Yesterday, OSAIA sent a letter to co-Rules Committee Chairs Kate Brown and Roger Beyer on the pending open source Senate bill.

A PDF copy of the letter to State Senator Brown can be found here.

The Honorable Kate Brown
Co-Chair Rules Committee
The Senate
Salem, Oregon

August 20, 2003

Dear Senator Brown:

The Open Source And Industry Alliance recently became aware of Oregon Senate Bill 941, a measure that promises to bring to the people of Oregon the benefits of open standards in the provision of information and telecommunications technologies. While we have a few specific concerns, overall OSAIA supports the software portion of this bill enthusiastically.

The OSAIA is a coalition of a number of the world's most prominent open-source software users and developers. OSAIA is a project of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a Washington, D.C. international trade association whose members employ nearly one million people with combined sales of more than $200 billion.

S. 941's emphasis on open standards and open source software will do much to improve the cost and efficiency of Oregon's computing and communications infrastructure. We applaud in particular the creation of an Information Resources Management Council responsible for assuring that the state of Oregon supports open standards in its acquisition of high-tech goods and services. We also enthusiastically support the creation of a Stakeholders Advisory Committee to oversee those government purchases.

Open technology standards create a level playing field that all may use on a non-discriminatory basis. Since such technologies are fully documented and available to the public, they reduce significantly the difficulties that may otherwise arise when dominant firms seek to perpetuate their market power using technology lock-in. While examples abound, one common problem relates to the technical specifications that surround documents written in Microsoft's word processing program, Word.

Since Microsoft keeps secret the interface information between Word and the Windows operating system (as well as the .doc file format specifications themselves) the operating-system monopoly has created a situation whereby end users are virtually forced into using its Office software.

Wider use of existing, open standards for word processing documents – specifications available to anyone, including Microsoft, for use with any operating system or word processor – would do much to increase competition in the world market for desktop software. Increased competition would lead to more innovation, lower costs and more overall economic activity for the nation as a whole.

S. 941 wisely requires that state procurement officers consider the use of open source software, which allows not just the use of common file formats, but the free copying and distribution of entire software packages. Since such software can be freely copied, large users can save significant sums in acquisition costs. Moreover, since every technical specification of open source software – in other words, its source code – must be available for inspection, copying and modification, there can be no secret, anticompetitive technological manipulation of code structure. This flexibility, combined with upfront costs savings, can save taxpayers millions of dollars on major procurements.

Proprietary software and proprietary standards have an important role in any modern IT system. We believe that both proprietary and open-source software will play valuable roles throughout the computing infrastructure for the foreseeable future. Likewise, there may be some instances in which the use of open source software may not be immediately practical, or even offer the best value for the dollar when all costs and benefits are fully weighed. However, since open standards make for more competitive marketplaces, we believe states should seriously consider requiring them. Indeed, faced with the choice of a proprietary standard and an open one, public organizations should avoid being locked into single-vendor relationships that limit innovation and choice.

OSAIA does not support preference legislation that would unreasonably tilt the marketplace either towards open source or proprietary software. Nonetheless, we believe that it is appropriate for government to take into account a wide variety of factors that go beyond immediate expense, including lock-in, future switching costs, the uncertainty of future upgrade charges and the effect of supporting monopoly suppliers. Such a calculus, we believe, will result in the greatest good to government, industry and society as a whole.

Sincerely,

Ed Black
OSAIA
President & CEO CCIA