random notes

EUROPEAN OPEN SOURCE AND SOFTWARE LAW EVENT

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The objectives of the group are the dissemination of reliable legal information, the constitution of an open network of FLOSS experts and the organization of a yearly event. EOLE started from the observation that, despite the importance of the Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) development, and in spite of the fact that the whole movement relied on an outstanding and subversive use of copyright, information on the legal aspects of FLOSS licensing was lacking or imprecise, especially in Europe
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Just over a year ago, the Piedmont Regional Council passed a law providing that: "the Region, in the process of choosing computer programs to acquire, prefers free software and programs whose source code can be inspected by the licensee". Whereas this choice was welcomed with enthusiasm by Free Software supporters and civil society, the Presidency of the Italian Council of Minister contested this law, by referring to the Constitutional Court in order to declare it unlawful. On 23 March 2010, the Court ruled that the preference for Free Software is legitimate and complies with the principle of freedom of competition. The Court clarified that “The concepts of Free Software and software whose code can be inspected do not refer to a particular technology, brand or product, but they rather express a legal feature".
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* Passing laws in favor of FLOSS: how far is it possible and constitutional?
* FLOSS and public procurement regulations compliance.
* How should calls for tenders be drafted in order to not discriminate against FLOSS?
* FLOSS licensing and E-government.
* The use of FLOSS in public on-line services.
* Government licensing their own software: practical cases and specific questions.
* Public sector software distribution: is it fair competition with private sector?
* Combining FLOSS licensing policy and a restricted circle of quality providers, is it possible?
* The European Commission and Member states interoperability strategy (the role of FLOSS and open standards in public sector ICT).
* The ISA program and the harmonization of FLOSS best practices in Europe.
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... well the legal issue of open software ...
... has mainly to do with distribution ...
... whereas some distributions provide indemnification ...
... and are available for smaller entities ...
... while at the opposite large government organizations ...
... would recur to self-insurance as they do for anything else ...
... eventually it should be the private software industry ...
... that should provide significant discounts ...
... to entities self-insured ...

... source code that permits inspection ...
... is a good step ...
... however as in the situation of the bullet and the gun ...
... is not the "whole" issue ...
... eventually it should also be werever possible ...
... such as for "non specialized" "non niche" applications ...
... as basic graphic, office software and operating systems ...
... even more stringent ...
... not "only" the source code ...
... but the "environment" included permitting to compile running binaries from scratch ...
... it should be a whole package ...
... the purpose is to permit modifications ...

... at the difference of what US cleptocrats think ...
... source code is not an appliance ...
... but is simply a sequence of mathematical instructions ...
... therefore as useful as a math book ...
... now most (but not all) understand that mathematics should not be patented ...
... however when it comes to genetics and software the wall street sharks ...
... take advantage of their market status ...
... to impose the unfair and the illegal ...
... under any possible logic of law ...
... copyright is good enough for all those activities ...
... otherwise as paradoxical it may seem ...
... you may have to write your own language ...
... and change name every once in a while ...
... because they will kill your freedom of speech ...
... "patenting" all the terms that permit dissent to the cleptocrats ...
... and destroy your identity ...
... patenting your name ...
:)