Under the current DoD contracting regime, the contractor usually retains the copyright for software developed with government funding, so in such cases the contractor (not the government) has the right to sue for copyright violation. This definition is essentially identical to what the DoD has been using since publication of the 16 October 2009 memorandum from the DoD CIO, Clarifying Guidance Regarding Open Source Software (OSS). Q: Can the government release software under an open source license if it was developed by contractors under government contract? However, you should examine past experience and your intended uses before depending on this as a primary mechanism for support. As always, if there are questions, consult your attorney to discuss your specific situation. It is available at, The Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum providing guidance on software acquisition which specifically addressed open source software on 1 Jul 2004. In practice, OSS projects tend to be remarkably clean of such issues. Approved software is listed on the DCMA Approved Software List. 000+ postings in Shaw Air Force Base, SC and other big cities in USA. As noted in the article Open Source memo doesnt mandate a support vendor (by David Perera, FierceGovernmentIT, May 23, 2012), the intent of the memo was not to issue a blanket requirement that all open source software come bundled with contractor support or else it cant be used If a Defense agency is able to sustain the open source software with its own skills and talents then that can be enough to satisfy the intent of the memo. In addition, How robust the support plan need be can also vary on the nature of the software itself For command and control software, the degree would have to be greater than for something thats not so critical to mission execution. This strengthens evaluations by focusing on technology specific security requirements. This formal training is supplemented by extensive on-the-job training and accumulated hands on experience gained throughout the Service member's career. Q: Doesnt hiding source code automatically make software more secure? 10 USC 2377 requires that the head of an agency shall ensure that procurement officials in that agency, to the maximum extent practicable: Similarly, it requires preliminary market research to determine whether there are commercial services or commercial products or, to the extent that commercial products suitable to meet the agencys needs are not available, nondevelopmental items other than commercial items available that (A) meet the agencys requirements; (B) could be modified to meet the agencys requirements; or (C) could meet the agencys requirements if those requirements were modified to a reasonable extent. This market research should occur before developing new specifications for a procurement by that agency; and before soliciting bids or proposals for a contract in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold.. Q: How should I create an open source software project? Instead, users who are careful to use open standards can easily switch to a different implementation, including an OSS implementation. Q: What license should the government or contractor choose/select when releasing open source software? CCRA Certificate. The argument is that the classification rules are simply laws of the land (and not additional rules), the classification rules already forbid the release of the resulting binaries to those without proper clearances, and that the GPL only requires that source code be released to those who received a binary. Q: How can I avoid failure to comply with an OSS license? To provide Cybersecurity tools to . When the software is already deployed, does the project develop and deploy fixes? Thus, as long as the software has at least one non-governmental use, software released (or offered for release) to the public is a commercial product for procurement purposes, even if it was originally developed using public funds. 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. OSS is typically developed through a collaborative process. However, the public domain portions may be extracted from such a joint work and used by anyone for any purpose. The 2003 MITRE study, Use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the U.S. Department of Defense, identified some of many OSS programs that the DoD is already using, and concluded that OSS plays a more critical role in the [Department of Defense (DoD)] than has generally been recognized. The DoDIN APL is managed by the Approved Products Certification Office (APCO). Q: Can the government or contractor use trademarks, service marks, and/or certification marks with OSS projects? Indeed, according to Walli, Standards exist to encourage & enable multiple implementations. If the contract includes the typical FAR 52.227-14 (Rights in data - general) clause, without any special alternatives or additions, then the contractor must make a written request for permission to assert copyright in works containing data first produced under the contract. By some definitions this is technically not an open source license, because no license is needed, but such public domain software can be legally used, modified, and combined with other software without restriction. The government can typically release software as open source software once it has unlimited rights to the software. Atty Gen.51 (1913)) that has become the leading case construing 31 U.S.C. OpenSSL - SSL/cryptographic library implementation, GNAT - Ada compiler suite (technically this is part of gcc), perl, Python, PHP, Ruby - Scripting languages, Samba - Windows - Unix/Linux interoperability. Note: Software that is developed collaboratively by multiple organizations within the government and its contractors for government use, and not released to the public, is sometimes called Open Government Off-the-Shelf (OGOTS) or Government OSS (GOSS). The use of commercial products is generally encouraged, and when there are commercial products, the government expects that it will normally use whatever license is offered to the public. In many cases, yes, but this depends on the specific contract and circumstances. Industry Partners / Employers. An Airman at the 616th Operations Center empowered his fellow service members by organizing a professional development seminar for his unit. That way, their improvements will be merged with the improvements of others, enabling them to use all improvements instead of only their own. Since users will want to use the improvements made by others, they have a strong financial incentive to submit their improvements to the trusted repository. Been retired for a few years but work for a company that has a contract with the Air Force and Army. If there are reviewers from many different backgrounds (e.g., different countries), this can also reduce certain risks. 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. In Wallace vs. FSF, Judge Daniel Tinder stated that the GPL encourages, rather than discourages, free competition and the distribution of computer operating systems and found no anti-trust issues with the GPL. Software/hardware for which the implementation, proofs of its properties, and all required tools are released under an OSS license are termed open proofs(see the open proofs website for more information). The Government has the rights to reproduce and release the item, and to authorize others to do so. One way to deal with potential export control issues is to make this request in the same way as approving public release of other data/documentation. Air Force Policy Directive 38-1, Manpower and Organization, 2 July 2019 Air Force instruction 33-360, Publications and Forms Management, 1 December 2015 Air Force Manual 33-363, Management of Records, 21 July 2016 Adopted Forms AF Form 847, Recommendation for Change of Publications First, get approval to publicly release the software. The Defense Information Systems Agency maintains the DOD Information Network (DODIN) Approved Products List (APL) process, as outlined in DOD Instruction 8100.04 on behalf of the Department of Defense. Yes. Open systems and open standards counter dependency on a single supplier, though only if there is a competing marketplace of replaceable components. A very small percentage of such users determine that they can make a change valuable to them, and contribute it back (to avoid maintenance costs). However, the government can release software as OSS when it has unlimited rights to that software. It costs essentially nothing to download a file. Most projects prefer to receive a set of smaller changes, so that they can review each change for correctness. In the DoD, the GIG Technical Guidance Federation is a useful resource for identifying recommended standards (which tend to be open standards). Do not mistakenly use the term non-commercial software as a synonym for open source software. It points to various studies related to market share, reliability, performance, scalability, security, and total cost of ownership. Thus, avoid releasing software under only the original (4-clause) BSD license (which has been replaced by the new or revised 3-clause licence), the Academic Free License (AFL), the now-abandoned Common Public License 1.0 (CPL), the Open Software License (OSL), or the Mozilla Public License version 1.1 (MPL 1.1). That said, this does not mean that all OSS is superior to all proprietary software in all cases by all measures. Government Cloud Brings DoD Systems in the 21st Century. Thus, even this FAQ was developed using open source software. As with proprietary software, to reduce the risk of executing malicious code, potential users should consider the reputation of the supplier (the OSS project) and the experience of other users, prefer software with a large number of users, and ensure that they get the real software and not an imitator (e.g., from the main project site or a trusted distributor). Approved supplements are maintained by AFCENT/A1RR at afcent.a1rrshaw@afcent.af.mil. Clarifying Guidance Regarding Open Source Software (OSS) states that "Software items, including code fixes and enhancements, developed for the Government should be released to the public (such as under an open source license) when all of the following conditions are met: The government or contractor must determine the answer to these questions: Source: Publicly Releasing Open Source Software Developed for the U.S. Government. (3) Verbal waivers are NOT authorized. MEMORANDUM FOR ALL MAJCOMs/FOAs/DRUs . As an aid, the Open Source Initiative (OSI) maintains a list of Licenses that are popular and widely used or with strong communities. Commander offers insight during Black History celebration at Oklahoma Capitol. Currently there are no IO Certificates available for this Tracking Number. OSS programs can typically be simply downloaded and tried out, making it much easier for people to try it out and encouraging widespread use. Software not subject to copyright is often called public domain software. (4) Waivers for non-FDA approved medications will not be considered. These formats may, but need not, be the same. The 2009 DoD CIO memo on open source software says, in attachment 2, 2(d), The use of any software without appropriate maintenance and support presents an information assurance risk. No, DoD policy does not require you to have commercial support for OSS, but you must have some plan for support. The term open source software is sometimes hyphenated as open-source software. GOTS software should not be released when it implements a strategic innovation, i.e. Do you have permission to release to the public (classification, distribution statements, export controls)? As noted in the Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOWTO, three conditions reduce the risks from unintentional vulnerabilities in OSS: The use of any commercially-available software, be it proprietary or OSS, creates the risk of executing malicious code embedded in the software. Contact Contracting. Static attacks (e.g., analyzing the code instead of its execution) can use pattern-matches against binaries - source code is not needed for them either. Q: Where can I release open source software that are new projects to the public? Requiring that all developers be cleared first can reduce certain risks (at substantial costs), where necessary, but even then there is no guarantee. 2019 Approved Software Developers and Transmitters (PDF 51.18 KB) Updated April 15, 2020. Using a standard license simplifies collaboration and eliminates many legal analysis costs.
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