Closed Is New Open: Software Industry Bends Standards

“The tide has now turned. An FSFE analysis recently discovered a
leaked internal EIF draft that relied heavily on a document issued
by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The BSA lobbying
organization includes among its members large companies that stand
to gain from proprietary software, such as Microsoft, Apple and
SAP, but also IBM, Adobe, Dell, HP, Intel and a few others.

“Apparently the industry, which fears losing large contracts
with taxpayer funded agencies, is lobbying against open software.
The new EIF draft is therefore worded to suggest that
interoperability will not only be achieved through openness, but
through homogeneity. Decrypted, this means, “if everybody uses the
same closed source software, interoperability will be preserved.”
Translated further: let’s preserve the quasi monopoly status
quo.

“Another buzzword is “openness continuum,”…”

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