On 21 Jan 2004, Sven Neumann wrote: > What is especially worrying me is that there seems to exist a proposal > for EU legislation to require devices and software to include > counterfeit deterrence technology: > > http://www.ecb.int/pub/legal/c_25520031024en00080008.pdf > > This document explicitely asks for comments and IMO it would be a good > idea to prepare such a comment. We could do this as the GIMP developers > or try to corporate with the FSF Europe. Yes, I think it would be best to do it as a joint GIMP/FSF Europe comment. I would include something akin to the following: * GIMP is a popular image-manipulation program that is used in many different applications, such as web design. * Should legislation be enacted requiring currency detection, GIMP would effectively be outlawed from the European Union, since, due to its open source nature, it is trivial to modify it to skip the currency detection step. * The legislation would not have its desired effect anyway, since it is not significantly more difficult for a dedicated individual to modify a closed-source program to skip the currency detection. Once a program is modified once, it is trivial for instructions on how to modify the program to be spread to others. * There are many legitimate and legal uses for images of currency. FSF Europe and the GIMP developers are greatly opposed to any measure that would restrict the freedom of expression of the citizens of European Union member nations. It would then of course be signed by all the GIMPers who are members of the EU. Rockwalrus
