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IT Giants Accused of Exploiting Open Source

Posted by Zonk on from the do-your-own-work dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A top European Commission official has accused major IT players such as IBM, HP and Sun of using the open source community as mere subcontractors rather than encouraging them to develop independent commercial products. Jesús Villasante, head of software technologies at the commission, said: 'The open source community today [is a] subcontractor of American multinationals. Open source communities need to take themselves seriously and realise they have contribution to themselves and society. From the moment they realise they are part of the evolution of society and try to influence it, we will be moving in the right direction.'"

2 of 511 comments (clear)

  1. Stop the Exploitation! by RexRhino · · Score: 0, Troll

    We here at The Government are worried about you open-source and free software developers being exploited.

    Therefore, in the interests of humanity, we take it apon ourselves to regulate, control, and licence all free software. Yes, don't worry, we don't want these companies taking advantage of your free labor, so we are going to tax these companies for their use of free software. We will keep the money for ourselves, after all, the Government IS the people, so when we make lots of money off of this, you will make lots of money off of this.

    Don't worry, it will only cost you $200 a year to get your open source developers permit. Hardly a sacrafice at all! And just don't try to work on anything controversial like file-sharing and what not, otherwise we will have to revoke your licence, and perhaps send you to jail for coding without a licence.

    Thanks for your support!
    Your Big Brother

  2. EC Fearmongering by thelizman · · Score: 0, Troll

    Europe is losing ground rapidly to the US economically. If it's not the rapid loss of market share by European firms in international markets, it's the flight of large Euro corporations to the US (also helped along by the strong euro). Their answer as of late has been to allege "subsidies", like the $5 billion Boeing supposedly receives from the goverment for their aircraft. The problem is that the EC considers lower tax rates here in the US to be a "tax subsidy". Yes, if you don't charge corporations into the ground the way they do in Europe, then you're actually subsidizing them. So sayeth officials like Peter Mandelson, who on Tuesday did the most unsportsman like thing and filed a complaint with the WTO claiming $5 bn in subsidies for Boeing. This was done in retaliation for a complaint filed on Monday by the Bush administration about the subsidies given to Airbus. Of course, Mandelson could hardly argue that point, since the EU planned € 1.5bn to promote the new A380, and Airbus is also demanding € 450 mn from the British government to build wing assemblies for the A350.

    Here's the clue for you pompous gassbags who are slowsly strangling europes economy: liberalize your economy. Stop taxing the shit out of your domestic corporations, and you won't have to subsidize them on the back end.