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open software / hardware -- legal limitations?

lllars

I'd like to make the software and hardware of my moto mod open source.  Ideally, I would release the source for the Android app and microcontroller firmware, as well as the electrical schematic and gerber files.

 

My understanding is that Motorola is requiring an NDA for access to the full schematics and other hardware info for the MDK.  Would signing such an NDA would prevent me from open sourcing any parts of my own moto mod design?  Even if I do not sign, are there parts of my own mod design that I would be advised not to publicly release?

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    It depends.

     

    You need to assess, or better yet, have a lawyer assess the NDA to clearly identify the parts of the Motorola components are explicitly covered.

    Once you resolve that issue, you can then ask them politely if they have a problem with you releasing your application details that uses their components.

     

    As long as you do not provide details that they consider sensitive, they should allow your application to be open source.

     

    In this case, it is better to obtain permission than it would be to beg forgiveness.  Motorola has lawyers with nothing else to do than punish transgressors.

    So be smart, start a dialog and proceed cautiously.

    You may find that they are happy to cooperate.

     

    DAB

  • 0 in reply to DAB

    You can only open source a personality card and not an integrated design based on NDA protected information.  If you treat it as a standalone Personality Card and show how you interface to the 80pin on the MDK, that is perfectly acceptable.

     

    Offhand, I cannot think of anything from a firmware or application standpoint that would prevent you from contributing to open source, in fact we encourage it.  For the firmware, that currently uses the BSD license, ideally you would select the same to make it easier downstream.  What license you choose for your application is up to you.  As always, any source files that already have a license header, that should be retained.

     

    I can't wait to see your pull request on the nuttx repo come through on github.

  • 0 in reply to flowflow25

    Ok, thanks for answering.  Just to clarify, I don't have any interest in open sourcing a personality card.  It is really the integrated design that I'm talking about.

     

    If I'm understanding you correctly, there's no issue with open sourcing the app software or uC firmware, even for an integrated design.  Which is great.  But, I wouldn't be able to open source the electrical schematics, or at the very least I'd have to censor the part of them that relied on NDA protected info.  In my case, it seems like that part would just be a few connections between the mod's uC and the pogo pins.

     

    I'm assuming those connections would be trivial to determine experimentally (I don't know, because I'm still waiting to receive development hardware).  And if that's the only info I need, I'm not sure it makes since to restrict myself by signing an NDA.  At the same time, I don't want to pick a fight.  Are you guys going to be annoyed if I probe out those connections and end up publishing that info as part of my mod's schematic?

     

    Sorry if I'm getting ahead of myself here.  The timeline of this competition is such that I'm in the awkward place of trying to design an integrated prototype without yet having had a chance to play with the development kit.  But, if there's any way I'm going to have real hardware before March 6, I've got to start now.  From where I stand, it seems like having access to the NDA protected info would speed up my design process, but it's not crucial, and might limit what I can do down the line.

  • 0 in reply to lllars

    Motorola specifically prohibits this type of activity.  Our terms and conditions in connection with the use of the MDK prohibit reverse-engineering.  While Motorola does not have a problem with the open sourcing of your hardware design, this is limited solely to the personality card.

  • 0 in reply to flowflow25

    Thanks for the clarification.  It's helpful to know what I can and can't do, and that hasn't been obvious, at least so far in my experience with this project.  It is a bit confusing that so much of the documentation is made to be very accessible, but certain parts have been censored for unexplained reasons.  Also, assuming you're referring to these terms and conditions, my reading of them is that only the software (not the hardware) is prevented from reverse engineering, and that doesn't even make sense since the source code is freely available.

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  • 0 in reply to flowflow25

    Thanks for the clarification.  It's helpful to know what I can and can't do, and that hasn't been obvious, at least so far in my experience with this project.  It is a bit confusing that so much of the documentation is made to be very accessible, but certain parts have been censored for unexplained reasons.  Also, assuming you're referring to these terms and conditions, my reading of them is that only the software (not the hardware) is prevented from reverse engineering, and that doesn't even make sense since the source code is freely available.

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