| Submission to Australia 2020 ---------------------------- Dr Andrew Tridgell Samba Team Over the last decade FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) has progressed from being something that only hobbyists are interested in to now being a major part of the IT industry. Free software now powers many of the worlds largest computing systems, is essential for much of the core infrastructure of the Internet and is at the heart of a huge number of consumer devices. The rise of the use of FOSS in the IT industry is without doubt a revolutionary force that will have a huge impact on the way that society interacts with computers into the future. The question that I would like addressed by the Australia 2020 summit is what can be done to ensure that Australia can benefit to the maximum degree possible from this change in the IT world. In my own view the keys areas that need to be looked at for Australia to take full advantage of FOSS are: - patent and copyright reform - encouraging the use of FOSS in schools - open source licensing of software developed with public funds - platform neutrality of government generated documents and IT resources The overall aim should be the removal of impediments to the use of FOSS in Australia. In the area of patent reform, the key is to fix the serious problems in the patent system which currently punish innovation by open source and proprietary developers alike. We must solve the problem of independent invention, ensuring that it is recognised as a positive, rather than being punished as it is now. We must remove the threat of patent trolls, and prevent the manipulation of the patent system to the detriment of society. This is no small task. Copyright law also needs serious reform, especially in preventing the abuse of copyright law in an anti-competitive fashion through a misapplication of DMCA-like laws and the use of DRM technologies. The sections of the IT industry which have sought to manipulate these laws for their own anti-competitive and anti-consumer ends need to be stood up to, ensuring that consumer interests are not squashed by corporate greed. We need to break the Microsoft hegemony in Australian schools, by supporting schools that choose to deploy FOSS solutions. That can be achieved by creating a national center to support the use of FOSS in schools. We must ensure that software that is developed using taxpayer funds is not lost to commercial interests, but is instead made available to all Australians through the use of appropriate FOSS licenses. This will help to reduce duplicate software development efforts, and ensure that the maximum benefit for all Australians is achieved. We must ensure that Australian governments do not perpetuate vendor lock-in, by ensuring that government generated documents are usable on all computing platforms, not just those of a single vendor. Similarly we must ensure that government web sites use standards based technologies that are available on all platforms, including FOSS platforms. |
Last modified: Wednesday, 9 April 2008, 11:23 AM