DDK license issues for developers

NTDEV
1

I happen to be reviewing a contract for a potential new consulting client
and was reading the text of the WinXP DDK (RC2?). It says:

“You may modify the sample code (Sample Code) to design, develop, and test
your Drivers for an applicable OS Product. You may also reproduce and
distribute the Sample Code in object code form along with any modifications
you make to the Sample Code, provided you comply with the Distribution
Requirements described below”.

This sure seems like we legally can’t give a client company a copy of a
driver in source code form that’s derived from the DDK samples. We would
have to supply some sort of source code delta, that could then be applied
against the exact original source code. Offhand, the only tool I can think
of that does this are some Unix/GPL tools for creating patch files, not to
mention will that exact original sample code be available in the future.

It also seems like it’s impossible for me to give a company clear title to
a driver that was created from the DDK samples. It will be a derivative
work, and as such, has to conform to all DDK license requirements.

This all suggests my consulting contracts to develop drivers have to
include the terms of the DDK license. If I do any work through a third part
broker, everybody’s contracts seem like they have to include the DDK
license terms.

The DDK sample code is clearly not public code, it’s Microsoft proprietary
intellectual property, which you can use for certain uses if you conform to
certain conditions. As a software company that likes to sell products and
development services to OEM customers (who often like to purchase a source
code license), I question if it’s appropriate for us to use the DDK sample
code at all.

I’d be interested in hearing what other driver development companies do
about this?

Jan Bottorff, President
Paradigm Matrix, Inc.

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2

So, write your own driver.

Jamey
xxxxx@storagecraft.com

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com
[mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of Jan Bottorff
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 4:34 PM
To: NT Developers Interest List
Subject: [ntdev] DDK license issues for developers

I happen to be reviewing a contract for a potential new consulting
client
and was reading the text of the WinXP DDK (RC2?). It says:

“You may modify the sample code (Sample Code) to design, develop, and
test
your Drivers for an applicable OS Product. You may also reproduce and
distribute the Sample Code in object code form along with any
modifications
you make to the Sample Code, provided you comply with the Distribution
Requirements described below”.

This sure seems like we legally can’t give a client company a copy of a
driver in source code form that’s derived from the DDK samples. We would

have to supply some sort of source code delta, that could then be
applied
against the exact original source code. Offhand, the only tool I can
think
of that does this are some Unix/GPL tools for creating patch files, not
to
mention will that exact original sample code be available in the future.

It also seems like it’s impossible for me to give a company clear title
to
a driver that was created from the DDK samples. It will be a derivative
work, and as such, has to conform to all DDK license requirements.

This all suggests my consulting contracts to develop drivers have to
include the terms of the DDK license. If I do any work through a third
part
broker, everybody’s contracts seem like they have to include the DDK
license terms.

The DDK sample code is clearly not public code, it’s Microsoft
proprietary
intellectual property, which you can use for certain uses if you conform
to
certain conditions. As a software company that likes to sell products
and
development services to OEM customers (who often like to purchase a
source
code license), I question if it’s appropriate for us to use the DDK
sample
code at all.

I’d be interested in hearing what other driver development companies do
about this?

Jan Bottorff, President
Paradigm Matrix, Inc.

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3

And cut and paste then rename the hell out of everything … maybe move some
subroutines around a little bit, split modules into 2 … I sure ain’t a
gonna tell!!!

Gary

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com
[mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of Jamey Kirby
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 4:41 PM
To: NT Developers Interest List
Subject: [ntdev] RE: DDK license issues for developers

So, write your own driver.

Jamey
xxxxx@storagecraft.com

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com
[mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of Jan Bottorff
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 4:34 PM
To: NT Developers Interest List
Subject: [ntdev] DDK license issues for developers

I happen to be reviewing a contract for a potential new consulting
client
and was reading the text of the WinXP DDK (RC2?). It says:

“You may modify the sample code (Sample Code) to design, develop, and
test
your Drivers for an applicable OS Product. You may also reproduce and
distribute the Sample Code in object code form along with any
modifications
you make to the Sample Code, provided you comply with the Distribution
Requirements described below”.

This sure seems like we legally can’t give a client company a copy of a
driver in source code form that’s derived from the DDK samples. We would

have to supply some sort of source code delta, that could then be
applied
against the exact original source code. Offhand, the only tool I can
think
of that does this are some Unix/GPL tools for creating patch files, not
to
mention will that exact original sample code be available in the future.

It also seems like it’s impossible for me to give a company clear title
to
a driver that was created from the DDK samples. It will be a derivative
work, and as such, has to conform to all DDK license requirements.

This all suggests my consulting contracts to develop drivers have to
include the terms of the DDK license. If I do any work through a third
part
broker, everybody’s contracts seem like they have to include the DDK
license terms.

The DDK sample code is clearly not public code, it’s Microsoft
proprietary
intellectual property, which you can use for certain uses if you conform
to
certain conditions. As a software company that likes to sell products
and
development services to OEM customers (who often like to purchase a
source
code license), I question if it’s appropriate for us to use the DDK
sample
code at all.

I’d be interested in hearing what other driver development companies do
about this?

Jan Bottorff, President
Paradigm Matrix, Inc.

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4

I think the correct legal procedure is to translate all the verbs into
french. Don’t worry about it, unless you really are taking a ddk sample
driver and directly modifying that driver and delivering that directly
modified driver to your customer. Looking at driver sample source code
while writing your own driver is fair use.

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com
[mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of Gary G. Little
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 8:37 PM
To: NT Developers Interest List
Subject: [ntdev] RE: DDK license issues for developers

And cut and paste then rename the hell out of everything …
maybe move some subroutines around a little bit, split
modules into 2 … I sure ain’t a gonna tell!!!

Gary

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com
[mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of Jamey Kirby
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 4:41 PM
To: NT Developers Interest List
Subject: [ntdev] RE: DDK license issues for developers

So, write your own driver.

Jamey
xxxxx@storagecraft.com

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com
[mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of Jan Bottorff
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 4:34 PM
To: NT Developers Interest List
Subject: [ntdev] DDK license issues for developers

I happen to be reviewing a contract for a potential new
consulting client and was reading the text of the WinXP DDK
(RC2?). It says:

“You may modify the sample code (Sample Code) to design,
develop, and test your Drivers for an applicable OS Product.
You may also reproduce and distribute the Sample Code in
object code form along with any modifications you make to the
Sample Code, provided you comply with the Distribution
Requirements described below”.

This sure seems like we legally can’t give a client company a
copy of a driver in source code form that’s derived from the
DDK samples. We would

have to supply some sort of source code delta, that could
then be applied against the exact original source code.
Offhand, the only tool I can think of that does this are some
Unix/GPL tools for creating patch files, not to mention will
that exact original sample code be available in the future.

It also seems like it’s impossible for me to give a company
clear title to a driver that was created from the DDK
samples. It will be a derivative work, and as such, has to
conform to all DDK license requirements.

This all suggests my consulting contracts to develop drivers
have to include the terms of the DDK license. If I do any
work through a third part broker, everybody’s contracts seem
like they have to include the DDK license terms.

The DDK sample code is clearly not public code, it’s
Microsoft proprietary intellectual property, which you can
use for certain uses if you conform to certain conditions. As
a software company that likes to sell products and
development services to OEM customers (who often like to
purchase a source code license), I question if it’s
appropriate for us to use the DDK sample code at all.

I’d be interested in hearing what other driver development
companies do about this?

Jan Bottorff, President
Paradigm Matrix, Inc.

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5

> This sure seems like we legally can’t give a client company a copy of a

driver in source code form that’s derived from the DDK samples. We would

I never reuse samples.
Writing the same code by your own will definitely give you a strong sense of
how the things are going on there, thus it is useful.

Max

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6

Jan,

Why not have your client buy a copy of the DDK? They’ll need the DDK
developer tools to use the source, anyway. And if they own a copy, it seems
to me that the licensing issue is moot.

-Dan

Subject: DDK license issues for developers
From: Jan Bottorff
> Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2001 16:33:46 -0700
>
> I happen to be reviewing a contract for a potential new consulting client
> and was reading the text of the WinXP DDK (RC2?). It says:
>
> …
>
> It also seems like it’s impossible for me to give a company clear title to
> a driver that was created from the DDK samples. It will be a derivative
> work, and as such, has to conform to all DDK license requirements.
>
> This all suggests my consulting contracts to develop drivers have to
> include the terms of the DDK license. If I do any work through a third
part
> broker, everybody’s contracts seem like they have to include the DDK
> license terms.
>
> …
>
> I’d be interested in hearing what other driver development companies do
> about this?
>
> Jan Bottorff, President
> Paradigm Matrix, Inc.

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7

If you use our DriverWorks, you can redistribute source code to the extent
that any existing Compuware copyright and proprietary notices are respected
and kept. The terms are clearly stated in the license. People from the
frameworks group pointed to me that if you build a driver using the
DriverWorks wizard, that is *generated* code, not pre-existing code, which
makes the issue easier to handle. It’s a slightly different issue if you use
source code from the sample drivers, but even then, the policy is relatively
flexible. Note however that while you can redistribute the run time
libraries, they stay a property of Compuware. But that should not affect the
status of your source code.

Alberto.

-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel E. Germann [mailto:xxxxx@nospam.visi.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 8:49 AM
To: NT Developers Interest List
Subject: [ntdev] Re: DDK license issues for developers

Jan,

Why not have your client buy a copy of the DDK? They’ll need the DDK
developer tools to use the source, anyway. And if they own a copy, it seems
to me that the licensing issue is moot.

-Dan

Subject: DDK license issues for developers
From: Jan Bottorff
> Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2001 16:33:46 -0700
>
> I happen to be reviewing a contract for a potential new consulting client
> and was reading the text of the WinXP DDK (RC2?). It says:
>
> …
>
> It also seems like it’s impossible for me to give a company clear title to
> a driver that was created from the DDK samples. It will be a derivative
> work, and as such, has to conform to all DDK license requirements.
>
> This all suggests my consulting contracts to develop drivers have to
> include the terms of the DDK license. If I do any work through a third
part
> broker, everybody’s contracts seem like they have to include the DDK
> license terms.
>
> …
>
> I’d be interested in hearing what other driver development companies do
> about this?
>
> Jan Bottorff, President
> Paradigm Matrix, Inc.

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8

I’ve always assumed that requiring your customer to have a DDK
license is sufficient to cover this, i.e., make this a requirement of
your contract with your customer, rather than trying to include all
of MS terms.

-DH
----- Original Message -----
From: “Mark Roddy”
To: “NT Developers Interest List”
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 8:54 PM
Subject: [ntdev] RE: DDK license issues for developers

> I think the correct legal procedure is to translate all the verbs into
> french. Don’t worry about it, unless you really are taking a ddk sample
> driver and directly modifying that driver and delivering that directly
> modified driver to your customer. Looking at driver sample source code
> while writing your own driver is fair use.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com
> > [mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of Gary G. Little
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 8:37 PM
> > To: NT Developers Interest List
> > Subject: [ntdev] RE: DDK license issues for developers
> >
> >
> > And cut and paste then rename the hell out of everything …
> > maybe move some subroutines around a little bit, split
> > modules into 2 … I sure ain’t a gonna tell!!!
> >
> > Gary
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com
> > [mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of Jamey Kirby
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 4:41 PM
> > To: NT Developers Interest List
> > Subject: [ntdev] RE: DDK license issues for developers
> >
> > So, write your own driver.
> >
> > Jamey
> > xxxxx@storagecraft.com
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com
> > [mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of Jan Bottorff
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 4:34 PM
> > To: NT Developers Interest List
> > Subject: [ntdev] DDK license issues for developers
> >
> >
> > I happen to be reviewing a contract for a potential new
> > consulting client and was reading the text of the WinXP DDK
> > (RC2?). It says:
> >
> > “You may modify the sample code (Sample Code) to design,
> > develop, and test your Drivers for an applicable OS Product.
> > You may also reproduce and distribute the Sample Code in
> > object code form along with any modifications you make to the
> > Sample Code, provided you comply with the Distribution
> > Requirements described below”.
> >
> > This sure seems like we legally can’t give a client company a
> > copy of a driver in source code form that’s derived from the
> > DDK samples. We would
> >
> > have to supply some sort of source code delta, that could
> > then be applied against the exact original source code.
> > Offhand, the only tool I can think of that does this are some
> > Unix/GPL tools for creating patch files, not to mention will
> > that exact original sample code be available in the future.
> >
> > It also seems like it’s impossible for me to give a company
> > clear title to a driver that was created from the DDK
> > samples. It will be a derivative work, and as such, has to
> > conform to all DDK license requirements.
> >
> > This all suggests my consulting contracts to develop drivers
> > have to include the terms of the DDK license. If I do any
> > work through a third part broker, everybody’s contracts seem
> > like they have to include the DDK license terms.
> >
> > The DDK sample code is clearly not public code, it’s
> > Microsoft proprietary intellectual property, which you can
> > use for certain uses if you conform to certain conditions. As
> > a software company that likes to sell products and
> > development services to OEM customers (who often like to
> > purchase a source code license), I question if it’s
> > appropriate for us to use the DDK sample code at all.
> >
> > I’d be interested in hearing what other driver development
> > companies do about this?
> >
> > Jan Bottorff, President
> > Paradigm Matrix, Inc.
> >
> >
> > —
> > You are currently subscribed to ntdev as:
> > xxxxx@storagecraft.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> > leave-ntdev-$subst(‘Recip.MemberIDChar’)@lists.osr.com
> >
> >
> > —
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> > To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-ntdev-$subst(‘Recip.MemberIDChar’)@lists.osr.com
> >
> >
> > —
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> > leave-ntdev-$subst(‘Recip.MemberIDChar’)@lists.osr.com
> >
> >
>
>
>
> —
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