Surprised that such a long article never quite got around to explaining exactly what is the problem?! They (eventually) mentioned vulnerability reporting as one concern - is that it? Is there something else?
The idea behind it was undoubtedly “good” and had protection of citizens in mind. As always the implementation was “lacking” maybe due to failure by regulators to understand how FOSS works. But surely the open source community will find a way to work around this as it has always done.
There. Maybe if they fuck around and find out that the bulk of server software relies on open source software made by volunteers, they'll get their head out of their ass.
I agree, power to regulate should be given to knowledgeable people who understand what they are ruling about. At least proprietary software using open source libraries and frameworks (released unfer LGPL or Apache or MIT licenses) is not affected and can continue to sponsor FOSS development so this is not the end at all. What I said is that maybe communities will find a way to continue operating however.
The problem with that (which I would absolutely support if they want to pull nonsense like this) is that you're already under licenses that preclude that for everything already existing. It's not a real option.
Great. So what, will they just be able to directly debit our bank accounts for the $15 million fine when we're found to violate their stupid law? Or will every open source developer will be barred from taking a vacation in the EU lest interpol nabs them for breaking this stupid law? What is their enforcement mechanism?
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