Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB), a leading provider of enterprise technology to the education community, announced today a "Patent Pledge" in support of learning institutions worldwide that use or develop open source and home-grown course management software as well as the commercial entities supporting them.
In summary, the Blackboard Patent Pledge is a promise by the company to never assert its issued or pending course management system software patents against open source software or home-grown course management systems. The Blackboard Pledge is legally binding, irrevocable and worldwide in scope.
"As a member of the e-Learning community, we are committed to the open exchange of ideas, collaboration and innovation," said Michael Chasen, president and chief executive officer of Blackboard. "This pledge is part of that commitment and our continued efforts to work collaboratively with the e-Learning community to foster greater openness and interoperability."
Specifically, the Pledge commits Blackboard not to assert U.S. Patent No. 6,988,138 and many other pending patent applications against the development, use or distribution of open source software or home-grown course management systems anywhere in the world, to the extent that such systems are not bundled with proprietary software.
As part of the Pledge, Blackboard promises never to pursue patent actions against anyone using such systems including professors contributing to open source projects, open source initiatives, commercially developed open source add-on applications to proprietary products and vendors hosting and supporting open source applications. Blackboard is also extending its pledge to many specifically identified open source initiatives within the course management system space whether or not they may include proprietary elements within their applications, such as Sakai, Moodle, ATutor, Elgg and Bodington.
Commitments to limit potential patent protection are uncommon, particularly for enterprise software companies. The Patent Pledge-in terms of its sweeping scope, strong commitment and public nature-is unprecedented for a product company such as Blackboard.
In developing its Patent Pledge, Blackboard solicited the input from its clients, the open source community and EDUCAUSE, a leading association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. According to a joint statement from the EDUCAUSE and Sakai Boards of Directors:
"We particularly welcome the inclusion of pending patents, the clarification on the commercial support, customization, hosting or maintenance of open source systems and the worldwide nature of Blackboard's pledge. We also appreciate the willingness of Blackboard to continue with frank and direct dialogue with our two organizations and with other higher education representatives and groups to work toward addressing these problems of community concern."
Blackboard has also received a large amount of support from the e-Learning community around the world:
"In our experience with Blackboard, they've always been extremely collaborative," said David Ernst, CIO and Assistant Vice Chancellor for California State University. "I believe that Blackboard's pledge of support to the open source community demonstrates their intention to continue fostering collaboration while defending their intellectual property. It's encouraging and a move I hope the education community will applaud."
"I am particularly pleased that this pledge was created in collaboration with leadership from EDUCAUSE and Sakai. Collaborations like this will be an important component of building future partnerships, in addition to responding to the technology and policy needs of teachers and learners," stated Sharon Pitt, executive director of the Division of Instructional Technology at George Mason University.
"This pledge clearly allows a sensible and clear way forward for the educational community," remarked Professor Alan Farley, Director, Institute of Teaching and Learning, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia.
"We wish to acknowledge the company's actions and express our appreciation to Blackboard in committing to continue to foster creativity and collaboration within the e-Learning community. Such a response can only benefit the teachers and practitioners, the learners, Blackboard, and indeed the wider e-Learning community," said Gordon Suddaby of the Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning (ACODE).
"This is a bold move and one which I can only applaud." said John Hemingway, chief information officer of Sheffield Hallam University.
The Blackboard Patent Pledge along with many Frequently Asked Questions can be found at www.blackboard.com/patent.
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