台灣廠商使用開放原始碼的法律問題研究 -以使用GPLv2授權條款的Embedded Linux為例

Abstract

開放原始碼經常被用來加速嵌入式產品的開發時程，但伴隨開放原始碼而來的開放原始碼授權條款，對於商業使用卻帶有對立甚至制衡的色彩。本研究的重點在探究台灣的嵌入式產品開發廠商，在使用開放原始碼輔助產品開發時的法律問題，並以Embedded Linux作業系統的使用為討論對象。在嵌入式產品中的系統程式中，作業系統扮演著承上啟下的角色，對整體的系統程式具有相當大的影響。然而，在嵌入式產品中位居主流地位的Linux作業系統所選用的開放原始碼授權條款，又是以保障自由出名的通用公共授權條款第二版（GNU General Public License Version 2，以下簡稱為GPLv2授權條款），因此廠商採用時莫不謹言慎行，擔心己身對於開放原始碼的不當使用而引發爭訟。本研究首先探究開放原始碼授權條款的內涵與法律定位、對相關判決與爭議來進行評析，接著對嵌入式產品開發過程中的晶片設計與系統開發兩個環節之相關開發者進行深度訪談，藉以瞭解當前台灣的嵌入式產品開發廠商使用開放原始碼時的作法，與可能伴隨的法律風險，本研究並進一步提供幾點建議作為相關廠商利用開放原始碼進行產品開發時參酌。此外，由於嵌入式產品的本質與個人電腦及工作站的本質有許多歧異，因此針對嵌入式產品的應用，GPLv2授權條款的規範似應針對該等歧異而有不同考量，為此，本研究亦對GPLv2授權條款的規範內容提出修改的建議，期能找出兼顧廠商利益與社群裡想的授權方式。

Open source software is widely used to accelerate the schedule of embedded product development. However, the licenses used with the open source programs are considered to be opposite to business usage. The focus of the article is to discuss the legal issues that Taiwanese embedded product manufactures my encounter once they use open source software to assist the development of their products, using Linux operating system as an example. For embedded products, the operation system plays a key role and is very important for the system programs. However, the main stream operating system in embedded product markets, Linux, uses the GNU General Public License Version 2(GPLv2) that is famous of its demands for software freedom. Therefore, embedded product manufactures are very cautious once they choose to use Linux OS in their embedded products, in order to avoid litigation that might be caused by the misuse of open source software. This article first discusses the contents and legal issues of open source licenses, followed by analyzing related debates and cases. Afterwards, the author hold in-depth interviews with system engineers working in both the chip design house and system manufactures, in order to understand how Taiwanese embedded product manufactures act and the ensuing risks. We further provide several suggestions that embedded product manufactures may follow once they use open source software for their product development. Besides, due to the distinct nature of the embedded products and personal computers, it seems to us that GPLv2 should consider differently for applications of embedded products. Therefore, the author proposes a few suggestions for the GPLv2 and hope to find out a solution to accommodate both the benefits to manufactures and the spirit of open source software.