LocalFOSS

In a sign that the battle for the hearts and minds of both government and business clients is hotting up in Malaysia, the Malaysia Open Source Software Alliance has released and Open Statement on "Software Nuetrality and Openness".

The statement is published below:

MOSSA
(Malaysia Open Source Software Alliance)
Position Statement on Software Neutrality and Openness
7 December 2006

Background

The Free/Open Source Software Society (FOSS SM), Malaysia's growing national FOSS community body, recently held the first of what is hoped to be many community outreach events.

At the recent PCFAIR - Malaysias largest consumer IT Fair - held in Kuala Lumpur, FOSS SM organised a booth to promote the benefits of Free and Open Source Software to the general public.

"Many members of the public attend the event, so the PCFair provides us with opportunity to find interested parties from a diverse background easily." said Ezwan Aizat Bin Abdullah Faiz of FOSS SM.

"As this was our first event, I didn't want to set out too many goals and objectives. Our primary goal is to find the pocket of FOSS users in Malaysia, and pull them together into the larger community, and contribute back in any possible way. Along the way we will be advocating and promoting Free and Open Source Software, informing the public of the alternatives that are available." Said Faiz.

Mayalasia is a country that sits at the cross roads of South-East Asia. For centuries, the straights of Malacca have carried both goods and ideas from east to west and back again. These days the country of over 26 million people is a complex weave of ast and west, with large Indian and Chinese minorities and a mesh of malay and western institutions.

Today Malaysia is sitting at another cross-road. Recently the government has entered into negotiations regarding a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Negotiators from the US, representing some of the biggest software companies in the world have been pushing quite hard for stricter anti-piracy laws, as well as agitating against programs such as the federal governments “Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Initiative”, a program launched in 2004 aimed at both growing the local ICT industry though Free and Open Source Software and reducing government spending on ICT costs.