How do you encourage users to share/copy/evolve data while preventing competitors from copying it?
What sort of license would you use?
12 comments
If I understand you correctly, you want people to be able to use your data for whatever they want except to compete with you. So why not just make everyone agree to some form of a non-compete with regards to the use of your data? Just leave it broadly defined with the right to terminate their license at any time if you feel they are violating the provisions or spirit of your TOS.
I don't want anyone to get a copy of a significant portion of the data. Moreover, I don't want competitors to use any of the data.
So what you're trying to do is prevent wholesale copying from competitors?
The trick here is the agency doing the copying. You want to say that users can copy it, but that third parties can't.
My suggestion would be to be very clear that what you're talking about is bulk copying by competitors, and prevent it by requiring users to initiate copies, rather than third parties.
The trick here is the agency doing the copying. You want to say that users can copy it, but that third parties can't.
My suggestion would be to be very clear that what you're talking about is bulk copying by competitors, and prevent it by requiring users to initiate copies, rather than third parties.
By data do you mean source code?
As a start you can review the open source licenses commonly used: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_license
Or in theory you could always write your own license.. But once you open your source it will be impossible to completely protect your IP. People will find ways to copy it anyway..
As a start you can review the open source licenses commonly used: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_license
Or in theory you could always write your own license.. But once you open your source it will be impossible to completely protect your IP. People will find ways to copy it anyway..
No, I mean the data contributed by users. For example, consider a wikipedia-like site.
"... A Creative Commons license is based on copyright. So they apply to all works that are protected by copyright law. The kinds of works that are protected by copyright law are books, websites, blogs, photographs, films, videos, songs and other audio & visual recordings, for example. ..."
Maybe you should re-phrase this to ask, "How could I sell competitors the data if they want to buy it, but restrict them if they do not?". To me the licenses found in the Creative Commons accommodate this. They give you the licensing tools to flexibly control content and can let users to share content. Safe that in the knowledge competitors do not have the copyright rights to use/abuse licensed content without recourse to the law (in a lot of cases with laws adopted in your home country).
You cannot however use CC for 'facts and ideas' (as per CC FAQ, How does a Creative Commons license operate?) ~ http://wiki.creativecommons.org/FAQ
Having said that I know of no known tools or tool sets to automatically check for content, it's licensing (if any) and contact details for buyers. Buyers would grab at this seeking for free content (images for instance) clear of any copyright issues.
If you really don't want competitors (are your users competitors as well?) to take away your content then don't create API's allowing users to use their own content. But then you risk making another "Roach Motel" allowing users to create but not export. Is this what you mean, lockout of users data?
Maybe you should re-phrase this to ask, "How could I sell competitors the data if they want to buy it, but restrict them if they do not?". To me the licenses found in the Creative Commons accommodate this. They give you the licensing tools to flexibly control content and can let users to share content. Safe that in the knowledge competitors do not have the copyright rights to use/abuse licensed content without recourse to the law (in a lot of cases with laws adopted in your home country).
You cannot however use CC for 'facts and ideas' (as per CC FAQ, How does a Creative Commons license operate?) ~ http://wiki.creativecommons.org/FAQ
Having said that I know of no known tools or tool sets to automatically check for content, it's licensing (if any) and contact details for buyers. Buyers would grab at this seeking for free content (images for instance) clear of any copyright issues.
If you really don't want competitors (are your users competitors as well?) to take away your content then don't create API's allowing users to use their own content. But then you risk making another "Roach Motel" allowing users to create but not export. Is this what you mean, lockout of users data?
My service already has an export feature. I have no problems with users exporting their data provided that this constitutes only a small fraction of the entire data set AND that it is not used in a competing service.
"... My service already has an export feature. I have no problems with users exporting their data provided that this constitutes only a small fraction of the entire data set ..."
Excellent. Do you intend to go as far as say flickr and use an open API as well at some stage? This allows you to integrate third party services but at the potential competitor raids. Stuart Butterfield has lots to say on this particular problem ~ http://flickr.com/groups/central/discuss/72157594165399644/#...
Out of curiosity can you define "data"? I notice smugmug undertakes the type of restrictions you are describing in their pro account.
Excellent. Do you intend to go as far as say flickr and use an open API as well at some stage? This allows you to integrate third party services but at the potential competitor raids. Stuart Butterfield has lots to say on this particular problem ~ http://flickr.com/groups/central/discuss/72157594165399644/#...
Out of curiosity can you define "data"? I notice smugmug undertakes the type of restrictions you are describing in their pro account.
You make it a royal pain in the ass to do it beyond the typical user scale to the point where it's cheaper to create their own similar data than to attempt to copy yours. Myspace does it for example. You can search their enitre user database with just clicks, but good luck in trying to scrape their entire user database.
Anything beyond that and your talking DRM.
Anything beyond that and your talking DRM.
share alike, non commercial
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/
I'm looking for something commercial that would prevent competitors from getting all the user data from my service.
But at the same time, I don't want to put major limitations on what users can do with their data -- even if it is obtained by copying/modifying data from others.
But at the same time, I don't want to put major limitations on what users can do with their data -- even if it is obtained by copying/modifying data from others.
That's impossible.
If you're trying to stop automated scraping of your data, then limit the access rate per IP. That won't really help things since someone can just tell the script to slow down to the pace of a normal user.
If a user can access unauthenticated data, so can a computer.
If you're trying to stop automated scraping of your data, then limit the access rate per IP. That won't really help things since someone can just tell the script to slow down to the pace of a normal user.
If a user can access unauthenticated data, so can a computer.