Wikipedia maintains an encyclopedia using approaches similar to open source software approaches. Yes. As noted above, in nearly all cases, open source software is considered commercial software by U.S. law, the FAR, and the DFARS. The project manager, program manager, or other comparable official determines that it is in the Governments interest to do so, such as through the expectation of future enhancements by others. Note also that merely being developed for the government is no guarantee that there is no malicious embedded code. If a legal method for using the GPL software for a particular application cannot be devised, and a different license cannot be negotiated, then the GPL-licensed component cannot be used for that particular purpose. OSS licenses can be grouped into three main categories: Permissive, strongly protective, and weakly protective. In some cases, it may be wise to release software under multiple licenses (e.g., LGPL version 2.1 and version 3, GPL version 2 and 3), so that users can then pick which license they will use. Yes. However, if the GPL software must be mixed with other proprietary/classified software, the GPL terms must still be followed. DAF COVID-19 Statistics - January 2022. Even where there is GOTS/classified software, such software is typically only a portion of the entire system, with other components implemented through COTS components. However, this cost-sharing is done in a rather different way than in proprietary development. What it does mean, however, is that the DoD will not reject consideration of a COTS product merely because it is OSS. Q: Isnt using open source software (OSS) forbidden by DoD Information Assurance (IA) Policy? This memorandum only applies to Navy and Marine Corps commands, but may be a useful reference for others. However, support from in-house staff, augmented by the OSS community, may be (and often is) sufficient. These formats may, but need not, be the same. Contractors for other federal agencies may have a different process to use, but after going through a process they can often release such software as open source software. With the Acrobat Reader, you can view, navigate, print and present any Portable Document Format (PDF) file. That way, their improvements will be merged with the improvements of others, enabling them to use all improvements instead of only their own. However, the required FAR Clause 52.212-4(d) establishes that This contract is subject to the Contract Disputes Act of 1978, as amended (41 U.S.C. An alternative is to not include the OSS component in the deliverable, but simply depend on it, as long as that is acceptable to the government. You can support OSS either through a commercial organization, or you can self-support OSS; in either case, you can use community support as an aid. The NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) 1852.227-14 gives NASA the right, under typical conditions, to demand that a contractor assert copyright and then assign the copyright to the government, which would again give the government the right to release the software as open source software. Even if source code is necessary (e.g., for source code analyzers), adequate source code can often be regenerated by disassemblers and decompilers sufficiently to search for vulnerabilities. There are far too many examples to list; a few examples are: The key risk is the revelation of information that should not be released to the public. Below are current coronavirus disease 2019 statistics for Department of Air Force personnel: *These numbers include all of the cases that were reported since our last update on Jan. 18. No changes since that date. For example, users of proprietary software must typically pay for a license to use a copy or copies. Clarifying Guidance Regarding Open Source Software (OSS), a list of licenses which have successfully gone through the approval process and comply with the Open Source Definition, publishes a list of licenses that meet the Free Software Definition, good licenses that Fedora has determined are open source software licenses, Federal Source Code Policy, OMB Memo 16-21, National Defense Authorization Act for FY2018, http://www.doncio.navy.mil/contentview.aspx?id=312, http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a450769.pdf, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/fy04/m04-16.html, http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r25_2.pdf, Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), 40 CFR, Section 252.227-7014 Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and Noncommercial Computer Software Documentation, European Interoperability Framework (EIF), Bruce Perens Open Standards: Principles and Practice, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuits 2008 ruling on Jacobsen v. Katzer, The Free-Libre / Open Source Software (FLOSS) License Slide, GPL linking exception term (such as the Classpath exception), Maintaining Permissive-Licensed Files in a GPL-Licensed Project: Guidelines for Developers (Software Freedom Law Center), Creative Commons does not recommend that you use one of their licenses for software, GPL FAQ, Can I use the GPL for something other than software?, GPL FAQ, Who has the power to enforce the GPL?, 2003 MITRE study, Use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the U.S. Department of Defense, Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOWTO, in 2003 the Linux kernel development process resisted an attack, Software comes from the place where its converted into object code, says CBP, FierceGovernmentIT, Gartner Groups Mark Driver stated in November 2010, Estimating the Total Development Cost of a Linux Distribution, Open Source Software for Imagery & Mapping (OSSIM), Open Source Alternatives (Ben Balter et al.). Q: What are synonyms for open source software? The program available to the public may improve over time, through contributions not paid for by the U.S. government. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuits 2008 ruling on Jacobsen v. Katzer made it clear that OSS licenses are enforceable, even if money is not exchanged. OSS COTS tends to be lower cost than GOTS, in part for the same reasons as proprietary COTS: its costs are shared among more users. AFCENT/A1RR will publish approved local supplements to the Air Force Reporting Peterson AFB CO 80914-4420 . Any inconsistencies in this solicitation or contract shall be resolved by giving precedence in the following order: (1) the schedule of supplies/services; (2) the Assignments, Disputes, Payments, Invoice, Other Compliances, and Compliance with Laws Unique to Government Contracts paragraphs of this clause; (3) the clause at 52.212-5; (4) addenda to this solicitation or contract, including any license agreements for computer software; . Proprietary COTS tend to be lower cost than GOTS, since the cost of development and maintenance is typically shared among a larger number of users (who typically pay to receive licenses to use the product). More Mobile Apps.
United Nations - Wikipedia 75 Years of Dedicated Service. For DoD contractors, if the standard DFARS contract clauses are used (in particular DFARS 252.227-7014) then the contractor who developed the software retains the copyright to the software and has the right to release it to others, even if the software was developed exclusively with government funds. The U.S. government can often directly combine GPL and proprietary, classified, or export-controlled software into a single program arbitrarily, as long as the result is never conveyed outside the U.S. government. Commercially-available software that is not open source software is typically called proprietary or closed source software. A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination thereof, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.. Many projects, particularly the large number of projects managed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), ask for an employers disclaimer from the contributors employer in a number of circumstances. Q: What are the risks of the government releasing software as OSS? Software might not infringe on a patent when it was released, yet the same software may later infringe on a patent if the patent was granted after the softwares release. Consider anticipated uses. This has never been true, and explaining this takes little time. While this argument may be valid, we know of no court decision or legal opinion confirming this. As always, if there are questions, consult your attorney to discuss your specific situation. DoD contractors who always ignore components because they are OSS, or because they have a particular OSS license they dont prefer, risk losing projects to more competitive bidders. The related FAR 52.227-2 (Notice and Assistance Regarding Patent and Copyright Infringement), as prescribed by FAR 27.201-2(b), requires the contractor to report to the Contracting Officer each notice or claim of patent/copyright infrigement in reasonable written detail. 1342, Limitation on voluntary services. If it is a modification of an existing project, or a plug-in to it, release it under the projects original license (and possibly other licenses). (See next question. However, sometimes OGOTS/GOSS software is later released as OSS. Example: GPL and (unrelated) proprietary applications can be running at the same time on a desktop PC. Perhaps more importantly, by forcing there to be an implementation that others can examine in detail, resulting in better specifications that are more likely to be used. It can be argued that classified software can be arbitrarily combined with GPL code, beyond the approaches described above. Similarly, in Wallace v. IBM, Red Hat, and Novell, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found in November 2006 that the GNU General Public License (GPL) and open-source software have nothing to fear from the antitrust laws. The central theme of 2022 was the U.S. government's deploying of its sanctions, AML . Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C), Public Key Infrastructure/Enabling (PKI/PKE), https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/home/img/img1.jpg. However, the public domain portions may be extracted from such a joint work and used by anyone for any purpose. Military orders. To manage the acquisition, development, and integration of Cybersecurity Tools and Methods for securing the Defense Information Infrastructure. Under the same reasoning, the CBP determined that building an object file from source code performed a substantial transformation into a new article.
Curtiss-Wright Receives Security Authorization from U.S. Air Force for Use a widely-used existing license. Note that this sometimes depends on how the program is used or modified. Note that most commercial software is not intended to be used where the impact of any error of any kind is extremely high (e.g., a large number of lives are likely to be immediately lost if even the slightest software error occurs). Here is an explanation of these categories, along with common licenses used in each category (see The Free-Libre / Open Source Software (FLOSS) License Slide): In general, legal analysis is required to determine if multiple programs, covered by different OSS licenses, can be legally combined into a single larger work.
Approved Software - ACCA - Air Conditioning Contractors of America As with all commercial items, organizations must obey the terms of the commercial license, negotiate a different license if necessary, or not use the commercial item. No. OSS licenses and projects clearly approve of commercial support. The release may also be limited by patent and trademark law. It is important to understand that open source software is commercial software, because there are many laws, regulations, policies, and so on regarding commercial software. This is not a copyright license, it is the absence of a license. If the contractor was required to transfer copyright to the government for works produced under contract (e.g., because the FAR 52.227-17 or DFARS 252.227-7020 clauses apply to it), then the government can release the software as open source software, because the government owns the copyright. Any company can easily review OSS to look for proprietary code that should not be there; there are even OSS tools that can find common code. It may be illegal to modify proprietary software, but that will normally not slow an attacker. For disposal or recycling per NSA/CSS Policy Manual 9-12, "Storage Device Sanitization and Destruction Manual": Information stored on these . OSS options should be evaluated in principle the same way you would evaluate any option, considering need, cost, and so on.
NSA Evaluated Products Lists (EPLs) + 9-12 - National Security Agency AOD-9604. For example, the Government has public release rights when the software is developed by Government personnel, when the Government receives unlimited rights in software developed by a contractor at Government expense, or when pre-existing OSS is modified by or for the Government. If you have concerns about using in-house staff, augmented by the OSS community for those components, then select and pay a commercial organization to provide the necessary support. Typically, obtaining rights granted by the license can only be obtained when the requestor agrees to certain conditions. . The release of the software may be restricted by the International Traffic in Arms Regulation or Export Administration Regulation. Note that Creative Commons does not recommend that you use one of their licenses for software; they encourage using one of the existing OSS licenses which were designed specifically for use with software. As with all commercial items, the DoD must comply with the items license when using the item. Q: Am I required to have commercial support for OSS? FAR 52.227-1 (Authorization and Consent), as prescribed by FAR 27.201-2(a)(1), inserts the clause that the Government authorizes and consents to all use and manufacturer of any invention (covered by) U.S. patent. Open source software licenses grant more rights than proprietary software licenses, but they are still conditional licenses that require the user to obey certain terms. "Delivering a more lethal force requires the ability to evolve faster and be more adaptable . Many perceive this openness as an advantage for OSS, since OSS better meets Saltzer & Schroeders Open design principle (the protection mechanism must not depend on attacker ignorance). Fundamentally, a standard is a specification, so an open standard is a specification that is open. is a survey paper that provides quantitative data that, in many cases, using open source software / free software (abbreviated as OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS) is a reasonable or even superior approach to using their proprietary competition according to various measures.. (its) goal is to show that you should consider using OSS/FS when acquiring software. BPC-157. When including externally-developed software in a larger system (e.g., as a library), make it clearly separable from the other components and easy to update. For the DoD, the risks of failing to consider the use of OSS where appropriate are of increased cost, increased schedule, and/or reduced performance (including reduced innovation or security) to the DoD due to the failure to use the commercial software that best meets the needs (when that is the case). DFARS 252.227-7014 specifically defines commercial computer software in a way that includes nearly all OSS, and defines noncommercial computer software as software that does not qualify as commercial computer software. Q: Does the DoD use OSS for security functions? The first-ever Oklahoma Black History Day was celebrated at the state Capitol Feb. 13 with Lt. Gen. Stacey Hawkins, Air Force Sustainment Center commander, serving as the keynote speaker for the event.Hosted by the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus, a focus of this . The regulation is available at.
PDF By Order of The Commander, United U.s. Air Forces Central States Air Q: Is there any quantitative evidence that open source software can be as good as (or better than) proprietary software? This webpage is a one-stop reference to help answer questions regarding proper wear of approved Air Force uniform items, insignias, awards and decorations, etc. In addition, ignoring OSS would not be lawful; U.S. law specifically requires consideration of commercial software (including extant OSS, regardless of exactly which license it uses), and specifically instructs departments to pass this requirement to consider commercial items down to contractors and their suppliers at all tiers. https://www.disa.mil/network-services/ucco, The DoD Cyber Exchange is sponsored by Department of the Air Force updates policies, procedures to recruit for the future. To provide Cybersecurity tools to . Problems must be fixed. Examples of the former include Red Hat, Canonical, HP Enterprise, Oracle, IBM, SourceLabs, OpenLogic, and Carahsoft. Once the government has unlimited rights, it may release that software to the public under any terms it wishes - including by using the GPL. Each hosting service tends to be focused on particular kinds of projects, so prefer a hosting service that well-matches the project. While budget constraints and reduced staffing have forced the APL process to operate in a limited manner,
Yes, in general. However, using a support vendor is not the only approach or the best approach in all cases; system/program managers and DAAs must look at the specific situation to make a determination. However, if youre going to rely on the OSS community, you must make sure that the OSS community for that product is active, and that you have suitably qualified staff to implement the upgrades/enhancements developed by the community. OSS is typically developed through a collaborative process. Widely-used programs include the Apache web server, Firefox web browser, Linux kernel, and many other programs. In addition, DISA has initiated an assessment of the APL process, which was enacted nearly a decade ago, to ensure that current procedures align with new and evolving departmental priorities. This assessment is slated to conclude in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year (FY2022) and all updates to the DoDIN APL process are expected to be published and available by March 2023. Establish project website. (See also Publicly Releasing Open Source Software Developed for the U.S. Government by Dr.David A. Wheeler, DoD Software Tech News, February 2011.). Thus, public domain software provides recipients all of the rights that open source software must provide. With practically no exceptions, successful open standards for software have OSS implementations. Patent examiners have relatively little time to review each patent, and do not have effective access to most prior art in software, which may lead them to grant patents for previously-published inventions or obvious inventions. Q: What are the risks of failing to consider the use of OSS components or approaches? Public Law 115-232 defines OSS defines OSS as software for which the human-readable source code is available for use, study, re-use, modification, enhancement, and re-distribution by the users of such software. There are two versions of the GPL in widespread use: version 2 and version 3. Q: How can I find open source software that meets my specific needs? Q: Is there a large risk to DoD contractors that widely-used OSS violates enforceable software patents? Thankfully, there are ways to reduce the risk of executing malicious code when using commercial software (both proprietary and OSS). If the standard DFARS contract clauses are used (see DFARS 252.227-7014), then unless other arrangements are made, the government has unlimited rights to a software component when (1) it pays entirely for the development of it (see DFARS 252.227-7014(b)(1)(i)), or (2) it is five years after contract signature if it partly paid for its development (see DFARS 252.227-7014(b)(2)).