The Linux Foundation has launched the Open Compliance Program, a comprehensive initiative that includes tools, training, a standard format to report software licensing information, consulting and a self-assessment checklist that will help companies comply with open source licenses, increasing adoption of open source and decreasing legal FUD present in the marketplace.

Founding participants of the program include enterprise computing and consumer electronics giants Adobe, AMD, ARM Limited, Cisco Systems, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Novell, Samsung, Software Freedom Law Center, Sony Electronics and more than 20 other companies and organizations. Comments from all the participating companies and organizations can be viewed here.

The six elements of The Linux Foundation’s Open Compliance Program are:

• Training and Education
• Tools
• Self-Assessment Checklist
• The SPDX Standard and Workgroup
• A Compliance Directory and Rapid Alert System
• Community

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