e-ignite

In a surprising coincidence, only 3 days after I wrote a previous article regarding a lawsuit against the creators of free software, the FSFE (Free Software Foundation Europe) have launched a “Freedom Task Force” aimed at providing legal advice and protection to the creators of free software. Interestingly, the project is being led by Shane Coughlan – the lead developer of the Mobility Project, which I’m personally involved in. The full story can be found at The Register but I think you’ll agree that this is an extremely welcome step forward in software development as it offers free legal protection to developers with regard to GPL violations. It also may provide help to part-time developers who may be threatened into submission by legally questionable claims of DMCA violations etc.

In a remarkably obscure law suit, the Free Software Foundation, Novell and Red Hat have all been sued by Daniel Wallace over accusations of price fixing and uncompetitive practices. His reasoning: These companies all distribute software for free.
At initial glance, the lawsuit seems plainly ridiculous since laws against price fixing are there to protect consumers and keep prices at a minimum. However, it is a warning bell showing just how much of an impact open source software (in particular, Linux) is having on the software market. If you think of the charges in terms of anti-competitive terms, companies working together to produce free software could in theory be construed as anti-competitive – who can compete with a free product in terms of price?

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According to a recent BBC News Report, the UK Government’s Information Commissioner has expressed concerns that Britain has become a country where personal monitoring is now far too commonplace. There are currently 4.2 million CCTV cameras in the UK – this is roughly one camera per 14 people living in the country. However, the monitoring goes much further than security cameras. Many companies now use GPS technology to monitor the progress and location of its staff. Other companies use keystroke logging to monitor productivity. However, one of the most widespread monitoring techniques is one of the most popular that most users happily sign up for: Loyalty Cards. Supermarket loyalty cards can be (and are frequently) used to track what individual products a person buys regularly. This data may then be used to offer direct marketing for things the shopper may be interested in, or just to create a shopper profile. Despite this potential breach of security, shoppers line up for their loyalty cards in an effort to save money. However, recent figures published by Privacy International show Britain in a much worse light.
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