Q: What policies address the use of open source software (OSS) in the Department of Defense? DFARS 252.227-7014(a)(15) defines unlimited rights as rights to use, modify, reproduce, release, perform, display, or disclose computer software or computer software documentation in whole or in part, in any manner and for any purpose whatsoever, and to have or authorize others to do so. Q: What are Open Government Off-the-Shelf (OGOTS) or Government OSS (GOSS)? 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. If a government employee enhances or modifies a (copyrighted) open source software program, the resulting work is a joint work (see 17 USC 101) which is partially copyrighted and partially public domain. Note that this also applies to proprietary software, which often have even stricter limits on if/how the software may be changed. In particular, U.S. law (10 USC 2377) requires a preference for commercial products for procurement of supplies or services. Thus, they are all strategies for sharing the development and maintenance costs of software, potentially reducing its cost. The GPL and government unlimited rights terms have similar goals, but differ in details. The DoD has not expressed a position on whether or not software should be patented, but it is interested in ensuring that software that effectively supports its missions can be developed in a cost-effective, timely, and legal manner. There are many alternative clauses in the FAR and DFARS, and specific contracts can (and often do) have different agreements on who has which rights to software developed under a government contract. 37 African nations, US kickoff AACS 2023 in Senegal. If that competitors use of OSS results in an advantage to the DoD (such as lower cost, faster schedule, increased performance, or other factors such as increased flexibility), contractors should expect that the DoD will choose the better bid. As noted by the OSJTF definition for open systems, be sure to test such systems with more than one web browser (e.g., Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Firefox), to reduce the risk of vendor lock-in. What are good practices for use of OSS in a larger system? As stated in FAR 25.103 Exceptions item (e), The restriction on purchasing foreign end products does not apply to the acquisition of information technology that is a commercial item, when using fiscal year 2004 or subsequent fiscal year funds (Section 535(a) of Division F, Title V, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004, and similar sections in subsequent appropriations acts).. Thus, components that have the potential to (eventually) support many users are more likely to succeed. Around the Air Force: Accelerating the Legacy, Expanding Cyber Resiliency, Poppy Seed Warning. If the goal is maximize the use of a technology or standard in a variety of different applications/implementations, including proprietary ones, permissive licenses may be especially useful. 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. Q: Is OSS commercial software? In particular, note that the costs borne by a particular organization are typically only those for whatever improvements or services are used (e.g., installation, configuration, help desk, etc.). Example: GPL and (unrelated) proprietary applications can be running at the same time on a desktop PC. The term trademark is often used to refer to both trademarks and service marks. The intended audience of this tool is emergency managers, first responders, and other homeland security professionals. The first meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the agency's governing body, took place on 24 July of that year. These formats may, but need not, be the same. FROM: HQ AFSPC/A6 . There are many alternative clauses in the FAR and DFARS, and specific contracts can (and often do) have different specific agreements on who has which rights to software developed under a government contract. 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. Her work has appeared in Air Force Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy, the Frederick News-Post (Md. Most commercial software (including OSS) is not designed for such purposes. This includes the most popular OSS license, the, Weakly Protective (aka weak copyleft): These licenses are a compromise between permissive and strongly protective licenses. Consider anticipated uses. It also provides the latest updates and changes to policy from Air Force senior leadership and the Uniform Board. AEW and AEG/CCs may publish supplements to AFI 1-1, Air Force Standards, to address issues of community standards. This also pressures proprietary implementations to limit their prices, and such lower prices for proprietary software also encourages use of the standard. A 2003 MITRE study, Use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the U.S. Department of Defense, identified many OSS programs that the DoD is already using that are licensed using the GPL. The following externally-developed evaluation processes or tips may be of use: Migrating from an existing system to an OSS approach requires addressing the same issues that any migration involves. Q: Is there a risk of malicious code becoming embedded into OSS? Reasons for taking this approach vary. If the government has received copyright (e.g., because the FAR 52.227-17 or DFARS 252.227-7020 clauses apply) then the government can release the software as open source software. An Open Source Community can update the codebase, but they cannot patch your servers. Approved by AF/SG3/5P on 13 May 2019 7700 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church, VA 22042-5158 Category U.S. government contractors (including those in the DoD) are often indemnified from patent infringement by the U.S. government as part of their contract. What is its relationship to OSS? Certified Products : New CC Portal In some other cases, the government lacks the rights to release the software to the public, e.g., the government may only have Government Purpose Rights (GPR). Q: What additional material is available on OSS in the government or DoD? The DoD Antivirus Software License Agreement with McAfee allows active DoD employees to utilize the antivirus software for home use. The list consists of 21 equipment categories divided into categories, sub-categories and then . In many cases, yes, but this depends on the specific contract and circumstances. 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. The government can typically release software as open source software once it has unlimited rights to the software. Examples of OSS that are in widespread use include: There are many Linux distributions which provides suites of such software such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, SUSE, Debian and Ubuntu. Industry Partners / Employers. The ruling was a denial of a motion for summary judgement, and the parties ultimately settled the claim out-of-court. LenelS2 OnGuard and Milestone XProtect jointly added to U.S. Air Force There is a fee for registering a trademark. 97-258, 96 Stat. The release of the software may be restricted by the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) or Export Administration Regulation (EAR). Use of the DODIN APL allows DOD Components to purchase and operate systems over all DOD network . If the supplier attains a monopoly or it is difficult to switch from the supplier, the costs may skyrocket. 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). Some have found that community support can be very helpful. Since OSS licenses are quite generous, the only license-violating actions a developer is likely to try is to release software under a more stringent license and those will have little effect if they cannot be enforced in court. Export control laws are often not specifically noted in OSS licenses, but nevertheless these laws also govern when and how software may be released. On approval, such containers are granted a Certificate to Field designation by the Air Force Chief Software Officer. 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. In contracts where this issue is important, you should examine the contract to find the specific definitions that are being used. Air Force football finishes signing class with 28 three-star recruits, most in Mountain West. The Authorized Equipment List (AEL) is a list of approved equipment types allowed under FEMA's preparedness grant programs. For example, the LGPL permits the covered software (usually a library) to be embedded in a larger work under many different licenses (including proprietary licenses), subject to certain conditions. OSS projects typically seek financial gain in the form of improvements. This is in part because such a ban would prevent DoD groups from using the same analysis and network intrusion applications that hostile groups could use to stage cyberattacks. In nearly all cases, OSS is commercial software, so the policies regarding commercial software continue to apply to OSS. 1.1.3. Unfortunately, this typically trades off flexibility; the government does not have the right to modify the software, so it cannot fix serious security problems, add arbitrary improvements, or make the software work on platforms of its choosing. Yes. If the project is likely to become large, or must perform filtering for public release, it may be better to establish its own website. Similarly, OSS (as well as proprietary software) may indeed have malicious code embedded in it. Coat or jacket depending on the season. The Department of Defense invests tens of thousands of dollars in training for its Service members. Vendor lock-in, aka lock-in, is the situation in which customers are dependent on a single supplier for some product (i.e., a good or service), or products, and cannot move to another vendor without substantial costs and/or inconvenience. . No. However, this approach should not be taken lightly. Delivers the latest news from each branch of the U.S . A company that found any of its proprietary software in an OSS project can in most cases quickly determine who unlawfully submitted that code and sue that person for infringement. Examples include: If you know of others who have similar needs, ask them for leads. The following marking should be added to software source code when the government has unlimited rights due to the use of the DFARS 252.227-7014 contract: The U.S. Government has Unlimited Rights in this computer software pursuant to the clause at DFARS 252.227-7014. ASTi's Telestra systems integrate with a vast array of simulators across the Air Force Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) enterprise. OSS implementations can help rapidly increase adoption/use of the open standard. ), (See also GPL FAQ, Question Can the US Government release a program under the GNU GPL?). The government is not the copyright holder in such cases, but the government can still enforce its rights. (See also Publicly Releasing Open Source Software Developed for the U.S. Government by Dr.David A. Wheeler, DoD Software Tech News, February 2011.). Unfortunately, the government must pay for all development and maintenance costs of GOTS; since these can be substantial, GOTS runs the risk of becoming obsolete when the government cannot afford those costs. There are two runways supporting an average of 47,000 aircraft operations . The first specific step towards the establishment of the United Nations was the Inter-Allied conference that led to the Declaration of St James's Palace on 12 June 1941. The rules for many other U.S. departments may be very different. PDF Community College of the Air forCe - Air University The 2003 MITRE study, Use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the U.S. Department of Defense, for analysis purposes, posed the hypothetical question of what would happen if OSS software were banned in the DoD, and found that OSS plays a far more critical role in the DoD than has been generally recognized (especially in) Infrastructure Support, Software Development, Security, and Research. Marines - (703) 432-1134, DSN 378. DISA Tools Mission Statement. In 2017, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, in Artifex Software, Inc.v. Hancom, Inc., issued a ruling confirming the enforceability of the GNU General Public License. Another useful source is the list of licenses accepted by the Google code hosting service. This memo is available at, The Open Technology Development Roadmap was released by the office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Advanced Systems and Concepts, on 7 Jun 2006. It states that in 1913, the Attorney General developed an opinion (30 Op. Air Force ROTC is offered at over 1,100 colleges and universities in the continental United States, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Since OSS provides source code, there is no problem. For additional information please contact: disa.meade.ie.list.approved-products-certification-office@mail.mil. Section 6.C.3.a notes that the voluntary services provision is not new; it first appeared, in almost identical form, back in 1884. Signing Day | Air Force football Class of 2021 signing list Examples include GPL applications running on proprietary operating systems or wrappers, and GPL applications that use proprietary components explicitly marked as non-GPL. Even if OSS has no cost to download, there is still a cost for OSS due to installation, support, and so on (whether done in-house or through external organizations). Public domain software (in this copyright-related sense) can be used by anyone for any purpose, and cannot by itself be released under a copyright license (including typical open source software licenses). Special Series. Parties are innocent until proven guilty, so if there. DAF COVID-19 Statistics - January 2022. DOD Mobile Apps Gallery - U.S. Department of Defense Choose a widely-used existing license; do not create a new license. Everything just redirects to the DISA Approved Product list which only covers hardware. Q: Can the government or contractor use trademarks, service marks, and/or certification marks with OSS projects? The United States Air Force operates a service called "Iron Bank", which is the DoD Enterprise repository of hardened software containers, many of which are based on open source products.
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