Imagine for a moment
our government would treat our public infrastructure,
like our streets and public buildings,
the same way it treats our digital infrastructure:
Our members of parliament would work in a rented space
where they weren't allowed to vote in favor of stricter environmental laws
because the owner - a multinational corporation -
didn't allow that kind of voting in its buildings.
Nor will it allow a long overdue upgrade
to more than 500 seats.
This means some members of parliament have to stay outside, in the street.
And a couple of blocks away
a brand new gym is already being torn down,
just six months after it was built.
It's being replaced with an exact replica -
at great expense.
And the only difference:
The new manufacturer also provides "Streetball" as an added feature.
Meanwhile,
every night, through a hidden backdoor in the city hall,
documents that contain sensitive information on citizens,
from bank data to healthcare records,
are being stolen.
But no one is allowed to do anything about it,
because searching for backdoors and locking them
would infringe the signed user agreement.
And as absurd as this sounds,
when it comes to our digital infrastructure -
things like the software and programs
that our governments are using everyday -
this comparison is pretty accurate.
Because mostly,
our administrations procure proprietary software.
This means a lot of money goes into licenses
that last for a limited amount of time
and restrict our rights.
We aren't allowed to use our infrastructure
in a reasonable way.
And because the source code of proprietary software
is usually a business secret,
finding security holes or deliberately installed backdoors
is extremely difficult and even illegal.
But our public administrations can do better!
If all publicly financed software were to be Free and Open Source,
we could use and share our infrastructure
for anything and for as long as we wanted.
We could upgrade it,
repair it,
and remodel it
in any way to fit our needs.
And because the "Open Source" in Free Software means
that the blueprint is openly readable for everyone,
this makes it much easier to find and close security holes.
And if something practical and reliable was created digitally,
not only can you reuse the blueprint all over your country,
but the actual thing itself can be deployed anywhere,
even internationally!
A great example of this is "FixMyStreet":
Originally developed in Great Britain
as a Free Software app to report,
view and discuss local problems
like potholes,
it's now being used all over the world.
Everyone benefits
because new features and improvements
are shared by everyone.
If all our software were developed like this,
we could stop struggling with restrictive licenses
and could start thinking about where and how
software could help us.
We could concentrate
on creating a better society for everyone.
So, if you think that tomorrow's infrastructure
should be in our own hands,
help us now by sharing this video
and visiting our website:
www.publiccode.eu
It's time to make our demand:
Public money?
Public code!