[OSGeo-Discuss] Is it possible for properitery GIS vendor to market thier properitery product as Open ?

[Luí­s Moreira de Sousa]

Dear all,

In all countries of the OECD marketing practices are regulated in one way or another. For instance, if I sell ear rings made out of lead I can not claim they are made of silver. In some cases this sort of distinction is not easy, as is the case with "open source" or "open".

In the European Union various mechanisms have been put in place for similar situations, such as the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) [0] to label goods produced in specific regions (think of Port, Champagne, Scotch) or the Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (TSG) [1] to differentiate products crafted by traditional processes.

So far, organisations like the OSGeo or the FSF have focused on labelling projects that meet particular criteria in open source, but have not - and can not - prevent others from misusing the concept. This thread shows that this is a new path the community must trail.

I believe we need a regulatory framework for "open source" labelling; something like the EU regulation 1169/2011 [2] for organic farming. It not only sets the criteria for farmers to label their products, as it actively prevents others from falsely claiming to that criteria.

Regards.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_indications_and_traditional_specialities_in_the_European_Union#Protected_designation_of_origin_.28PDO.29

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_indications_and_traditional_specialities_in_the_European_Union#Traditional_specialities_guaranteed_.28TSG.29

[2] https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/organic/organic-farming/what-is-organic-farming/organic-certification_en

--
Luís Moreira de Sousa
Im Grund 6
CH-8600 Dübendorf
Switzerland

Phone: +41 (0)79 812 62 65
Email: luis.de.sousa at protonmail.ch
URL: https://sites.google.com/site/luismoreiradesousa
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