unravelling the myth around open source licences - IViR

has not been included in this study, as it would go beyond its scope. 108 Important developments in
this area, however, will be discussed below. Incidentally, the use of open source software is generally
associated with the use of open standards, standards which, simply put, can be used by anyone.
While the reason for using either open source software or open standards is often the same, open
standards need to be distinguished from open source software. In the context of this study, only
open source software will be discussed.
International context
A number of surveys of legislative bills and regulations that are meant to stimulate the use of
open source software by various governments around the world have been conducted. 109 Among
others Australia, Brazil, China, Italy, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Venezuela and Peru are taking
measures on a national, municipal, or local level encouraging or requiring the use of open source
software. France and Germany have made statements expressing their preference for the use of open
source software by their respective governments. 110 In Munich the city council on 28 May 2003 went
as far as to decide to exclusively use Linux on all desktops and laptops.
National governments of a number of countries value the use of open source software for
stimulating the growth of Third World countries. Consequently, UNCTAD has devoted a separate
chapter of its ‘E-commerce and development Report 2003’ on the implications of free and open
source software for ICT policy and development. During the World Summit on the Information
Society of the United Nations and the International Telecommunication Union, attention was paid
to this aspect of open source software as well. 111
Europe
On a European level there does not exist a set of concrete rules and regulations with respect to
the use of open source software. One of the policy objectives of the e-European action plan 2002
has been ‘to (p)romote the use of open source software in the public sector and e-government best
practice through exchange of experiences across the Union (through the IST and IDA
programmes)’. 112 These aims have been reiterated in the e-Europe action plan of 2005. 113 In light of
this European policy, various research projects, ordered by the European Commission, have been
conducted on open source software. 114
As a result of these efforts, the bureau for the Interchange of Data between Administrations
(IDA) recently published the Open Source Migration Guidelines, an extensive document that
108 See however: Center for Strategic and International Studies, Government Open Source Policies, Federal Policy and Open Source
Software, 13 December 2004, available at: http://www.csis.org/tech/OpenSource/0408_ospolicies.pdf.
109 Evans and Reddy 2003, pp. 371 and further. Also see Schmidt & Schnitzer 2003; Fitzgerald 2002, p. 7; and Suzor, Fitzgerald and
Basset 2003. See MITRE, ‘Use of Free and Open-Source Software in the U.S. Department of Defense” at
http://www.egovos.org/pdf/dodfoss.pdf for an American policy document on the use of open source software in the U.S.
Department of Defense.
110 The French government has placed a publication in the French and English language on the internet educating the public on
which licenses to choose, see ATICA, Guide to choosing and using free software licenses for government and public sector entities, at
http://www.adae.pm.gouv.fr/upload/documents/free_software_guide.pdf.
111 See United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, E-commerce and development Report 2003, at
http://r0.unctad.org/ecommerce/, and consideration 27 of the Declaration of Principles Building the Information Society: a
global challenge in the new Millennium, WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/4-E 12 December 2003.
112 See An Information Society for All, Action Plan prepared by the Council and the European Commission for the Feira European Council 19-20
June 2000, Brussels 14 June 2000, p. 23.
113 See eEurope 2005: An information society for all, an Action Plan to be presented in view of the Sevilla European Council, 21/22 June 2002,
Brussels 28 May 2002, COM(2002) 263 def., especially pp. 10-11, 16 and 18.
114 Evans and Reddy 2003, pp. 372-373.
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