Election calls for open source protection
Election calls for open source protection
Sep 08, 2004: The Australian Unix and open systems User Group (AUUG) are calling for more support from potential winners of the forthcoming federal election to ensure that the open source industry is protected from the US Free Trade Agreement.
Fears have been voiced recently about Australian open source development coming under attack from the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
In response to concerns, ALP senator Kate Lundy has taken a lead promising that a Labor government would change Australia's intellectual property laws where necessary to protect open source development from any threats posed by the FTA.
Now 800 members from the AUUG are calling for more all the candidates to voice the same kind of support.
The biggest worries are that the DMCA could prevent reverse engineering practices needed to meet interoperability, which makes life easier for open source developers.
The current lawsuit involving SCO Group's fight with IBM about Linux is one example of what could happen in Australia too if these fears are realised.
On the other hand, some industry experts argue that the FTA will open up Australian open source business developers to the American market, therefore possibly spurring a surge in this area of innovation.
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