SAFE announces the release of CodeSuite 4.0 that includes CodeCLOC for measuring how software evolves across versions of code. CodeCLOC uses the same algorithms that were implemented in CodeMeasure and that were developed for the landmark software transfer pricing case Symantec v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Jimmy Winkelmann, a freshman biomedical engineering student at the University of Missouri, decided to create his very own line of sportswear and called his company The South Butt (motto: Never Stop Relaxing). The North Face, a San Leandro, California-based outdoor products company, was not amused.

SAFE Corporation is looking for partners in academia and industry to create a database of purposely plagiarized code to be known as the Depository of Universal Plagiarism Examples or DUPE. Plagiarism detection programs would be run on DUPE to determine which programs best detected copying. Statistics about plagiarized code would be gathered in order to improve the plagiarism detection programs.

The digital computer is usually credited as the invention of two professors at the University of Pennsylvania, J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly. Funded by the United States Army, the ENIAC computer was designed to calculate tables for launching artillery shells accurately in World War II, but was not completed until after the war in 1946. Unlike earlier computers that had a fixed purpose, ENIAC (meaning “Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer”) could be reprogrammed to handle many different purposes. But were Eckert and Mauchly really the pioneers of today’s modern digital age?

There were a number of large lawsuits involving software IP in 2009. We know that CodeSuite was used in many of them (because of protective orders, we don’t know all the cases where CodeSuite was used).

When a legal case is argued in front of a jury, both sides’ experts present their facts and the truth becomes apparent, right? Of course not–if it were that simple, experts and lawyers would not have much to do.

If you have a research idea relating to code analysis, and you can use the SAFE tools, let us know. If your proposal passes our review process you’ll get free licenses to our tools, free support, and help getting your results published.

The precise language that legally defines a trade secret varies by jurisdiction, as do the particular types of information that are subject to trade secret protection. In the United States, different states have different trade secret laws. Most states have adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, and those that don’t, have laws that only differ by subtle differences.

You have the source code from two different programs. You run them through CodeMatch and find high correlation numbers. Have you proven copying? Not yet. There are still a few steps to go through first.

More confirmation that IP theft is hurting businesses. In this issue I discuss the report from the Ponemon Institute that echoes those numbers and gives some interesting (perhaps scary) statistics.