X-Git-Url: https://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/0148f50dce3e3bfbf35c68cfe2618be18663ac2b..463fa3b15e58d12069ee128f45558dca24dade56:/blog/archive/2012/04/index.html diff --git a/blog/archive/2012/04/index.html b/blog/archive/2012/04/index.html index 95be7a55c4..7782380e78 100644 --- a/blog/archive/2012/04/index.html +++ b/blog/archive/2012/04/index.html @@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ programvare i Norge der i år. Kommer du?

Skolelinux there are a lot of people doing the hard work of setting together all the pieces. This time I present to you Andreas Mundt, who have been part of the technical development team several -years. We was also a key contributor in getting GOsa and Kerberos set +years. He was also a key contributor in getting GOsa and Kerberos set up in the recently released Debian Edu Squeeze version.

@@ -487,6 +487,69 @@ til DUO...

+
+
+ RAND terms - non-reasonable and discriminatory +
+
+ 19th April 2012 +
+
+

Here in Norway, the + Ministry of +Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs is behind +a directory of +standards that are recommended or mandatory for use by the +government. When the directory was created, the people behind it made +an effort to ensure that everyone would be able to implement the +standards and compete on equal terms to supply software and solutions +to the government. Free software and non-free software could compete +on the same level.

+ +

But recently, some standards with RAND +(Reasonable +And Non-Discriminatory) terms have made their way into the +directory. And while this might not sound too bad, the fact is that +standard specifications with RAND terms often block free software from +implementing them. The reasonable part of RAND mean that the cost per +user/unit is low,and the non-discriminatory part mean that everyone +willing to pay will get a license. Both sound great in theory. In +practice, to get such license one need to be able to count users, and +be able to pay a small amount of money per unit or user. By +definition, users of free software do not need to register their use. +So counting users or units is not possible for free software projects. +And given that people will use the software without handing any money +to the author, it is not really economically possible for a free +software author to pay a small amount of money to license the rights +to implement a standard when the income available is zero. The result +in these situations is that free software are locked out from +implementing standards with RAND terms.

+ +

Because of this, when I see someone claiming the terms of a +standard is reasonable and non-discriminatory, all I can think of is +how this really is non-reasonable and discriminatory. Because free +software developers are working in a global marked, it does not really +help to know that software patents are not supposed to be enforceable +in Norway. The patent regimes in other countries affect us even here. +I really hope the people behind the standard directory will pay more +attention to these issues in the future.

+ +

You can find more on the issues with RAND, FRAND and RAND-Z terms +from Simon Phipps +(RAND: +Not So Reasonable?).

+ +
+
+ + + Tags: english, multimedia, nuug, standard, video. + + +
+
+
+

RSS Feed