“The Qualcomm acquisition does not change how user data is processed or how we apply our open source principles,” the Arduino blog states.
The Arduino blog does not discuss the company's new terms regarding patents, which states:
The User will use the Site and Platform in accordance with these Terms and solely for the purpose of proper use of the Services. In particular, User agrees not to: … “use the Platform, Site or Services to identify or provide evidence in support of any potential patent infringement claim against Arduino, its Affiliates or any suppliers and/or direct or indirect customers of Arduino or Arduino Affiliates.
“No open source company includes language in its Terms of Service that prohibits users from identifying potential patent issues. Why was this added and who requested it?” Fried and Torrone said.
Arduino's new terms include similar language regarding user content that was in its ToS. for many years. Current terms state that users provide Arduino:
non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law… the right to use the Content published and/or updated on the Platform, and to distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, publish and make publicly available all materials, including software, libraries, text content, images, videos, comments, text, audio, software, libraries or other data (collectively “Content”) that the User posts, uploads or otherwise makes available to Arduino throughout the world using any means and for any purpose, including using any username or nickname provided in connection with the Content.
“The new language is still broad enough to permanently republish, monetize, and funnel user content into any future Qualcomm pipeline,” Torrone told Ars. He believes the new Arduino terms should have clarified Arduino's intent, narrowed the scope of the term, or explained “why it should be irrevocable and transferable at the corporate level.”
In a blog post, Arduino said the new Terms of Service “clarifies that the content you choose to publish on the Arduino platform remains yours and can be used to enable features you request, such as cloud services and collaboration tools.”
As Qualcomm works to complete its Arduino acquisition, it appears the smartphone and modem processor supplier still has a lot of work to do to convince manufacturers that Arduino's open source and privacy principles will be respected. While the Arduino IDE and its source code will remain enabled GitHub according to Open Source License AGPL-3.0, some users keep worrying about the future of Arduino under Qualcomm control.
