6 Amendments of Karen MELCHIOR related to 2022/0272(COD)
Amendment 66 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) IResearch by the Commission shows that Open Source software contributes between €65 billion to €95billion to the Union’s GDP, and provides significant growth opportunities for the Union economy. Therefore, in order not to hamper innovation or research, freeware and open-source software developed or supplied outside the course of a commercial activity should not be covered by this Regulation. This is in particular the case for software, including its source code and modified versions, that is openly shared and freely accessible, usable, modifiable and redistributable. In the context of software, a commercial activity might be characterized not only by charging a price for a product, but also by charging a price for technical support services, by providing a software platform throughe core functionality of which relies on other services which the manufacturer monetises other services, or by the use of personal data for reasons other than exclusively for improving the security, compatibility or interoperability of the software.
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10 a (new)
Recital 10 a (new)
(10 a) Due to the permissive nature of open-source licences, open-source software can be used as a component in products without need for the consent or knowledge of the original author, allowing for manufacturers to build new products and services quickly, however open-source software developers are not compensated for this use and often work on the software in their free time. Therefore, when a manufacturer uses open-source software as a component in a product, they should be subject to the obligations of manufacturers for that component, unless otherwise agreed through the provision of commercial technical support either by the developer or a third-party.
Amendment 69 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10 b (new)
Recital 10 b (new)
(10 b) Public open-source code and software repositories allow developers to access a wide range of resources for software development, and allow for developers to share their code with the wider open-source community. These repositories operate as a public good, and therefore should not be considered as providers, manufacturers, importers or distributors, nor should their activity be considered as commercial within the meaning of this Regulation.
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. This Regulation does not apply to freeware and open-source software unless: (a) the developer or a third-party has agreed to the provision of technical support services, either with a user, or with a manufacturer who wishes to use the software as a component in their own products. (b) the software is provided in the course of commercial activity, either by: (i) charging a price for a product; (ii) providing a software platform reliant on other services which the manufacturer monetises; (iii) using personal data generated by the software for reasons other than exclusively for improving the security, compatibility or interoperability of the software.
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 6 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 6 a (new)
(6 a) 'freeware' means proprietary software that is provided at no cost to the user, but cannot be distributed, studied, changed, improved, integrated into other products or provided as a service without the consent of the author;
Amendment 130 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 6 b (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 6 b (new)
(6 b) ‘ open-source software’ means software distributed under a licence which allow users to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve it freely, as well as to integrate it as a component in other products, provide it as a service, or provide commercial support for it;