Is &#8220;Open Source Media&#8221; an abuse of the term?
<p>A correspondent wrote me to<br />
<a href='http://www.phillyfuture.org/node/2112'>object</a> to the fact that<br />
that-which-was-Pajamas-Media has launched as &#8220;Open Source Media&#8221;.</p>
<p><span id="more-222"></span></p>
<p>There&#8217;s an established use of the term &#8220;open source&#8221; prior to<br />
open-source software, it&#8217;s spook-talk (intelligence-community jargon)<br />
for a data source that is not secret.  Various media outlets<br />
(like <a href='http://www.radioopensource.org/'>these guys</a>)<br />
are, quite legitimately, keying off <em>that</em> sense of the<br />
phrase.</p>
<p>Are they, to some extent, influenced by the success and prestige of<br />
the open-source <em>software</em> movement?  Probably so&#8230;but since<br />
neither I nor OSI has a trademark on the phrase &#8220;open source&#8221;, there&#8217;s<br />
not much we can do about that kind of coattail-riding.  It&#8217;s not even<br />
clear that should try &mdash; better to concentrate on fighting<br />
battles we can win.</p>
<p>I made the decision some time back, when I was still president of<br />
OSI, to try to jawbone people out of using the phrase &#8220;open source&#8221;<br />
only when it would create confusion about software and software<br />
licensing.  That&#8217;s narrower ground and easier to defend.  Even though<br />
OSI doesn&#8217;t have a legal lock on the term, almost everybody recognizes<br />
our moral right to prescribe how it is used with respect to software (even Microsoft,<br />
interestingly enough).  In every case &mdash; <em>every</em> case<br />
&mdash; that OSI has applied pressure, abusers have backed<br />
down.</p>
<p>So yes, I&#8217;m not real pleased by OSM&#8217;s restrictive license, now that<br />
it has been drawn to my attention; I do wish they had either chosen a<br />
different name or used something like a Creative Commons license.  But<br />
I&#8217;m not going to fight them about it.  They&#8217;ve got a legitimate claim on<br />
the &#8220;spook&#8221; sense of the term, not the software sense.</p>
