Peruvian Congress Approves Law
From SPARK
Introduction
Of the sixty-six congressmen who voted, sixty-one were in favor and five didn’t vote. The Peruvian Technical Congress approved the “Law of Neutrality” in computer science software licenses and services. This law establishes a series of criteria and officially declares that free software has high priority when making decisions on software, besides declaring that it can be copied legally.
The law passed with sixty-one votes in favor and none against.
This law not only declares that free software is for everyone to use, but also states the benefits of its use for the country of Peru. The use of free software has vast economical benefits for government and private sectors. The following measures have been taken to ensure its preferred use over private and commercial software:
- Advise all government entities to investigate the benefits and savings of using free software before purchasing private or commercial software
- Advise and encourage private and commercial sectors to use free software
- Make known that it is legal to make copies of free software
The approved project summarizes the legislative initiatives 1609, 2344, 3030, 7389, 8251, and 9026 that favor use of free software.
Source: Peruvian association of Free Software www.apesol.org
Original as of 2/10/2006
