[AccessD] Source Code Escrow

">
> One cheap alternative: write a contract that says, if certain
> pre-conditions are met (bankruptcy, etc..), you will, for $1, release
> the whole code base under the GPL (Gnu Public License), which would have
> the effect of making it perpetually free software. This would greatly
> encumber a larger company's ability to profit from it's ill-gotten
> gains, because the code would be public domain.
> "
but this would not help in case the developers office burns down or the 
developer is run over by a truck.
I understand these are the main arguments for source code escrow.

Lembit

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Ismert" <KIsmert at texassystems.com>
To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" 
<accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 8:16 PM
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Source Code Escrow


>
> One thought that struck me, upon reading the Escrow Associates contract,
> is that this could put the developer at greater risk, particularly if
> the developer is a small company, and the customer is a large, powerful
> one. A large company, particularly if it is your primary (or only)
> customer, could force you into bankruptcy and take your code, if they
> wanted it badly enough.
>
> This isn't just paranoia: the author of the Pick OS/Database system was
> in this position with his first (and only at the time) customer, a large
> defense contractor. The company simply decided to stop paying him, with
> the intent of forcing him into insolvency and taking his product.
> Fortunately, he put a time-based activation code into Pick that they
> didn't know about, so in several months it stopped working, and they had
> to come back to him, hat in hand, asking for it to be turned back on.
>
> Now, imagine if this company had had a code escrow agreement. They could
> have simply waited him out, enduring the downtime, and walked away with
> the source at the end.
>
> Depending on who you are supplying software to under an escrow
> agreement, this might be a concern of yours.
>
> One cheap alternative: write a contract that says, if certain
> pre-conditions are met (bankruptcy, etc..), you will, for $1, release
> the whole code base under the GPL (Gnu Public License), which would have
> the effect of making it perpetually free software. This would greatly
> encumber a larger company's ability to profit from it's ill-gotten
> gains, because the code would be public domain.
>
> Just a contrarian viewpoint.
>
> -Ken
>
>
>>> Here are some downloadable Escrow agreements American, British or
> Canadian
>>> http://www.escrowassociates.com/agreements.htm
>>> Software escrow FAQ
>>> http://www.softescrow.com/faq.html#16.0
> -- 
> AccessD mailing list
> AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com