[GA - DEFEATED] Protecting Free, Open Source Software Use

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Chipoli

Vice Delegate
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Protecting Free, Open Source Software Use
Category: Free Trade | Strength: Significant
Proposed by: Clever Homo Sapiens | Onsite Topic


The World Assembly,

Defining Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) as software which is both:
  1. Free of cost and largely free of restrictions in regards to anything performed on, for, or with the software (such as its usage, modification, and distribution), including both:
    1. commercial (i.e. for profit), purposes, and
    2. purposes which may be illegal in other jurisdictions, with the exception of those illegal under international law, and
  2. Open source, or its programming is available in its entirety and easily accessible to/for all members of the public without restriction, except in regards to regulations on the editing of the master copy of the software to ensure its quality,
Recognizing that many integral components of everyday life, including, but not limited to, digital stores of information and various forms of telecommunications, are at least partially dependent on FOSS,

Acknowledging that without FOSS, many of the above constituents of modern life may never have come about,

Concerned that such an acknowledgment does not go nearly far enough to encourage and repay developers and other supporters of FOSS, protect their ability to freely contribute to FOSS, or protect the ability of others to use and otherwise perform actions with/to FOSS,

Hereby:
  1. Requires that all member nations:
    1. recognize and protect the right of individuals and entities to, for any legal purpose:
      1. access any and all FOSS,
      2. run FOSS as they wish, on computer systems where they are legally entitled to,
      3. study and modify FOSS,
      4. distribute original and modified copies of FOSS, and
    2. establish a legal framework in which the owners and/or developers of FOSS can exercise limited rights granted by copyright law over their software to ensure the software and its derivatives remain free and open source to the maximum possible extent, and
  2. Strongly Recommends that all member nations criminalize the act of intentionally acting against legal activities involving FOSS, including any listed above.
Note: Only votes from TNP WA nations and NPA personnel will be counted. If you do not meet these requirements, please add (non-WA) or something of that effect to your vote.
Voting Instructions:
  • Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
  • Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
  • Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
  • Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.
Detailed opinions with your vote are appreciated and encouraged!


ForAgainstAbstainPresent
31301
 
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IFV

Overview

Protecting Free, Open Source Software use seeks to enshrine the right of legal entities and individuals to access, modify, run and/or distribute open source software while simultaneously allowing creators of open source software the ability to ensure that their software and any reasonable derivative remains free.

Recommendation

While the intent of this resolution is admirable, the Ministry of WA Affairs notes that it includes commercial software in its definition of free software. This is troublesome in that it the resolution little effort to address the intellectual property and trademark issues that would arise from the inclusion of commercially produced software. The ministry further believes that the resolution limits its scope hinders its ability to effectively legislate on the topic of open source software.

For the above reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote Against the General Assembly Resolution at vote, "Protecting Free, Open Source Software".
 
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Against. This breaks the convention set (in real life) by the Free Software Foundation, ie GPL etc.
 
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Against

This is a cause that I'm definitely in favour of, but I have issues regarding the definition of FOSS as well as some of the later clauses. This could be re-drafted into something passable.
 
"Protecting Free, Open Source Software Use" was defeated 11,603 (75.2%) votes to 3,825 (24.8%).
 
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