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'Open Source' Software Concerns In Europe
by Winter Casey
More use of "open source" software in the European Union could increase the region's competitiveness, according to a final report commissioned by the European Commission and released last week. It is attracting attention from the technology community.
The study focuses on the economic impact of open-source software on the European information and communication technologies sector. Such software lets people "use, study, change and improve its design through the availability of its source code and the right to distribute the changed program."
The report, conducted by a research consortium led by the United Nations University's Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Center, recommends that Europe increase its investment in open-source software. The report advocates a series of policy strategies that seek to correct "current policies and practices that implicitly or explicitly favor proprietary software."
For example, the report proposes that free open-source software should not be penalized "in innovation and [research and development] incentives, public R&D funding and public software procurement that is currently often anti-competitive."
Lauren Weinstein, a co-founder of the People for Internet Responsibility, a coalition aimed at helping individuals have a voice in issues that affect the Internet, said he thinks the policy points are reasonable. But he also noted that "open-source software is not in and of itself a magic wand that will create high-quality software, unless rigorous quality control and testing regimes are in place, along with an appropriate development structure."
Weinstein added that "while the open-source model has definite advantages over commercial software in many contexts ... it is not necessarily the case that the software will be high quality, more secure, etc."
The responses to the study's findings highlight the tension between open-source and propriety software proponents, and whether governments should favor one option over another.
Hugo Lueders, director of the Initiative for Software Choice, said his group has sent a letter to the European Commission "requesting that the record be set straight by reaffirming that the commission's official policy toward software development" is technology neutral and unbiased.
The report's recommendations are "highly contradictory," Lueders said in a statement.
The report recommends supporting open source "in pre-competitive research and standardization." If "your economy's tech sector is in many ways small and emerging, the problems of lock-in and barriers to entry are much larger" and open-source software "offers an obvious solution," said Will Rodger, director of public policy at the Computer and Communications Industry Association.
The 287-page report also recommends encouraging students to participate in open-source-like communities. Rodger said governments should not promote the goods and services of specific vendors, but they also do not necessarily need to encourage participation in open-source communities as the "market can and does deliver the goods."
And Morgan Reed, executive director at the Association for Competitive Technology, said "in a sense, the study is saying 'End Europe's dependence on U.S. tech and drill more at home.'" ACT said it will dedicate a Web log series solely to analyzing the report by section.
Also in Europe, the European Commission is seeking feedback on how to best safeguard electronic networks from terrorist attacks or natural hazards. The call for comment on the issue came with the release of a report that assessed the reliability and robustness of EU electronic communications networks.
It recommended 10 "key actions" that the commission, EU nations and private firms should take to improve security, including emergency exercises and drills and establishing "mutual aid" deals among operators and service providers.
Yahoo Accused Of Copyright Violations
A group of Belgian newspapers has accused Yahoo of copyright violations and has asked the company to remove links to the newspapers' archived stories on its search service.
Copiepresse, a copyright protection group representing French- and German-language newspapers, has accused Yahoo of offering free access to archived articles that the papers usually sell on a subscription basis through cached search-engine links.
"Copiepresse has contacted us regarding the display of archived results on our Web search service, and we will respond in an appropriate manner," said Jim Cullinan, Yahoo's director of public relations.
He said "Yahoo respects the copyright of content owners" and noted that the company's commercial agreements include third-party content in its news section. Cullinan also highlighted the fact that Yahoo is a founding member of the Open Content Alliance, which seeks to provide open access to content while respecting the rights of copyright holders.
Yahoo is not the first company Copiepresse has targeted with legal accusations.
According to Google's blog, in August 2006 the company was sued by Copiepresse for allegedly breaching the copyrights of publications through its search engine and news site. "In September, a court ruled in favor of Copiepresse and ordered us to remove these publishers' content" from Google, according to the blog.
Google said the case "goes to the heart of how search engines work: Showing snippets of text and linking users to the Web sites where the information resides is what makes them so useful. And after all, it's not just users that benefit from these links but publishers do, too -- because we drive huge amounts of Web traffic to their sites."
Google added that if publishers do not want their sites to appear in search results, the companies can prevent them from being automatically indexed. A judge is expected to rule this month on an appeal by Google.
China Seeks Foreign Talent
China wants more talented people from overseas to enhance its relationship with the world and its quest to develop more frontier technologies, said Li Weiping, director of the Talent Strategy Research Office in China's Ministry of Personnel.
China needs more of "those able to promote [science and technology] progress, ameliorate social development and increase China's innovative capacity," Li said in an interview posted on China's government-authorized news portal.
The country also is seeking "those who have significant technological inventions and have patents of their independent intellectual property rights," Li said. "China urgently needs a large group of high-level management professionals in finance, law and trade."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance on March 1 will begin eliminating tariff exemptions on 192 types of equipment -- including electronic devices -- that are imported for use in Chinese-invested projects, according to China's Xinhua News Agency.
And China Daily reported that Cao Jianming, vice president of the Supreme People's Court, said last week that international intellectual property rights laws will take precedence in Chinese domestic cases even if they differ from domestic laws.
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