Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Congressman Under Fire for Attack on Free Software

"Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., was criticized Wednesday by the chairman of a House technology committee for an attack on the free software movement.

"A bipartisan group of lawmakers had written a letter urging White House computer security adviser Richard Clarke to find sales opportunities for government-funded software projects. The letter had no mention of the issue of free software, also known as open-source or General Public License (GPL) software.

"But when Smith, whose biggest political contributor is Microsoft, began circulating the letter to his fellow Democrats asking for their signatures, he added his own correspondence saying the free software philosophy is 'problematic and threaten(s) to undermine innovation and security...'"

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• NewsForge: Washington State Congressman Attempts to Outlaw GPL(Oct 23, 2002)
• InfoWorld: We, The Open People(Sep 21, 2002)
• CNET News: Open Source's New Weapon: The Law?(Aug 10, 2002)