An Xmas present for you to peruse, comment, and mull..

[Seth Cohn]

For your holiday enjoyment, and for you to think about in the next few
days, and get back to me with feedback (pro or con), improvements, and
other suggestions... I welcome your input, and if you'd like to speak
at the hearing on this bill on a particular element, please let me
know...

This is one of two bills submitted for the coming year... the other is
related to Open Government Data (google for the 8 principles) for the
essential concept of that one.

Yours,
Rep. Seth Cohn
Merrimack 6
(and open source geek for far longer than I'd like to admit...)


2011 SESSION

HOUSE BILL               [bill number not yet assigned]
AN ACT                requiring state agencies to consider open source
software when acquiring new software.
SPONSORS:         Rep. Cohn (and others to be named later...)
COMMITTEE:       [committee not yet decided...]

ANALYSIS

      This bill requires state agencies to consider open source
software when  acquiring new software.

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Explanation:            Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

                                    Matter removed from current law
appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

                                    Matter which is either (a) all new
or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.



STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT                requiring state agencies to consider open source
software when acquiring new software.



Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Court convened:

      ­1  Statement of Purpose and Findings.

            I.  The general court finds that:

                  (a)  The cost of obtaining software for the state's
computer systems has become a significant expense to the state;

                  (b)  The personnel costs of maintaining the software
on the state's computers has also become a significant expense to the
state;

                  (c)  It is necessary for the functioning of the
state that computer data owned by the state be permanently available
to the state throughout its useful life;

                  (d)  To guarantee the succession and permanence of
public data, it is necessary that the state's accessibility to that
data be independent of the goodwill of the state's computer system
suppliers and the monopoly conditions imposed by these suppliers;

                  (e)  It is in the public interest to ensure
interoperability of computer systems through the use of software and
products that promote open, platform-neutral standards;

                  (f)  It is also in the public interest that the
state be free, to the greatest extent possible, of restrictions
imposed by parties outside the state's control on how, and for how
long, the state may use the software it has acquired; and

                  (g)  It is not in the public interest and it is a
violation of the fundamental right to privacy for the state to use
software that, in addition to its stated function, also transmits data
to, or allows control and modification of its systems by, parties
outside of the state's control.

            II.   The general court further finds that:

                  (a)  The acquisition and widespread deployment of
open source software can significantly reduce the state's costs of
obtaining and maintaining software;

                  (b)  Open source software guarantees that its
encoding of data is not tied to a single provider;

                  (c)  Open source software ensures interoperability
through adherence to open, platform-neutral standards;

                  (d)  Open source software contains no restrictions
on how, or for how long, it may be used; and

                  (e)  Since open source software fully discloses its
internal operations, it can be audited, at any time and by anyone of
the state's choosing, for internal functions that are contrary to the
public's interests and rights.

            III.   Therefore, it is in the public interest that the
state of New Hampshire consider using open source software in its
public computing functions.

      ­2  New Subdivision; Department of Information Technology; Open
Source Software.  Amend RSA 21-R by inserting after section 9 the
following new subdivision:

Open Source Software

      21-R:10  Definitions.  In this subdivision,

            I.  "Open source software" means software that guarantees
the user, without further cost:

                  (a)  Unrestricted use of the software for any purpose;

                  (b)  Unrestricted access to the respective source code;

                  (c)  Exhaustive inspection of the working mechanisms
of the software;

                  (d)  Use of the internal mechanisms and arbitrary
portions of the software, to adapt them to the needs of the user;

                  (e)  Freedom to make and distribute copies of the
software; and

                  (f)  Modification of the software and freedom to
distribute modifications of the new resulting software, under the same
license as the original software.

            II.  "Open standards" means specifications for the
encoding and transfer of computer data that:

                  (a)  Are available for all to read and implement;

                  (b)  Do not lock the user into a particular vendor or group;

                  (c)  Are free for all to implement with no royalty
or fee except for a fee or fees required by the standards organization
for certification of compliance;

                  (d)  Do not favor one implementer over another for
any reason other than the technical standards compliance of an
implementation; and

                  (e)   Do not prohibit the implementation of
extensions, but may employ license terms that prevent subversion of
the standard through predatory practices.

            III.  "Proprietary software" means software that does not
fulfill all of the guarantees provided by open source software.

            IV.  "State agency" means any department, commission,
board, institution, bureau, office, or other entity, by whatever name
called, including the legislative and judicial branches of state
government, established in the state constitution, statutes, session
laws, or executive orders.

      21-R:11  Consideration of Open Source Software by State
Agencies. For all new software acquisitions, each state agency, in
consultation with the department of information technology, shall:

            I.   Consider acquiring open source software products in
addition to proprietary software products;

            II.   Except as provided in paragraphs IV and V, acquire
software products primarily on a value-for-money basis;

            III.  Provide justification whenever a proprietary
software product is acquired rather than open source software;

            IV.  Avoid the acquisition of products that do not comply
with open standards for interoperability or data storage; and

            V.  Avoid the acquisition of products that are known to
make unauthorized transfers of information to, or permit unauthorized
control of or modification to state government's computer systems by,
parties outside the control of state government.

      ­3  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.