Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing; The Hippocratic License: A new software license that prohibits uses that contravene the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
"The Open Source Initiative maintains the canonical list of free/open licenses based on compliance with its Open Source Definition,
which excludes licenses that ""discriminate against any person or group
of persons" and that "restrict anyone from making use of the program in
a specific field of endeavor." On this basis, OSI cofounder Bruce
Perens says the Hippcratic License is not compatible with the OSD.
Ehmke calls the OSD "horribly dated" because it doesn't enable software
developers to ensure that "our technology isn't used by fascists.""
Showing posts with label Hippocratic License. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hippocratic License. Show all posts
Saturday, October 5, 2019
An Open Source License That Requires Users to Do No Harm; Wired, October 4, 2019
Klint Finley, Wired;
"Increasingly, some developers are calling on their employers and the government to stop using their work in ways they believe are unethical...
Coraline Ada Ehmke wants to give her fellow developers more control over how their software is used. Software released under her new "Hippocratic License" can be shared and modified for almost any purpose, with one big exception: "Individuals, corporations, governments, or other groups for systems or activities that actively and knowingly endanger, harm, or otherwise threaten the physical, mental, economic, or general well-being of individuals or groups in violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
Defining what it means to do harm is inherently contentious, but Ehmke hopes that tying the license to existing international standards will reduce the uncertainty. The declaration of human rights "is a document that's 70 years old and is pretty well established and accepted for its definition of harm and what violating human rights really means," she says."
An Open Source License That Requires Users to Do No Harm
Open
source software can generally be freely copied and reused. One
developer wants to impose ethical constraints on the practice.
"Increasingly, some developers are calling on their employers and the government to stop using their work in ways they believe are unethical...
Coraline Ada Ehmke wants to give her fellow developers more control over how their software is used. Software released under her new "Hippocratic License" can be shared and modified for almost any purpose, with one big exception: "Individuals, corporations, governments, or other groups for systems or activities that actively and knowingly endanger, harm, or otherwise threaten the physical, mental, economic, or general well-being of individuals or groups in violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
Defining what it means to do harm is inherently contentious, but Ehmke hopes that tying the license to existing international standards will reduce the uncertainty. The declaration of human rights "is a document that's 70 years old and is pretty well established and accepted for its definition of harm and what violating human rights really means," she says."
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