Firm to Offer Open Source Insurance
Tuesday, 16 March 2004 16:51 EST
A New York-based startup is preparing to offer "open source insurance" to some of the largest corporations in the world in response to legal concerns like the one being played out by SCO Group. Open Source Risk Management, which provides consulting services as well as vendor-neutral indemnification to clients, is expected to debut an expanded range of business services this week, including insurance against open source litigation. After several months in stealth mode, the VC-backed company is officially launching at this week's Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco.
"The big vendors can't do it. Insurance companies can't do it. A unique and vendor-neutral entity had to be created," OSRM executive director John St. Clair told internetnews.com. "There is no $1.5 million fund like the one being offered by Novell that can fully cover a serious lawsuit."
Already, OSRM has support from top open source leaders, including Eric Raymond, Bruce Perens and Richard Stallman, as well as Groklaw creator Pamela Jones, who has signed on as a director of research. While St. Clair said the client list remains confidential, the firm has approached Fortune 500 companies like Charles Schwab.
Read Full Story