the copyright, and the legal risk of the patent infringement. As a conclusion, the legal risks of the open source software license can be eluded; Chinese government should supports the development of the open source software.
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