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from the and-then-we'll-welcome-you-to-obfuscated-code-contests dept.
Secret code is everywhere—in elevators, airplanes, medical devices. By refusing to publish the source code for software, companies make it impossible for third parties to inspect, even when that code has enormous effects on society and policy. Secret code risks security flaws that leave us vulnerable to hacks and data leaks. It can threaten privacy by gathering information about us without our knowledge. It may interfere with equal treatment under law if the government relies on it to determine our eligibility for benefits or whether to put us on a no-fly list. And secret code enables cheaters and hides mistakes, as with Volkswagen: The company admitted recently that it used covert software to cheat emissions tests for 11 million diesel cars spewing smog at 40 times the legal limit.
But as shocking as Volkswagen's fraud may be, it only heralds more of its kind. It's time to address one of the most urgent if overlooked tech transparency issues—secret code in the criminal justice system. Today, closed, proprietary software can put you in prison or even on death row. And in most U.S. jurisdictions you still wouldn't have the right to inspect it. In short, prosecutors have a Volkswagen problem.
Interesting article with implications for Open Source.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 18 2015, @02:55PM
I said nothing about zero cost. That's not a requirement in my eyes.
Why should the government--which is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people--use taxpayer dollars to fund software that denies the users their freedoms? The government should be encouraging education and freedom, and should not be supporting things that destroy freedom, and with proprietary software, no freedom or education is allowed.
Since no education is allowed with proprietary software (can't run the code for any purpose, can't study the code, can't modify it, and/or can't share your changes to benefit the community), it's especially unsuitable for the education system. Schools should encourage people to be good, educated citizens, and they can't do that by encouraging or forcing people to use software that violates their freedoms and doesn't allow for education. Also, it gets them hooked on software that violates their freedoms, which does lasting damage.
If someone makes the personal decision to use proprietary software to write a term paper on their own computer, that is sad but they should be allowed to do it. But they had better make sure the format is compatible with the Free Software the school uses. Which is often another problem with proprietary software: It tries to lock people in.
Seriously, what possible justification do you have to make such a demand? Who gives you standing?
Freedom of speech, and the ability to try to influence my government to do the right thing.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday October 18 2015, @07:08PM
with proprietary software, no freedom or education is allowed.
See, when you make asinine statements like that, people just stop reading.
You, sir, are an idiot.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 19 2015, @01:18AM
Proprietary software denies you your software freedoms. Do you disagree with this? You can't inspect proprietary software code, modify it, and then distribute your changes to benefit the community. Do you disagree with this?
You're the idiot here. An unprincipled idiot, to boot.