Since 2009, OpenNTF has been scanning many of the contributions for IP issues.  If we found problems with a release, we worked with the author to try to fix them.  Once the problems were dealt with, the project was “cleared” - and this was indicated on the release page.

One shortcoming of our process was that we did not check the IP of 3rd party components that the author used in the contribution – simply due to a lack of resources.  However, for projects that are sponsored by OpenNTF, such as OpenNTF Essentials, this has changed.  For these projects:
–        the project license will be Apache 2.0
–        All components must be cleared.  
This means that the full content of any OpenNTF-sponsored project, or project within OpenNTF essentials have passed the OpenNTF clearance process and is licensed under, or compatible with, Apache 2.0.

So – how do we manage this pre-clearance process for open source components without making it too onerous for contributors?  Basically, we have taken a leaf from the approach used by Eclipse – which is to have a list of pre-cleared projects that contributors are free to use without further issue.  If a component is not on the list, then a contributor can email ip-manager at openntf to ask for it to be checked out.

As you can see from the list, we have added a large number of commonly used and trusted open source components. And we will be happy to add more upon request.

Note that this restriction of only using components in the list applies only to those projects that are sponsored by OpenNTF or are in OpenNTF Essentials. Other projects may use other components as long as the component license is compatible with the Apache or GPL license chosen for the project.

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