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Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 13:43:16 +0200
From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Jean-Yves_Le_D=E9aut?= <jy@ledeaut.org>
To: lwn@lwn.net
Subject: [PR] French MPs propose to generalise the use of open standards, access to the source code and introduce the 'right to develop compatible software'

   French MPs propose to generalise the use of open standards, access to
       the source code and introduce the "right to develop compatible
                                 software"
   
                              Paris, 4/21/2000
   
                           For immediate release
   
                           http://www.osslaw.org
   
   Paris, 4/21/2000 - Jean-Yves Le Déaut, Christian Paul & Pierre Cohen,
   3 socialist French MPs belonging to the governmental majority, are
   proposing a law in order to "increase liberties and consumer
   protection, and improve economic competition in the information
   society". This law requires the use of open standards as well as
   software which source code is accessible in all public administrations
   and organisations. Moreover, this law guarantees the possibility for
   anyone to freely develop, publish and use compatible software, even in
   the case a patent or a trademark was filed for some communication
   standard.
   
   This law is based on 5 historical, juridical or constitutional
   principles: free access to public information, retrievability of
   public data, national security, consumer security and
   interoperability.
   
   The principle of free access to public information requires that
   whenever digital data is exchanged with citizens or between public
   administrations, the way this data is encoded and exchanged should not
   depend on the technology of a single vendor but rather use public
   encoding techniques and protocols, also known as open communication
   standards. Therefore, Article 1 states that "whenever exchanging
   digital information, public administrations, organisations and
   agencies are required to use open communication standards, based on
   public rules and processes to exchange digital data."
   
   The principle of retrievability of public data requires that digital
   data created and archived by public administrations should be
   retrievable in its original form at any point in time, even after 10
   or 20 years, even if the software which was used to create this data
   is no longer maintained by its vendor. The only way to guarantee this
   is to use software which source code is available. Moreover,
   considering the recent advances of the Echelon digital intelligence
   system, access to the source code is also required for national
   security in order to ensure that software used by public
   administrations and organisations do not include security holes.
   Therefore, Article 2 states that "public administrations,
   organisations and agencies are required to use software which source
   code they can access."
   
   In order to raise the level of competition in the information society,
   this law guarantees the right to develop compatible software. This law
   protects commercial publishers of proprietary software and developer
   communities of free software against anticompetitive strategies by
   enforcing in a practical matter the interoperability principle
   introduced in the European software directive of 1991. Therefore,
   Article 3 states that "any individual or moral person has the right to
   develop, publish and use an original software which is compatible
   whith the communication standards of another software."
   
   More competition means more choice for the consumer, thus more
   security. And, as it has been proven lately, more competition from
   free software means more open standards and higher privacy because
   free software can be freely adapted, redistributed and modified to fit
   each customer's needs. As a consequence, this law tends to increase
   liberties and consumer protection in the information society.
   
   This law can be implemented immediately because most software
   publishers are ready to adopt open communication standards such as
   those defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet
   Engineering Task Force (IETF). Most publishers of proprietary
   software, including Microsoft, have also publicly stated that they are
   ready to grant the French administration access to the source code of
   their products.
   
   This law reminds that, in a market economy, States can play a
   significant role on the economy and preserve the public interest.
   
  References
  
   Constitution française -
   http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/frame_constitution.htm
   
   Directive de 1991 sur le logiciel -
   http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/fr/lif/dat/1991/fr_391L0250.html
   
   Application de l'Article 19 du code des marchés industriels -
   http://www.industrie.gouv.fr/biblioth/docu/dossiers/ntic/gfii/sb_gf-22.htm
   
   Code de la propriété intellectuelle - Article L122-6-1 -
   http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/citoyen/code04.ow?heure=141439010341&code=CPROINTL.rcv&f3_article=L122-6-1
   
  About Jean-Yves Le Déaut, PhD
  
   Jean-Yves Le Déaut, 55, is a socialist member of parliament elected in
   the Meurthe-et-Moselle prefecture (Lorraine). He is the chairman and
   co-chairman of the Office of Technology Assessment. He is author of
   reports on nuclear energy, waste, geneticaly modified organism, AIDS
   and research policy. As a professor of University, he is national
   delegate for technologies at the French Socialist Party.
   
   http://www.ledeaut.org
   
  About Christian Paul
  
   Chistian Paul, 40, has been a socialist member of parliament elected
   in the Nièvre prefecture (Bourgogne) from 1997. He is in charge of the
   research group on new information and communication technologies at
   the national parliament and organised the first French Days on
   Internet. He is national secretary for agriculture and rural
   development at the French Socialist Party.
   
   http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/tribun/fiches_id/2338.htm
   
  About Pierre Cohen
  
   Pierre Cohen , 40, has been a socialist member of parliament elected
   in the Haute Garonne prefecture (Midi Pyrénées) from 1997. He is
   responsible for research for the social group at the national
   parliament and, together with Jean-Yves Le Déaut, wrote a report on
   the French Research Policy which was provided in 1999 to the French
   Prime Minister.
   
   http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/tribun/fiches_id/891.htm
   
  Press Contact
  
   Jean-Yves Le Déaut
   Phone: 01 40 63 88 10
   Email: jy@ledeaut.org
   
   http://www.osslaw.org
   http://www.ledeaut.org