** Apologies for cross-posting**

Dear All 

Please see below the text of the Blackboard patent pledge that was released into the Blackboard/WebCT User Community earlier today for your information. 

Louise Thorpe
Head of Academic Innovation
Learning and Teaching Institute
Sheffield Hallam University


1 February 2007 

Dear Blackboard Community, 
I am writing to share some exciting news about a patent pledge Blackboard is making today to the open source and home-grown course management community. We are announcing a legally-binding, irrevocable, world-wide pledge not to assert any of our issued or pending patents related to course management systems or transaction systems against the use, development or support of any open source or home-grown course management systems. 
We developed this pledge over several months with the help and dedication of various members of the e-Learning community, such as EDUCAUSE, Sakai and many Blackboard clients. We are very grateful for their time and counsel. Without such a thoughtful and collaborative process, this sort of unprecedented pledge for a company of our size might not have been possible. 
"We particularly welcome the inclusion of pending patents, the clarification on the commercial support, customization, hosting or maintenance of open source systems and the worldwide nature of Blackboard's pledge. We also appreciate the willingness of Blackboard to continue with frank and direct dialogue with our two organizations and with other higher education representatives and groups to work toward addressing these problems of community concern."
-Joint Statement of EDUCAUSE and Sakai Boards of Directors
"We wish to acknowledge the company's actions and express our appreciation to Blackboard in committing to continue to foster creativity and collaboration within the e-Learning community. Such a response can only benefit the teachers and practitioners, the learners, Blackboard, and indeed the wider e-Learning community."
-Australasian Council on Open, Distance and E-Learning (ACODE)
As a longstanding and leading member of the e-Learning community, we understand that Blackboard plays an important role in promoting the open exchange of ideas, collaboration and innovation. This pledge symbolizes our continued commitment to that role by agreeing not to assert U.S. Patent No. 6,988,138 and many other pending patent applications as well as their international counterparts against the development, use or distribution of open source software or home-grown course management systems anywhere in the world, to the extent that such systems are not bundled with proprietary software. This pledge also extends to the commercial support, hosting, customization and maintenance of such applications.
So those using home-grown or open source systems, professors and teachers contributing to open source projects, open source initiatives, commercially developed open source add-on applications to proprietary products and vendors hosting and supporting open source applications all are covered by this pledge. In addition, we have extended the pledge to many specifically named open source initiatives within the course and learning management system space whether or not they may include proprietary elements within their applications, including Sakai, Moodle, ATutor, Bodington and Elgg. 
We are very pleased to take this formal step which is part of a larger effort on our part to engage more deeply with the e-Learning community and help foster greater openness and interoperability. We believe the pledge and the collaboration that brought it about will support and promote new innovation and the free flow of ideas across the global e-Learning community. 
The text of the Pledge which incorporates by reference a list of frequently asked questions, as well as the announcement press release may be found on our website at www.blackboard.com/patent <http://click.blackboard-email.com/?ffcb10-fe22157172640d75721177-fdf616767660017e71107671-fefc1571706301-fec41c737c65077e-fe0415777762047f77157073> . If you have any questions about the Pledge, please contact Blackboard's Chief Legal Officer, Matthew Small, at [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> .
Thank you again for your continued partnership. 
Sincerely,
Michael Chasen
President and CEO
Blackboard Inc.