Interview with Google's Chris DiBona, the guy that keeps Google's open-source programs on the straight and narrow.
Quote:
You use open source a lot internally. Do you have some kind of intellectual property vetting or review before you use it?
We do. There are two ways we do this. When somebody wants to bring a piece of code in from the outside world--open-source or commercial--you need to put it inside a special directory we call "third party." They're required to put in a file called readme.google (that describes) where they got that software, how it's licensed, what category that license falls under. We look for things that are obvious. There are some projects that have dubious intellectual property provenance, and we know those, and we know the people who run them, and we tend not to use those ever.
Since Google doesn't distribute a lot of software, we have it easier than companies that ship hardware and software. We have a couple situations where that does happen--the Google Search Appliance, some of the downloadable applications. Those get a little extra attention. Similarly, when we have larger projects like Google Android, we have a higher ceremony--every two weeks we get together and see if the license picture has changed.
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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-9952719-39.html
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