CRA & PLD: Liability rules with large exemptions for Free Software are introduced
With today's votes on CRA and PLD on the introduction of liability rules
for software, a broad exception for Free Software was made, so that
after long and intense debates individual developers and non for profit
work are safeguarded.
On Tuesday, March 12, the two votes in the plenary of the European
Parliament on the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and the Product Liability
Directive (PLD) marked the provisional end of a long debate on the
introduction of liability rules for software - with a broad exemption
for Free Software.
Already at an early stage, the
FSFE argued in a hearing in the EU Parliament, for the inclusion of
clear and precise exemptions for Free Software development in the
legislation and for liability to be transferred to those who
significantly financially benefit from it on the market.
The co-legislators have largely complied with our demands and following
intensive debates, have significantly improved the Commission’s
proposal, by introducing an exemption for Free Software and including
it in the articles of the regulation. In the future, individual
developers and non-profit development of Free Software will be exempt
from the CRA and the PLD. Nevertheless, the wording in both the
regulations are different and a standardisation processes and guidelines
are still being drawn up. We will therefore closely monitor the
implementation and whether Software Freedom is protected accordingly.
The efforts of Free Software advocates have also helped to ensure that
decision maker in EU institutions now have a better understanding of
Free Software and its various stakeholders, which will be useful in
future debates.
"In the debate about liability rules for Free Software, it has become
clear how important Free Software is for our economic and social
development. On the other hand, it has also become clear what needs to
be taken into account in the Regulation when it comes to software
freedom. This has shown the immense importance of working together with
the various stakeholders in Free Software development and distribution
and as well as to understand and accommodate the different interests of
these players," concludes Alexander Sander, FSFE`s Senior Policy
Consultant.
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