Comments on: Misconceptions about OSHWA’s Open Source Hardware Certification v1 /2015/09/misconceptions-about-oshwas-open-source-hardware-certification-v1/ Tue, 27 Sep 2016 06:33:22 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.5 By: more on OSHWA hardware certification | Firmware Security /2015/09/misconceptions-about-oshwas-open-source-hardware-certification-v1/#comment-13910 Thu, 01 Oct 2015 17:05:18 +0000 /?p=2289#comment-13910 […] /2015/09/misconceptions-about-oshwas-open-source-hardware-certification-v1/ […]

]]> By: atthatmatt /2015/09/misconceptions-about-oshwas-open-source-hardware-certification-v1/#comment-13908 Thu, 01 Oct 2015 00:24:49 +0000 /?p=2289#comment-13908 On the third point, OSHWA (and everyone else) already has the capability to publicly shame anyone abusing the good will that open source has in the marketplace. The only way that a certification gives OSHWA any extra power is if we create an identifier that has its own value because people look for it, and then people start abusing it, because there are legal rights associated with trademarks and such. Even a successful certification won’t bring any extra ability to “enforce” open source standards on anyone who doesn’t bother abusing the certification and just sticks to abusing the term.

Even assuming someone does abuse a successful open hardware certification, financial penalties will only work if that person made a mistake and wants to comply. If they just don’t care, they won’t pay the penalty.

That’s why I recommended against any kind of penalty and why I see it being counterproductive now. People are focusing on it as a threat despite the fact that it’s unlikely to ever be invoked and even then it’s unlikely to be effective.

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