Introducing the Licensing team summer intern: Vinay Kumar Singh

Hi, I'm Vinay! I'm studying Law (LL.B.) with a focus on copyright, patents, and trademarks at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. Prior to starting law school, I worked in the IT service industry for around four years and completed a certificate in IT Project Management at IIT Bombay after receiving my B.Tech in Computer Science Engineering. I have a keen interest in data analytics, critical reasoning, and decision making.

As a computer science graduate and a law student, I am naturally drawn to reading the licenses for the software I install. In fact, what initially attracted me to free software was comparing the terms of different free software licenses and, in general, thinking critically about the different approaches taken by licenses to carry freedom to users while also acknowledging necessary tradeoffs.

At the FSF I'm working as an intern with the Licensing Team. My current project aligns perfectly with my interests — I am helping analyze and categorize various software licenses, with the goal of producing a simple, clear, and visually appealing way for users to quickly learn the basics about any given free software license. So far, it's been great fun working on this project and with Josh (FSF Licensing & Compliance Manager), who has helped me to better understand the complex terminology used within software licenses.

More information about the FSF's internship program is available at https://www.fsf.org/volunteer/internships.