A Business Rationale for an
Open Systems Strategy

It may seem like an impossible challenge — create an agreement through which both Open Source purists and proprietary software companies might happily work together — but something that would have such broad social and commercial value cannot, and will not, be left undone. It is only a matter of time — and ingenuity. The first people to succeed will change the world as we know it.

I think that the ingredients for success may be far more modest than is commonly believed. All you would need is:

• At least one major software company that has a stake in operating system or network software.
• A small community of open source software developers, the more hard core ideologues the better.
• A moment of awareness.

I have had the opportunity to work with a number of people and corporations that are concerned about how people can create a persistent and verifiable identity for themselves, and control the exposure of that identity and the information tied to it on the Internet. This issue cannot be successfully resolved by one party or another, it can only be solve by all parties finding a way to work together, no matter how much they might intrinsically distrust the other.

The simple truth is that they must build a system together that neither can control and in which both are free to pursue their individual and very different interests. Why it’s been so hard to imagine a solution is that we have assumed that we must use traditional commercial structures. Why assume that?!  We must only determinedly and unblinkingly solve the problem that faces us.

We must align different but amenable goals:

• Those elements that people feel should be common infrastructure must be reasonably “free” and open to anyone who wants or needs to improve on them.
• Any commercial entity or individual must be free to at least cover the reasonable costs for the infrastructure pieces it contributes, and must be able to choose any license it believes is in its interest to offer any other of its work.
• All of the remaining pieces — proprietary or open — must be interoperable, so that all might benefit from anyone’s success.

Here’s the obvious and all too simple solution. Just agree to do it! Don’t leave it to “good faith”, but enter into a legally enforceable contract to do it. Then enter into a legally enforceable license to do it. Create a corporation than can hold the common properties so that it can protect it from other predatory corporations or individuals. That is common business sense. Then just get on with doing it.

Fortunately, much of the conceptual work is done. The Identity Commons has developed a set of “Fundamental Provisions” for corporations to reflect precisely this common sense. It has created a community of corporations, its so-called “Trust Network,” that promise to help each other live up to these high ideals — in a refreshingly concrete, business-savvy and Open-Source-friendly way.

The way has been cleared and greased. To proceed, a major software company would need only to:

• Form a “related corporation” consistent which includes the Identity Commons’ fundamental agreements in its governing instruments.
• Add provisions to it “Ownership” section of the bylaws, if any, to reflect the specific license terms under which the common properties will be offered.
• Create an initial governing body which reflects the principles in the fundamental provisions and reasonably reflect the initial and expected participants in the system.

The Identity Commons’ provisions are especially well-tuned to allow for new, specialized entities to form that move forward a particular issue or a specific community. Its principles are consistent with the Internet, both technologically and structurally. It creates a level playing field on which no technology or community has an intrinsic advantage, but nothing constricts participants to create a market advantage by providing consumers with clear benefits or a trustworthy brand.

The world is open to those with a little vision, and the integrity to operate on principles that are respected by all.