The World Assembly,
Defining Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) as software which is both:
- 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:
- commercial (i.e. for profit), purposes, and
- purposes which may be illegal in other jurisdictions, with the exception of those illegal under international law, and
- 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:
- Requires that all member nations:
- recognize and protect the right of individuals and entities to, for any legal purpose:
- access any and all FOSS,
- run FOSS as they wish, on computer systems where they are legally entitled to,
- study and modify FOSS,
- distribute original and modified copies of FOSS, and
- 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
- Strongly Recommends that all member nations criminalize the act of intentionally acting against legal activities involving FOSS, including any listed above.
