I completely agree with the sentiment of the draft and at some levels agree with it as well but before doing that we have to look at the IT industry and it's complexities.
What the IT industry in India is suffering not only from the drain caused by sale of `Commercial Software' but the fact that we do not produce our own software and have landed up being a service industry for the larger corporations. Microsoft and other companies which have primarily set up their branches over here to provide service support to their headoffices in other places won't get affected by this as they wouldn't mind paying the taxes propsoed to avail the benfitts of the cheaper and better labour force they can get over here. and secondly we have to really think who will get affected by it. The `lay person' who uses software uses the `pirated' version. not advocating whether it is good or bad it is a `huge' informal industry in itself. and the `lay person' gets his/her software from here. it is this economy, this sector which has led to the computerisation of almost everything, getting people acquainted with computer and technology. by imposing taxes this sector will be completely ruined and Microsoft and other companies which are already coming so strongly against `piracy' treating it under criminal jurisdiction will get a free hand to further persecute these people which will further help them establish their monopoly. and because we don't yet have vendors, assemblers in the markets who are working on software-hardware compatibilty on free software platform this will mean that we not only have to buy the `legal' obnoxiously expensive copy but also have to pay taxes on them. so through this draft who is going to benefitt and who is going to suffer: >.the companies who have set up their service labs over here recuritting the Indian mind will not. they will pay the taxes and increase the rates of their services. >the `end user' is going to suffer as their are not enough support available for Free software utilities and applications here. what we need we concentrate is on producing software from here rather. what are the people, communities who are involved in the same. who are the people who are working with software-hardware compatibility on free software platform in india. please let me know of one outside the community whom a `lay person; can contact to assemble the computer. what are people who know nothing about computers do if they have the source code and can't make what the hell it is. I am really committed to the cause of free software and see it as a potential tool to deal with technologies of tommorow and also it;s implications in other important cultural, social, legal fields but I also see the lacking in terms of what we have contributed to the society and community besides support. i really want people to think about it and then consider the same or in some other manner than this. On Friday 07 March 2003 03:52 pm, LinuxLingam wrote: > [first draft: please submit your suggestions, changes. once a final draft > is ready, will post it so those interested may sign or contribute their > name to it. will then forward this to the indian finance minister and > others in the government.] > > [cross-posted, > and further cross-post, especially to other mailing lists, if required] > > *** > > Dear Sir, > > Re: Levy Excise Tax on All Commercial Software Sold in India. > > > We, the undersigned, propose the Indian Government levy excise tax on all > commercial software sold in India. Reasons: > > 1) Commercial software (C.S) is a big cash drain for both the Indian > government and Indian corporates. > > 2) Almost all commercial software are non-free. This means, they do not > give the end users the freedom i) to use the software for any purpose ii) > to study the source code of the software iii) to make changes and > improvements to the source code iv) to legally share copies of the software > with their neighbours and colleagues. v) to pass on such freedom to those > who further receive the software. > > 3) these freedoms are important for a developing, poor, country like India, > where every citizen, organization, and state, dreams of harnessing the > opportunities offered by IT. > > 4) these freedoms also significantly curtail strong anti-competitive > behaviour in the software industry. > > 5) countries like China are moving away from non-free software to > freedom-based software. India has no such significant, clearly-defined > initiative in place for adopting freedom based software. > > 6) in the lack of such a clear initiative, commercial software vendors > raise the stakes for both their competitors and for freedom based software. > this further kills innovation in the industry. > > 7) a large and significant percentage of commercial software is usually > sold as bundled, OEM software. end-users find they are *forced* to use such > software, since their requests to buy machines with such software > uninstalled is usually turned down. > > 8) indian customers usually find their *only* option is to buy the computer > with the bundled software, then carefully disagree the end user license > agreement (eula) of the bundled software preferably in front of witnesses, > then contact the OEM software vendor independently and press for a refund. > this is clearly anti-competitive. and the computer is perceived in cost as > (hardware+OEM software as One). > > 9) Commercial software companies are usually quite rich. Not taxing them > allows them to hoard their wealth even more and give them more implicit > power to quash their competition in commercial software and in > freedom-based software. > > 10) by taxing them, the indian government will immediately have more powers > to i) accelerate the adoption of freedom based software. > ii) fund the development of much-needed indigenous solutions in IT for > india using freedom-based software (indian language technologies, education > projects, free and freedom-based education software, more secure and > transparant software for indian defense industries, lower IT infrastructure > costs for indian government and businesses, etc.) > > 11) by taxing commercial software and funding several projects in india on > freedom-based software, the indian government also creates a quantum leap > in the number of jobs and opportunities available to the indian developer > community and IT industry, thus creating and sharing more wealth. > > 12) the adoption of free and freedom-based software allows indian > corporates to save considerable sums of money towards commercial non-free > software, where the Return on Investment is loudly questioned. this money > can then be used for further job-creating opportunities such as expansion > of new units of industrial manufacturing, factories, etc. shareholders of > indian companies will also benefit from stronger dividends due to stronger > profit margins due to the adoption of free and freedom-based software. > > 13) the already financially-starved education sector in India will gain, > since the large allocation of funds for software in education can be used > more productively, even for opening more schools instead. > > 14) finally, as a statement of leadership and values, india must adopt > freedom-based software that is being proposed to the UNICEF to be declared > as a world-culture heritage. > > We hope the Indian government sincerely considers these suggestions. For > more information on what is freedom-based software, please check out > www.gnu.org. > > Bizarre as it sounds, when it comes to software: > Give us Freedom, or Give Us Taxes. > > > Your Sincerely, > > <signatures...> > > > ================================================ > To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe in > subject header. Check archives at > http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd%40wpaa.org ================================================ To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe in subject header. Check archives at http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd%40wpaa.org
