Organisation
What does OSE offer?
As long as conflicts of interest exist between business partners over digital assets, escrow services will remain essential. The rise of new technologies continues to drive the creation and use of digital assets, further increasing the demand for escrow solutions.
In this context, ongoing dialogue and the exchange of experience among escrow service providers are becoming increasingly important. OSE plays a key role as both a representative body and a platform for discussion. Its events and professional network help members share knowledge, gain insights, and benefit from one another’s experience.
OSE supports its members by helping to safeguard IT and software investments, promoting the development of standards, and contributing to the creation of a reliable legal framework. Through these efforts—alongside public relations and marketing activities—OSE continues to raise the profile of software escrow services.
Association goals
The purpose of the association is to comprehensively promote software escrow (i.e. the deposit of source code), with a focus on representing the interests of both users and providers of escrow services, as well as consulting firms working in this area.
Our core goals are:
Clarification
Marketing
To represent members’ interests and raise awareness of software escrow through presentations, PR efforts, and marketing partnerships.
Standards
To develop industry-wide standards that ensure consistently high-quality escrow services among member companies.
Legal security
To promote the development of an appropriate legal framework and help establish legal certainty in the field.
The Board of Directors
The Board of OSE currently consists of four elected members:
Stephan Peters
Christian R. Kast
Stephan Peters
- Co-founder and Managing Partner, Deposix Software Escrow GmbH (Munich) and Deposix Software Escrow LLC (California)
- Former VP for Business Development at WebToGo GmbH
- Consulting experience at Booz Allen & Hamilton, Accenture, and as a freelance IT consultant in South America (e.g., Höchst, Mercedes Benz)
Training & Contact
- MBA (Master of Business Administration), Columbia Business School, 2001, NY
- Dipl.-Informatiker (FH), European Business School, 1992, Frankfurt/London/San Diego
Function in the association:
Chairman
Contact details:
stephan.peters(at)deposix.de
+49-89-189-1255-0
Dr. Philipp Süss, LL.M.
- Partner at Reed Smith LLP (Munich), member of the firm’s Entertainment & Media Industry Group
- Over 20 years of experience in IT, cloud, AI, IoT, e-commerce, data protection, and cross-border commercial law
- Clients include global tech corporations, SMEs, startups, and incubators
- Also active in aviation law and international arbitration
- Member of Reed Smith’s Russia and Israel business teams
- Frequent speaker at industry conferences
Training & Contact
Dr. jur., Universität Bonn, 1998
Master of Laws Degree (LL.M.), King’s College London, 1997
Law faculties of the Universities of Bonn and Marburg
Function in the association:
Deputy Chairman
Contact details:
psuess(at)reedsmith.com
+49 (0)89 20304 151
Christian Kast
- Specialist IT lawyer at Anwaltscontor Munich (since 1996)
- Former Associate at Noerr (Berlin)
- Regional Representative for Bavaria, German Bar Association’s IT Law Section (davit)
Training & Contact
- Legal clerkship and 2nd state examination in Munich
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Function in the association:
Member of the Executive Board
Contact details:
kast(at)anwaltscontor.de
+49-89-189-3537-10
Christian Weitzel
Partner at HSW Rechtsanwälte
Specialist in IT and corporate law
- Holds degrees in both law and computer science
- 10 years of in-house experience with an international tech company
- Also serves as a supervisory board member and managing director
Training & Contact
- Studied computer science at the University of Hagen (1986 – 1990)
- Studied law at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, worked as a lecturer and gained a doctorate (1985 – 1997)
- Lawyer at Blume, Issleib and Rack in Frankfurt (1997 – 1998)
- Various positions at the international technology group Giesecke+Devrient in Munich (1998 – 2009)
- Lawyer and partner as well as head of the IT law practice group at the Munich office of Büsing, Müffelmann & Theye (2009 – 2020)
- Lawyer at HARDER Rechtsanwälte (2020 – 2022)
- Founding partner of the law firm HSW Rechtsanwälte (since 2022)
Function in the association:
Member of the board
Contact details:
HSW Rechtsanwälte
Maximilianstraße 38
D-80539 München
weitzel(at)hsw.law
+49 (0)89 2870070
More information
OSE Summer Talk
Annual summer event held in Berlin.
OSE Symposium
Annual event each January in Munich.
Software Escrow
Learn more about what escrow means.
Five Reasons to Join OSE
OSE membership offers real value:
- Escrow solutions protect and secure your investments.
- They build trust between partners.
- They support quality assurance in digital services.
OSE helps members by:
- Developing and promoting escrow standards.
- Shaping the legal landscape around software escrow.
- Improving the quality of escrow solutions.
- Providing guidance for advisors on how to present and apply escrow in practice.
- Offering insights on the best timing to introduce escrow in contract negotiations.
Membership Categories & Fees
(per calendar year)
Category 1
Law Firms & Companies- Full membership for up to 5 named members.
Category 2
Universities & Institutions- Membership for up to 3 named members.
Category 3
Law Firms & Companies (Limited)- Membership for up to 2 named members.
Category 4
Individual Practitioners- Single-person membership
- (e.g., lawyers, experts).
Category 5
Trainees, Students, Apprentices- Limited to 3 years; membership automatically transitions to Category 4 thereafter.
Category 4
Lawyers and individual lawyers, experts, individuals- Only the member himself can utilise the benefits of membership.
Category 5
Trainee lawyers, students and apprentices- Against proof; only the member himself can use the benefits of membership, for a maximum of 3 years, after which he is automatically categorised in category 4.
Apply for Membership
To become a member of Organisation pro Software Escrow e.V., please complete the application form and email it to:
info(at)ose-international.org
Get in touch with us
Organisation pro Software Escrow e.V.
Innere Wiener Straße 11a, 81667 München
+49 176 44 20 59 58
info(at)ose-international.org
