[ Thanks to renai43 for this link.
]
“Firstly, outlawing free software in the United States of
America wouldn’t really have any effect on the free software
movement, or Microsoft. Free software is developed worldwide in a
collaborative effort, and outlawing it in one single country will
have no long term effect upon the international software market.
Microsoft doesn’t only operate in the United States, and would
still have to compete in every other market with free
software.”
“In fact, you would have a situation where the American
policymakers would quickly realise that other countries were
running software that simply wasn’t available in the United States
– because it was free. In 2 or 3 years, the world would be divided
into those who were reaping the benefits of free software, and
those who were still having their DNS servers compromised (as
Microsoft did some weeks ago).”
“Secondly, the United States would see some of the most
influential software companies in the world leaving their shores –
for countries where innovation is being encouraged and not
legislated against. Companies like IBM, Intel, Compaq and Solaris
are all using free software as part of their competitive
strategies. Can the United States afford to lose these
companies?”
Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.
LinuxToday is a trusted, contributor-driven news resource supporting all types of Linux users. Our thriving international community engages with us through social media and frequent content contributions aimed at solving problems ranging from personal computing to enterprise-level IT operations. LinuxToday serves as a home for a community that struggles to find comparable information elsewhere on the web.
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