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Al Gore Goes "Open Source"
Mike@ABC
writes "Can a web site be open source? Al Gore says so,
and the man did create the Internet, after all.
Gore is looking for people to contribute code for his presidential campaign site.
The page says: "This is your web site -- IT'S OPEN SOURCE --
and I want you to help us build it."
" They even have a cute little "Gore 2000 Logo" for
officially approved "Gore 2000 Merchandise". And Tipper
has her own section! Funniest thing I've seen all morning.
I wonder if this will meet the open source requirements.
'cause he doesn't have any algorithm!
/. the Veeps web site!
Come on folks, if we try hard enough, we should be able to
His server is running Microsoft IIS I notice. Also, news reports have it that when he debuted his site is had a place for kids to type in their home address in violation in privacy laws which require parental permission first. He claimed his site wasn't subject to those laws (was there "no controlling legal authority"?) but he took down the page anyway.
Couple spam, censorship and trademark violations and what do you get? Al Gore.
Chris DiBona
--
Grant Chair, Linux Int.
VP, SVLUG
Co-Editor, Open Sources
Open Source Program Manager, Google, Inc.
Did you check out the link (directly under the OPEN SOURCE paragraph) about the legal issues.
http://www.algore2000.com/g etinvolved/legal_notice.html
It seemed pretty strict with the requirements and there was a really interesting little quote that said, "If Gore 2000 selects your material for use on our website we will contact you with further legal requirements. "
It may be "Open Source", but I doubt it meets the requirements for " Free Software" (as mentioned earlier today.)
Do they meet the specifications of the Open Source Definition? Perhaps Bruce Perens, Richard Stallman, and Eric Raymond better check this out. We wouldn't want people claiming Open Source falsely!
Of course, one of them is probably a democrat, another a republican, and what do you wanna bet Stallman is an independent? Perhaps it would be better to ignore the whole thing and crawl under a rock, while listening to my Captial Steps CDs (I wouldn't want to be totally apolitical)
Then I could take all the code, post it on another website, and change the text a little, to make it an anti-Gore2000 website.
Somehow, I don't think he would be amused.
Of all the comments I've ever posted, this is definately one of them
And you thought Apple's liscence was restrictive. Email us your changes along with your name, email address, and current employer, and if we like them, they immediately become the property of AlGore 2000. No payment will be provided for the confiscation of code, but if you ask nice, they may give you an autographed photo of Tipper.
Long live the GOSL!
How many days until Gore takes credit for Open Source? Any chance he invented Perl, too?
Aren't all web sites open source? I mean, right there on the top row of my browser window, I've got this "View->Document Source" pulldown.
I guess it never did anything before?
(And yes, I know that's not what "Open Source" really means. But that button has probably been responsible for more self-taught HTML programmers than any single book.)
-- Alastair
<!-------Attention Open Source Enthusiasts!--------------------
A special message for Open Source Software enthusiasts: We are
very interested in developing content that takes advantage of Open
Source software such as Linux. For starters, we are conducting a
Gore 2000 Linux Screen Saver design competition among volunteers
to see who can build the best Gore 2000 Linux screen savers. If
you would like to submit a Gore 2000 Linux screen saver for
consideration, or if you have ideas for this project, please
send an e-mail to:
opensource@algore2000.com
Watch this space for more Open Source ideas and
volunteer opportunities.
-------------------------------------------------- ------------>
"Whatever happened to fair use?"
-- Duff-Man
I sent them my standard spanking letter.
Yes, Open Source is a trademark.
Yes, they're violating it. The OSD requires no discrimination against persons or groups, and yet they refuse to accept contributions from businesses. The OSD requires that the code (and documentation) be freely copyable, and yet NO copyright permissions are granted in their HTML.
Yes, they'll stop or we'll die trying.
-russ nelson, OSI board member in charge of misuse
This is definately one of the funniest things that I've seen all week. Some days, I really think Al Gore would be better off working the Funny Bone chain than the Presidental campaign circuit. But that's just me.
So, let's take a look at this web site and see how it ranks as open source? That could be fun...
The Freedom to run the program for any purpose.
Hmm. Can we use his website as something other than what it is intended? Can we in fact copy his web page source and make a similar page decrying his ideals and misunderstanding of the world? We can certainly try... I wonder what his lawyers would say? Please note that his copyright statement on that page does explicitly state that they reserve all rights and do not grant any particular license for alternate usage.
The Freedom to stucy how it works.
Well, we can do that. But that's the beauty behind the web: you can always do that.
The Freedom to redistribute copies.
This is a toughie. International law does saw that it is always legal to cache copies of web pages in your browser (or other means) in order to view a page. But that does not apply to print media and the definition of open source does not include any specific qualifications for what means source may be distributed. (Even if it is silly to print out all that code.) Again I point to the fact that they suggest that all rights are reserved.
The Freedom to improve code and release it to the public.
Well, Al Gore certainly wants you to improve his code. But take a look, his implied license states only that you may submit your changes to him (his employees). This violates the spirit of free software by not allowing your changes to be circulated without the consent of a third party. If no part of this farse is wrong but this one, this would truly be funny. The free software guidelines explicitly state: "If you do publish your changes, you should not be required to notify anyone in particular, or in any particular way." I can't see a more blatant misuse of the "Open Source" trademark than a person or organization who breaks this most important of rules.
Irrevocable Freedoms
The free software guidelines states that software that is distributed free may not have cluuses or otherwise which would cause you to have your license revoked without cause. We can not explicitly state whether AL Gore violates this practice but we can point out that we don't even know the full text of the source license until after we submit changes: If Gore 2000 selects your material for use on our website we will contact you with further legal requirements.
All in all, I highly recommend that everyone send mail to Gore 2000 explining to them this misuse of the "Open Source" trademark. A good place to start would be legalteam@algore2000.com or sourcecodevolunteers@algore2000.com.
This kind of blatant misuse of the open source philosophy should not go, in my opinion, without the thundering reminders of many many voting-age open sourceists in the email boxes of those who seek to rape our most sacred of ideologies. Joe