SSSCA and W3C RAND would Outlaw Open Source Software

Warren Togami warren at togami.com
Mon Oct 15 21:14:35 PDT 2001


http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/10/15/011015opsource.xml

This is an excellent, succinct article describing why both the SSSCA bill
and W3C RAND proposal are threats to OSS and freedom in America.  This
writer has the best quote, "Yes, in the land of the free, free software may
be forbidden."


Troublesome Horizon
by Russel Pavlicek <pavlicek at linuxprofessionalsolutions.com>

RECENTLY, TWO major initiatives on the horizon have troubled many
open-source users and creators, especially in the United States.

The first item of concern for much of the open-source community is the
proposal by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to explore the use of
royalty patents on Web standards. The proposed use of these RAND (Reasonable
and Non-Discriminatory) patents may provide some protection for the
standards, but they will have at least one serious side effect: They will
make open-source implementations of these standards impossible.

Why? The very definition of open-source software licensing states "the
license may not require a royalty or other fee" to use the software. The
very existence of these RAND royalty payments will directly discriminate
against open-source software.

Why does this matter? Simple: Open source powers a significant portion of
the Web. According to the September 2001 Netcraft survey, approximately 60
percent of the Web -- more than 19 million servers -- are powered by the
open-source Apache Web server. About 30 percent of all computers hosting Web
sites run the Linux operating system, another key open-source offering. Any
change that threatens the stability of so much of the Web better have a
tremendous upside. So far, I have yet to hear of anything quite so
momentous.

The second matter causing grief to many is the United States' proposed SSSCA
(Security Systems Standards and Certification Act). On the surface, this
bill appears to simply guard the rights of copyright holders by denying
pirates the ability to make illegal copies of electronic information.
Unfortunately, it is much more than that.

The SSSCA will insist that all digital devices -- computers, handhelds, and
more -- be equipped with federally specified "digital rights management"
technology. This technology will enable data providers to decide how you may
use the CDs, DVDs, and other media you purchase.

But most critical to the open-source community is the demand that all
devices must use this technology. That means that open-source systems must
also implement this feature or become illegal in the United States. Yes, in
the land of the free, free software may be forbidden.

But why not just implement the controls under open source? How? Even if the
government were to publish the code to do so, with open-source software
someone could always edit the operating system source code so it does not
call the controlling routines. This will obviously be illegal under the
provisions of the new law.

So when you hear about open-source people objecting to the proposed W3C
rules or ranting about the SSSCA legislation, do not assume they are merely
leftist nutcases trying to subvert the rights of copyright owners. They are
not. They are, however, fighting against proposals that may damage the
structure of the Internet by crippling or destroying open-source software
use.

It is one thing to protect the rights of copyright owners, but it is
something else to make freedom illegal while doing so. There must be a
better way.



More information about the LUAU mailing list