foss

Who Should be Liable for Free Software?

by Dimi Dimitrov
April 18, 2023April 18, 2023

I love free software day 2020 at Wikimedia Italia, Milano, Author: Francesca Ussani (WMIT), License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

The EU’s new software liability framework is coming and FOSS developers should care

Amidst the legislative discussions around AI and cybersecurity, the EU is trying to figure out the right liability framework for software, including free software. Wikimedia shares the view that companies shouldn’t get a free pass for their services just because they open sourced their code. At the same time, we don’t want to see coders, who share their work with the public and peers in order to learn, tinker or to improve a free project, worry about liability too much. They need clear and effective safeguards.

Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sergey Pesterev / Wikimedia Commons

JohnDarrochNZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Markus Trienke, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Michael S Adler, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Stefan Krause, Germany, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons

Who Should be Liable for Free Software?

<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Common_seal_(Phoca_vitulina)_2.jpg">Charles J. Sharp</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons

Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

<a href="/wiki/User:Black_Sickle" title="User:Black Sickle">Sergey Pesterev</a> / <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Main Page">Wikimedia Commons</a>

Sergey Pesterev / Wikimedia Commons

<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crowd_listening_to_speakers.jpg">JohnDarrochNZ</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons

JohnDarrochNZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dampfzug_am_Brocken_in_Winterlandschaft_(2).jpg">Markus Trienke</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons

Markus Trienke, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Looking_upward_at_the_Yick_Cheong_Building,_13_June_2019.jpg">Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr)</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons

Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnificent_CME_Erupts_on_the_Sun_-_August_31_(7931835322).jpg">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Total_Solar_Eclipse_8-21-17.jpg">Michael S Adler</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons

Michael S Adler, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gl%C3%BChlampe_explodiert.jpg">Stefan Krause, Germany</a>, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons

Stefan Krause, Germany, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons

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Who Should be Liable for Free Software?