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Election 2006 (and beyond): Digital Copyright Canada

Free/Libre Software and Community Networking FORUM

Is the UCITA good for Open Source Software

From: russell_-at-_flora.ottawa.on.ca (Russell McOrmond)
Date: 6 Jul 1999 16:20:03 -0400

  While I do not agree with this author when it comes to things such as
reverse engineering, it does address some thoughts at a different level.
Some of the 'who to sue' will become much more obvious when customers
realizing that they have much more reliable service with an Open Source
product than a propriatary one.

---
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://russell.flora.org/work/>
 Take the Proprietary vs Free Software challenge?   Do proprietary
   vendors offer any advantages to the consumer?
     http://www.flora.org/flora.comnet-www/1491

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Why the UCITA is good for Open Source Software

Thanks to Scott E. Regener  for this link.

Scott E. Regener believes it could help Open Source Software...

"As many of you now know, a new law called the Uniform Computer
Information Transactions Act (UCITA) is being considered. This law would
go to great lengths to decrease the rights of end users and increase the
rights of the software companies producing the software. Included in this
act are provisions that would allow a company to 1) remove all
responsibility for bugs, including known ones; 2) allow the producer of
the software to remotely disable programs when they believe the license
has been violated; 3) remove all legal protections from the user for
damages maliciously caused by a product."

"UCITA is being fought by a great many people from a great many different
backgrounds. People are fighting it for different reasons. Whenever a new
law is passed, especially one that changes the structure of business,
there are winners and losers. Few argue that commercial software users
would be harmed by this act. Most think the gains would go to the
commercial software developers. It is my belief that both commerical
software users and producers would be harmed by this act."

http://linuxtoday.com/stories/7344.html

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