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A comment on When Open Becomes Opaque: The Changing Face of Open-Source Hardware Companies. Parent comment

Re:When Open Becomes Opaque: The Changing Face of Open-Sourc... by daniel_reetz on Wednesday July 19, 2023 @01:38PM (#36790224)
Also, this is OSHW - Open Source Hardware - a _copyright_ based license, U.S. copyright does not protect hardware. Patents are a whole other subject. This article is about Open Hardware being abused, not patents.

I stopped working on OSHW because it can't protect hardware. It has no legal teeth. Better to just give it away (public domain or whatever).

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Re:When Open Becomes Opaque: The Changing Face of Open-Sourc... by blackguardx on Wednesday July 19, 2023 @05:14PM (#36793498)
Hardware can be copyrighted, but it only protects the PCB layout.
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Re:When Open Becomes Opaque: The Changing Face of Open-Sourc... by kayfox on Wednesday July 19, 2023 @08:03PM (#36795258)
> U.S. copyright does not protect hardware.

It does, it specifically protects chip die masks and by implication and case law protects PCB layouts and circuit diagrams.

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