OSRM Founder Named One of Fifty Most Influential Individuals in Technology

NEW YORK, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/-- Open Source Risk Management (OSRM), the only vendor-neutral provider of Open Source risk mitigation and warranty solutions, today announced that OSRM founder and chairman Daniel Egger was designated "one of the 50 most influential individuals in tech," voted by a panel of industry leaders as one of 2004's Agenda Setters. This Silicon.com-sponsored poll identifies and ranks individuals based on their "global influence, longevity and decision-making prowess."

Alongside industry notables like Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and Linus Torvalds, Egger was voted onto this list by a group of panelists seeking to identify "the driving forces in the tech industry" who would "play a key role over the next year and remain influential long after." Specifically, Egger was chosen for his "role in fighting patents" on behalf of open source, and commended for helping "keep the momentum going for open source adoption in the enterprise ... in a year when software patent disputes threaten to bring down open source."

"I'm honored to be included on a list with such distinguished members of the tech community," said Egger. "Our goal in founding OSRM was to help maintain the vitality of the open source movement by providing the necessary risk-management and risk-shifting. We're thrilled that this panel understands the importance of the issue, and is acknowledging the strength of OSRM's efforts."

OSRM provides risk mitigation consulting and indemnification services for open source users, and, earlier this year, announced results of two legal studies related to the Linux kernel. First, OSRM conducted a six-month examination of the individual software files in the Linux kernel, and found the Linux kernel free of source code that could result in a meritorious copyright infringement claim. Additionally, OSRM conducted and released results of the first-ever evaluation of potential patent infringement by the Linux kernel. This study, announced at LinuxWorld San Francisco 2004, found that no court-validated software patent is infringed by the Linux kernel; but that, 283 issued but not yet court-validated software patents that, if upheld as valid by the courts, could potentially be used to support patent claims against Linux. In response to these findings, OSRM announced plans to offer insurance to cover copyright and patent claims against the Linux kernel. More information about this award can be found at http://www.siliconagendasetters.com . About Open Source Risk Management

Supported by top Open Source leaders and intellectual property (IP) legal experts, Open Source Risk Management (OSRM) is the industry's only vendor- neutral provider of risk mitigation, indemnification, and management services for enterprise Open Source users. OSRM helps organizations assess potential legal risks around their use of Open Source software, and design risk mitigation solutions based on a set of best practice protocols. Additionally, OSRM provides indemnification for legal claims against Open Source, by underwriting copyright and patent coverage through its affiliates, for the Linux kernel versions 2.4 and 2.6. Through its Open Source Legal Defense Center, OSRM also works in tandem with highly specialized software IP lawyers to offer coordinated legal defense services. For more information, please visit http://www.osriskmanagement.com . Contact:

Karen Duffin

Bite Communications for OSRM

t: 415-365-0459

e: karen.duffin@bitepr.com This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit

http://www.ereleases.com.