Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Attribution in open source hardware is a form of personal currency and is included in
several open source licensing structures. As yet, however, the etiquette and standard of
how and where we do this remain to be determined. Because most circuit boards have a
physical footprint too small to list the contributors on, it is standard to list them some-
where in the documentation, such as the README file and the product description. If you
are giving a presentation about your open source hardware projects, perhaps it should be
standard practice to list your fellow contributors and the original designers of your open
hardware product at the end of presentations like movie credits. This would ensure the
provenance is not lost.
The standards written into the Open Source Hardware Definition, such as what determ-
ines open source hardware, were foundational. Now that a standard has been set for defin-
ing open source hardware, we can delve into different areas of standardization. For ex-
ample, one standard is defined for licensing source files: that source files must be licensed
openly. But other types of documentation, such as tutorials and topics, do not have to be
open for a given piece of hardware to be considered open source. For more information on
documentation standards, read
Chapter 14
.
Open source hardware has always dealt with external standards and regulations as
well—for example, FCC regulations ensure products don't interfere with each other or
with life-safety devices. As mentioned within this chapter, USB and Bluetooth are stand-
ards with which the electronics community, open and closed, is accustomed to. However,
as open source hardware branches out, regulations are beginning to crop up in more places
that affect open source hardware design and distribution, such as ITAR standards and
FAA or FDA regulations. Although some standards are already in place, open source
hardware could lead to new governmental standards for things such as sustainability from
an ecological perspective, in which the focus is reducing e-waste. Other new standards
might deal with creating “fair trade in hardware,” thereby ensuring that hardware is built
with certain humanitarian standards.
Chapter 15
discusses how open source hardware is
primed to establish these standards due to its transparent nature.
ITAR, Public Domain, and Fundamental Research
Stephen Murphey
Any U.S. citizen (or anyone interested in working with U.S. citizens)
should be familiar with ITAR because it will potentially affect what
you share and how you share any of your designs. ITAR stands for In-
ternational Traffic in Arms Regulations. Open source hardware is all
about sharing your designs—this an important point. ITAR, however, is
about keeping U.S. military technology out of the hands of the coun-
