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[FYI] (Fwd) FC: French MPs propose open source software law, access
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- Subject: [FYI] (Fwd) FC: French MPs propose open source software law, access
- From: "Axel H Horns" <horns@t-online.de>
- Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 19:50:36 +0100
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------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 10:52:28 -0400
To: politech@vorlon.mit.edu
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject: FC: French MPs propose open source software law, access to source
code
Send reply to: declan@well.com
*******
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 13:45:29 +0200
From: Jean-Yves Le Déaut <jy@ledeaut.org>
To: declan@wired.com
Subject: [PR] French MPs propose to generalise the use of open
standards, access to the source code and introduce the 'right to
develop compatible software'
French MPs propose to generalise the use of open standards, access
to
the source code and introduce the "right to develop compatible
software"
Paris, 4/21/2000
For immediate release
http://www.osslaw.org
Paris, 4/21/2000 - Jean-Yves Le Déaut, Christian Paul & Pierre
Cohen, 3 socialist French MPs belonging to the governmental
majority, are proposing a law in order to "increase liberties and
consumer protection, and improve economic competition in the
information society". This law requires the use of open standards
as well as software which source code is accessible in all public
administrations and organisations. Moreover, this law guarantees
the possibility for anyone to freely develop, publish and use
compatible software, even in the case a patent or a trademark was
filed for some communication standard.
This law is based on 5 historical, juridical or constitutional
principles: free access to public information, retrievability of
public data, national security, consumer security and
interoperability.
The principle of free access to public information requires that
whenever digital data is exchanged with citizens or between public
administrations, the way this data is encoded and exchanged should
not depend on the technology of a single vendor but rather use
public encoding techniques and protocols, also known as open
communication standards. Therefore, Article 1 states that
"whenever exchanging digital information, public administrations,
organisations and agencies are required to use open communication
standards, based on public rules and processes to exchange digital
data."
The principle of retrievability of public data requires that
digital data created and archived by public administrations should
be retrievable in its original form at any point in time, even
after 10 or 20 years, even if the software which was used to
create this data is no longer maintained by its vendor. The only
way to guarantee this is to use software which source code is
available. Moreover, considering the recent advances of the
Echelon digital intelligence system, access to the source code is
also required for national security in order to ensure that
software used by public administrations and organisations do not
include security holes. Therefore, Article 2 states that "public
administrations, organisations and agencies are required to use
software which source code they can access."
In order to raise the level of competition in the information
society, this law guarantees the right to develop compatible
software. This law protects commercial publishers of proprietary
software and developer communities of free software against
anticompetitive strategies by enforcing in a practical matter the
interoperability principle introduced in the European software
directive of 1991. Therefore, Article 3 states that "any
individual or moral person has the right to develop, publish and
use an original software which is compatible whith the
communication standards of another software."
More competition means more choice for the consumer, thus more
security. And, as it has been proven lately, more competition from
free software means more open standards and higher privacy because
free software can be freely adapted, redistributed and modified to
fit each customer's needs. As a consequence, this law tends to
increase liberties and consumer protection in the information
society.
This law can be implemented immediately because most software
publishers are ready to adopt open communication standards such as
those defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Most publishers of
proprietary software, including Microsoft, have also publicly
stated that they are ready to grant the French administration
access to the source code of their products.
This law reminds that, in a market economy, States can play a
significant role on the economy and preserve the public interest.
References
Constitution française -
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/frame_constitution.htm
Directive de 1991 sur le logiciel -
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/fr/lif/dat/1991/fr_391L0250.html
Application de l'Article 19 du code des marchés industriels -
http://www.industrie.gouv.fr/biblioth/docu/dossiers/ntic/gfii/sb_g
f-22htm
Code de la propriété intellectuelle - Article L122-6-1 -
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/citoyen/code04.ow?heure=141439010341
&code=CPROINTL.rcv&f3_article=L122-6-1
About Jean-Yves Le Déaut, PhD
Jean-Yves Le Déaut, 55, is a socialist member of parliament
elected in the Meurthe-et-Moselle prefecture (Lorraine). He is the
chairman and co-chairman of the Office of Technology Assessment.
He is author of reports on nuclear energy, waste, geneticaly
modified organism, AIDS and research policy. As a professor of
University, he is national delegate for technologies at the French
Socialist Party.
http://www.ledeaut.org
About Christian Paul
Chistian Paul, 40, has been a socialist member of parliament
elected in the Nièvre prefecture (Bourgogne) from 1997. He is in
charge of the research group on new information and communication
technologies at the national parliament and organised the first
French Days on Internet. He is national secretary for agriculture
and rural development at the French Socialist Party.
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/tribun/fiches_id/2338.htm
About Pierre Cohen
Pierre Cohen , 40, has been a socialist member of parliament
elected in the Haute Garonne prefecture (Midi Pyrénées) from 1997.
He is responsible for research for the social group at the
national parliament and, together with Jean-Yves Le Déaut, wrote a
report on the French Research Policy which was provided in 1999 to
the French Prime Minister.
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/tribun/fiches_id/891.htm
Press Contact
Jean-Yves Le Déaut
Phone: 01 40 63 88 10
Email: jy@ledeaut.org
http://www.osslaw.org
http://www.ledeaut.org
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