[ Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan for
this link. ]
“Open-source software advocates will unfurl a legislative
proposal next week to prohibit the state of California from buying
software from Microsoft or any other company that doesn’t open its
source code and licensing policies.“Named the ‘Digital Software Security Act,’ the proposal
essentially would make California the ‘Live Free or Die’ state when
it comes to software. If enacted as written, state agencies would
be able to buy software only from companies that do not place
restrictions on use or access to source code. The agencies would
also be given the freedom to ‘make and distribute copies of the
software.’“‘The legislative intent is that for software to be acceptable
to the state, it is not enough that it is technically capable of
fulfilling a task, but that the contractual condition for purchase
and/or licensing must satisfy a series of requirements regarding
the license,’ the proposal states…”