A proposed addition to open-source licensing for improving freedom of use

Abstract

<p>This paper identifies an often overlooked dimension of open source li-censing, that of users being able to run distributed software freely and without dis-crimination, and suggests additions that would further secure freedom 0 to endusers — the freedom for the user to use software however they wish. While, tradi-tionally, open source licenses have left developers free to work with their code inany way they wish, and only secured rights for end-users through code modifica-tions, new licenses rethink this paradigm. Furthermore, modern mobile applicationinfrastructure is more restricted by design, and has changed the landscape of modi-fied versions of applications (simultaneously widening the digital divide), and thusa new analysis is needed on how (and which) freedoms should be secured to ensurethat free software remains free.<br></p>