SCO claims open source threatens national security
Check out this letter from SCO to 535 members of Congress (scanned version, ascii + analysis)
The Honorable _____ ____ Cannon HOB Washington, DC 20515
I am writing to draw your attention to an important controversy that has become one of the dominant issues in the software industry. The way in which this issue is resolved will have very important ramifications for
* our nation's economy * our continued ability to lead the world in technology * our international competitive position in the global software industry, and even for * our national security.
[...]
- The threat to our national security. I assert that Open Source software -- available widely through the Internet -- has the potential to provide our nation's enemies or potential enemies with computing capabilities that are restricted by U.S. law. SCO's UNIX software is subject to export licensing restrictions, and for good reason. With the powerful multi-processing features of UNIX software, someone could build a supercomputer for military applications. My company must adhere to these restrictions: we cannot sell to North Korea, Libya, Iran, Sudan and several other nations. But a computer expert in North Korea who has a number of personal computers and an Internet connection can download the latest version of Linux, complete with multi-processing capabilities misappropriated from UNIX, and, in short order, build a virtual supercomputer.
[...]
Sincerely,
Darl McBride President and CEO The SCO Group, Inc.
As pointed out by PJ at Groklaw, "If Linux is a [national] security risk, why is there a National Security Agency version of Linux, Security Enhanced Linux? As OSAIA points out, open source software is subject to exactly the same export licensing restrictions as is SCO." Posted by joebeone at Enero 24, 2004 12:21 PM