Issa Open Source Language Comes Under Criticism

Draft legislation proposed by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to overhaul federal information technology has drawn opposition for its section on open source software adoption.

The draft (.pdf) would require the Federal Chief Information Officers Council to issue guidance that mostly reaffirms open source's status as a commercial item under federal acquisition regulations, but it would also create a governmentwide open source software approval process to address "issues such as security and redistribution rights."

The Federal CIO Council guidance would also establish standard service level agreements for support and standard contract language.