Find experts
| This tool is in beta. Please help us make it better by reporting problems and sharing your ideas for improvement. |
Are you looking for a way to find experts who specialize in Free/Open Source Software (FOSS)?
|
|
Do you want to be added to this index? Contact us and let us know who you are, what you do, and why you are eligible for inclusion. You can also contact us with suggestions for improvements or corrections.
More resources:
- A library of useful FOSS documents
- A tool to help explore FOSS licensing options
- The FOSS knowledge resources page
Carlo Piana
Carlo Piana is a lawyer (Bar of Milan) and Free and Open Source Software, as well as Digital Freedoms advocate, with 15+ years of experience in the IT&TLC Law sector. Recent work in technology transfer, software contracting, copyright, domain names, antitrust litigation (counsel to FOSS entities like the Samba team and FSFE in the EU court and administrative procedures, and in the Oracle/Sun merger). He is also a counsel for companies in the field of Data Protection and IT security.
|
HH Partners
HH Partners is a Finnish business law firm with technology and IP matters as one of its focus areas. According to Chambers Europe (2009), regarding Finnish law firms: “Market sources praise this firm for its proficiency in a broad variety of matters, from patent litigation, trade mark and domain name matters to copyright issues.” As to open source assignments, they have advised clients in using open source; publishing open source; open source strategies, policies and compliance. HH Partners advised MySQL AB in its preparation for IPO or eventual trade sale as regards corporate, intellectual property and employment matters (Sun Microsystems purchased MySQL in early 2008). HH Partners is also the inventor, one of the founders and service provider of Validos (www.validos.org) – a collaborative approach for companies to do open source compliance.
|
Opendawn
Opendawn is a business and communication facilitator based in Japan. We provide consultancy, education, editing and design services. Our vision is to accomplish perfection in every market we enter and our mission is to deliver excellent and innovative services to customers. Our specialties include inter-cultural communication, East-West business intelligence, Free/Open Source Software, process management and community engagement.
|
JBB Rechtsanwaelte
JBB Rechtsanwaelte is a Berlin-based law firm established in 1999 with 12 lawyers. Despite rather small in numbers, JBB is strong in expertise and is focussing on complex high-tech, entertainment and information technology matters. One special focus of the firm are Free and Open Source Software issues, including but not limited to court enforcement of OSS licenses. Dr. Till Jaeger, partner of JBB Rechtsanwaelte, has published several books and articles related to legal questions of Free and Open Source Software and has been involved in the process of drafting GPLv3.
|
José María Lancho Rodríguez
Jose has been an attorney in Madrid since 1995, and currently acts as the Director of the Legal Department of Vicor Asesores. He is a member of the Government Advisory Council CENATIC (National Reference Center for the Application of Information Technologies and Communication, a Partner of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation and the President of HispaLINUX, the largest association of computer programmers in Spain.
|
Advotheek
Advotheek specialises in IT procurement, Open source compliance audits, general IT law and Intellectual property law. Its owner Mr. Mathieu Paapst LLM is a leading open source lawyer in the Netherlands and has been advising the dutch government for the past few years as the senior legal counsel on the legal implications of the actionplan “Netherlands Open in Connection”.
|
Bender von Haller Dragsted
Bender von Haller Dragsted is a leading Scandinavian IT-law boutique that serves a wide range of clients from Scandinavian and international blue-chip clients and public sector clients to small and innovative start-ups. Within the firm, Martin von Haller Groenbaek has substantial experience advising Danish and Swedish clients on open source related issues.
|
Hogle Visani LLC
Sean Hogle is a founding member of the law firm of Hogle Visani LLC, specializing in technology, intellectual property, and commercial law for clients in the software and wireless industries worldwide. Sean specializes in open source and is a frequent lecturer and writer on the topic. Prior to forming his own firm, Sean was Vice President and General Counsel of Aplix Corporation, based in Tokyo, a consumer and embedded software company and the world’s leader in wireless Java platforms. Prior to joining Aplix, Sean worked for a large law firm in Denver, Colorado, where he got his start in the technology law field, before he eventually joined Sun Microsystems, at which he became Assistant General Counsel responsible for software and technology licensing and alliances for Japan and the Asia Pacific region. Sean’s fifteen years of experience in technology enables him to act as a “virtual general counsel” to his venture clients around the globe. Sean is based in the firm’s San Rafael, California office, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
|
Neolex AB
Open Source Audits division is a special unit of the Scandinavian law firm Neolex AB. The unit operates globally via its virtual offices, providing open source advice, as well as IPR and open source risk management services to its customers.
|
Studio Legale Gallus Cardia
The Studio Legale Gallus Cardia, founded by Avv. Raffaele Gallus more than 50 years ago, is Cagliari-based and has a very strong expertise in Information Technology law, FLOSS and open content, computer forensics, cybercrime and privacy protection. Giovanni Battista Gallus is advisor for several FLOSS /open content projects, in both public and private sector and his the author of various publications and articles on the legal aspects of IT, privacy protection and open source.
|
IUSAUTHOR law firm
“IUSAUTHOR” Plovdiv is a legal office working in the areas of copyright and trademark protection. The company is a consultant in the field of copyright associated by Free Software Foundation Europe regarding OSS (Open Source Systems) under GPL (General Public License) and the licensing agreements connected with OSS and GPL.
|
Martin IP Law
Julie is a solo practitioner with over 10 years experience in all aspects of ip, with an emphasis on tech transactions. She has extensive experience in all aspects of open source from using open source as a business model to open source due diligence. Julie is a member of the California Bar and the USPTO. As a solo practitioner, she is able to provide responsive client service and competitive rates.
|
Avv. Francesco Paolo Micozzi
Francesco Paolo Micozzi is a lawyer at the Cagliari Bar and a member of the Crespellani, Porcella, Pisano e Micozzi law firm. His practice involves criminal law and new technologies law. He deals with legal issues related to free software.
|
Marx, Van Ranst, Vermeersch & Partners (MVVP)
Marx Van Ranst Vermeersch & Partners (MVVP) is an independent law firm located in Brussels, Belgium. MVVP offers a broad range of business law advice to both Belgian and international clients. Moreover we assist clients during negotiations and represent them before Belgian and European courts. The law firm has an excellent reputation in legal fields such as IP, Media & Entertainment, Corporate Law, Tax & Finance, Commercial Law, Labour & Employment Law and Real Estate & Public Law. Philippe Laurent is in charge of FOSS matters in the firm. He is lawyer at the Brussels Bar, but also senior researcher in the IP Department of the CRID (Research Center on IT and Law of the University of Namur). As an attorney-at-law, Philippe advises businesses from the software industry and from the new technologies and Internet-based services sectors, including FOSS developers and users. He is specialized in intellectual property law (copyright, trade marks, patents), but his practice also involves a wide range of commerce related matters, including E-commerce, trade practices, advertisement, branding and marketing of goods and services, domain name disputes, consumer protection, data protection compliance, distribution agreements, product liability and security. As a researcher, Philippe is currently doing a PhD on Intellectual Property licensing, and has written several publications on the legal implications of free software and open content practices. Amongst others, he co-authored the first book providing a global legal analysis of open source licensing under Belgian law called “Les logiciels libres face au droit” (Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2005, 328p). He is also part of the experts’ team that assists the European Commission on the legal aspects of its open source license – the EUPL – and has written several reports thereon. He is also organizer of the FOSS law international conferences “EOLE”.
|
Elena Spiropoulou and Associates Law Firm
The office’s field of expertise is Internet and New Technologies Law. Our office deals with Terms of Use for websites, Free Software and open source matters, Copyright matters on software and art, Domain Name disputes, Trademarks, Personal Data, Law of Contracts, Foudation of non profit companies and societies, Foundation of LTD and SA companies, Civil and Trade Law.
|
id law partners
Barcelona-based id law partners focuses on Information Technology law, including IPR applied to IT, free software and content, digital forensics, ecommerce and data privacy. Malcolm Bain advises several free software projects, as well as client-side software users, in both public and private sectors. Malcolm has written extensively and lectures in several universities on the legal aspects of IT and free software.
|
Conecta research ltd
With more than 14 years of FLOSS-centered activities and 9 EU research projects, Conecta provides specialized services related to adoption and software governance for medium and large companies and public administrations. Our services range from specific consulting on the selection and validation of free/open source based business models, policy design and verification, process governance and support, integration of OSS in certification-based environments like defense, health care and industrial automation.
|
Kemp Little
Kemp Little is a dedicated technology law firm. We specialise in open source and all other aspects of the software industry. We act for developers and users. In October 2009 the FT Law 50 ranked us among the 20 most innovative law firms in Europe.
|
Sourcesense
Sourcesense is a European Open Source systems integrator providing consultancy, support and services around key Open Source technologies and processes. Built around a number of well-established European players in Open Source, with a strong background in providing enterprise-class solutions based on Open Source components and a proven track record of participation in the most prominent and effective Open Source communities, Sourcesense helps customers leverage the advantages of Open Source.
|
ICTRecht legal services
Our free and open source specialist is Arnoud Engelfriet, associate at the firm. Arnoud has been working with internet technologies since 1993. With his background in computer science he likes to focus on complex technical/legal issues and software licenses, in particular open source software. Before joining ICTRecht Arnoud worked for nine years at the intellectual property department of Royal Philips Electronics. During that time, he wrote and deployed the company’s open source policy and operated as the secretary of the internal Open Source Advisory Board.
|
Wragge & Co. LLP
Wragge & Co LLP is a major UK law firm providing a full range of legal services to businesses worldwide. The client base includes more than 27 FTSE 100 companies such as British Airways, GlaxoSmithKline, Marks & Spencer, and some of the world’s largest and most successful organisations, including HJ Heinz, E.ON, McDonald’s and Cadbury Plc. Our TelTech team are IT specialists, not general commercial lawyers, and they are well-versed in the issues surrounding Free/Open Source Software (“F/OSS”). We act for companies who use or intend to use F/OSS to provide services or distribute F/OSS in their products. We have worked on corporate acquisitions of IT companies in which the target has had a business plan based on F/OSS products or, in some cases, has been using F/OSS in an uncontrolled way. In all cases this has required an in-depth understanding and analysis of not just the F/OSS licences and the related law, but also the community’s expectations and likely reactions.
|
id est avocats sàrl
id est avocats is a business law firm serving local and international clients in the Lake of Geneva region. The firm is mainly active and has been highly recommended in Technology, Media, Advertising, Corporate, Commercial, and Intellectual Property. In line with our philosophy, we focus on certain industries of which we know the rules, the players, the specificities, the market standards and the best practices: computing, advanced technologies, media and advertising, commercial and corporate, and intellectual property, especially in the field of software and online services. In each of these industries, our work has been highly recommended by the market, our clients and our competitors, and by leading guides such as Chambers Europe and Global, Legal500, PLC Which Lawyer?, Best Lawyers or Global Law Experts. The firm has also been voted “Boutique Law Firm of the Year” by industry experts for Switzerland in 2012 (ACQ Finance Magazine Global Awards).
|
De Bandt Keustermans & Van den Brande
The law firm of De Bandt Keustermans & Van den Brande focuses on a number of specialized practice areas in which its members have substantial expertise and experience. Intellectual Property (copyright, patents, trademarks, design rights) Law and Technology (IT, internet, R&D) Media and Entertainment Law (television, music, fashion) EC Law (focus on free movement, customs and agricultural policy) Competition Law (including regulated sectors and services of general economic interest). Our team of nine attorneys appears regularly before the Belgian courts and European Community courts. We also assist our clients with tailor-made advice in the design of major projects and contracts in our respective fields of expertise. All our partners have studied and worked in the United States. Our working languages are English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish and Italian. Our partner specialised in FOSS is Mr. Ywein Van den Brande (ywein.vandenbrande@dbkv.eu). Mr. Ywein Van den Brande is cofounder of the International FOSS Law Review and member of the FSF European Legal Network.
|
Matau Legal Group
The Matau Legal Group is the “go to” law firm firm for high-quality, cost-effective legal services in the areas of technology and intellectual property licensing, commercial transactions, and general business advice. We provide specialty legal services in the areas of Free (Libre) and Open Source Software (FLOSS), web-enabled and mobile technologies, digital content sharing, media, social networking and “green” technologies. Founder Gwyn Firth Murray brings over two decades of software and internet business experience from her roles as general and senior internal counsel at both private and publicly traded global companies. She founded the Matau Legal Group in 2002 to provide a unique combination of broad business law expertise and focused specialization, including the legal aspects of Free (Libre) and Open Source Software. The Matau Legal Group leverages small teams of highly experienced legal professionals, each of whom has served as in-house general and/or senior counsel to emerging and established companies. The Matau Legal Group understands the scope of legal issues that emerging companies may face – including corporate, human resource and real estate matters – and is committed to supporting the health and growth of client businesses.
|
WS Law Offices
WS Law Offices was founded by two Silicon Valley attorneys, each with nearly two decades of experience representing companies from start-ups to publicly traded corporations. Each of the founders has “big firm” experience, and each has also been the General Counsel of a technology company. So while we understand “the law”, we also understand the importance of cost control, and of driving to revenue within the appropriate risk profile. Both of the founders have multiple years of experience representing — and working at — companies using and distributing free and open source software. In addition, founder Jason Wacha is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts in the field, has been cited on the web as “one of the smartest open source attorneys on the planet” and has twice had his work cited as authority by U.S. Federal courts, including in the SCO-IBM litigation.
|
Rechtsanwalt Dr. Michael Stehmann
A lawfirm in a town just between Duesseldorf and Cologne, which offers legal advice in questions of Free Software licences.
|
Lewis Silkin LLP
Founded in 1950, Lewis Silkin is a commercial law firm based in the City of London with particular expertise in Media Brands and Technology work. With 50 partners and a total staff of around 270, Lewis Silkin are large enough to handle major projects whilst remaining at a size that ensures that the work that we do for our clients will be treated with the priority and importance they expect. Our lawyers work in teams drawn from our specialist legal disciplines in order to provide a seamless service to clients.
|
Moorcrofts LLP
Moorcrofts was founded in January 2000 to service knowledge-based industries in England’s Thames Valley and beyond. Partner Andrew Katz leads the firm’s IP/IT group and specialises in free and open source software issues, advising both for suppliers and customers. Andrew was formerly a software developer, and has released software under the GPL. His clients range from startups to multinationals, and he writes and lectures extensively on openness, covering not only software, but also hardware and data.
|
Burness LLP
Burness is one of Scotland’s premier law firms, acting for clients in the private and public sectors. Our focus is on constantly improving our service delivery to ensure it is aligned with the specific requirements of each client. We have 41 partners and employ more than 200 people. Our ability to provide strategic legal solutions is built on our experience across a range of specialised business areas including IT and IP. We have experts in provision of FreeSoftware services on both contentious and non-contentious aspects.
|
Greenberg Traurig
Our open source practice, headed by Heather Meeker, includes open source license compliance (audits, due diligence, and development of corporate policies), transactions (licensing, mergers and acquisitions, re-licensing and dual licensing), business model development, and dispute resolution. In addition, we have conducted training for many companies, and we specialize in building bridges between in-house legal and engineering staff. We have a team of attorneys who are heavily involved in open source counseling, and have handled the most sophisticated issues for our worldwide clients, big and small. Our attorneys in this area are familiar with detailed programming concepts, and have on-the-job programming experience or degrees in computer science. We are known for our practical, creative and efficient approach.
|
OpenCSI
OpenCSI is an OpenSource business-oriented specialists group, as well in technical, juridical domain, and also in management of any firm using OpenSource and free software. Structured around several experiences in IT security, Intellectual property and business unit management, OpenCSI operates in counsultancy for public and private actors.
|
FOSSBazaar
FOSSBazaar is an open community of technology and industry leaders who are collaborating to accelerate adoption of free and open source software in the enterprise. As a workgroup of the Linux Foundation, we are dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations across the enterprise to understand the issues that exist with free and open source software (FOSS), the processes that can assist to properly govern the implementation and deployment of open source, and the tools that can be used to assist these efforts across the lifecycle of an open source project. The vision of FOSSBazaar is to serve as a gathering place to discuss, explore, share experiences and cooperatively solve issues related to the governance of open source.
|
FSFE
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit and in some countries charitable organisation dedicated to Free Software. FSFE maintains that the freedoms to use, study, share and improve software are critical to ensure equal participation in the information age. We work to create general understanding and support for software freedom in politics, law and society-at-large. We also promote the development of technologies, such as the GNU/Linux operating system, that deliver these freedoms to all participants in digital society.
|
FSF
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit with a worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all free software users. The Free Software Foundation is working to secure freedom for computer users by promoting the development and use of free (as in freedom) software and documentation — particularly the GNU/Linux operating system — and by campaigning against threats to computer user freedom like Digital Restrictions Management (DRM).
|
Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation promotes, protects and standardizes Linux by providing unified resources and services needed for open source to successfully compete with closed platforms.
|
Linux Foundation Japan
The Linux Foundation promotes, protects and standardizes Linux by providing unified resources and services needed for open source to successfully compete with closed platforms.
|
OSI
The OSI are the stewards of the Open Source Definition (OSD) and the community-recognized body for reviewing and approving licenses as OSD-conformant. The OSI is actively involved in Open Source community-building, education, and public advocacy to promote awareness and the importance of non-proprietary software. OSI Board members frequently travel the world to attend Open Source conferences and events, meet with open source developers and users, and to discuss with executives from the public and private sectors about how Open Source technologies, licenses, and models of development can provide economic and strategic advantages.
|
Open Invention Network
Open Invention Network is an intellectual property company that was formed to promote Linux by using patents to create a collaborative environment. It promotes a positive, fertile ecosystem for Linux, which in turns drives innovation and choice in the global marketplace. This helps ensure the continuation of innovation that has benefited software vendors, customers, emerging markets and investors.
|
Doublet
DOUBLET is a family company with an associated professional network. Noriko is Japanese. She lived in the US before returning to Japan to work as an in-house technical translator with a Kagawa company addressing clients in Europe and Asia. Jean-Christophe is French. He came to Japan after having worked in the field of international cooperation for a few years. He was a freelance translator until DOUBLET was founded. The DOUBLET professional network includes Kelsey, our Japanese-English specialist, Didier, our English-French translator and software engineer, Tomoko, our French to Japanese translator and Jung Hee, our English to Korean translator.
|
hmw-consulting
hmw-consulting is a high-tech consulting business, offering professional consulting, development and training in the fields of networking security, Linux kernel development, embedded Linux, smart cards and RFID.
|
HP Operating System Services
HP can deliver all the specialized assistance you need. Our services span the solution lifecycle. Our unique HP Open Source Middleware Stacks simplify Linux implementations on industry-standard building blocks. And our global network of 80 HP Linux Solution Centers provides expert prototyping assistance. We can help you achieve faster, better business results thanks to simplified decision-making, lower costs, and less risk associated with deploying Linux solutions.
|
Loohuis Consulting
Loco is one of the few companies in the world to offer GPL compliance engineering as a service. The increased use of Free Software requires an understanding of the licenses in use as well as best practice in deployment, deployment processes and compliance. Loco employees have practical experience in this field, especially with regards to embedded devices.
|
Olliance Group
With eight years experience and over 300 engagements, Olliance Group has developed the reputation as the leading global open source management consulting firm. Founded in 2001, Olliance has completed successful consulting engagements for clients ranging from Fortune 500 enterprises and government entities to venture-backed startups, large ISVs and OEMs, industry trade associations, non-profits, and venture capital firms. Our mission is to help our clients capitalize on the strategic, technological, and financial benefits of open source software.
|
IBM
The IBM Implementation Services for Linux portfolio of offerings is designed to provide organizations with a structured and standardized approach to installing and configuring Linux operating systems on a variety of platforms. IBM offers full support for the Linux operating system on all IBM server products including System x (x86/x64), BladeCenter, Power Systems, System Clusters, BlueGene, and System z (mainframe). IBM offers full support for Linux on IBM systems, similar to that for AIX, i5/OS, z/OS, and Windows.
|
Novell Consulting
Implementing a business solution is more than simply applying technology to a particular business problem. Building cost-effective, reliable and secure business solutions that help you meet your business priorities requires a team of both astute business strategists and technical experts with broad industry experience. In addition, we provide proven consulting methodologies backed by a global services organization. Novell offers strategy roadmapping and implementation services to help identify and implement solutions that enable you to increase business-critical capabilities, achieve tangible results, create competitive advantage and realize a return on your investment within realistic time frames.
|
Red Hat Consulting
In the current economic climate, it’s critical to make the most of your technology deployments and look for opportunities to carve out costs. Red Hat consultants offer deep subject matter expertise combined with years of industry experience. If you’re looking to cut costs, a consultant can provide value by first identifying areas where you can save by migrating to Red Hat or JBoss, and then ensuring a safe, stable migration. So you can effectively carve out costs, without sacrificing quality or reliability.
|
Tomasz Rychlicki
Tomasz Rychlicki graduated from the University of Gdańsk, the Faculty of Law, Center of European Law. He also studied at Chicago-Kent College of Law in the LL.M. Program in International Intellectual Property Law. Tomasz advises his IT- and IP- clients regarding Polish and European law issues.
|