The output of the Round Table is the "Position Statement on Software Neutrality and Openness" as appended below.

You are invited to endorse the Position Statement -- you may do so by using the Comments facility at the bottom of this blog post or email us at the address open -AT - openmalaysiablog - DOT - com. Please submit your real name in full, organization, email address, contact number and website (if available). Periodically upon verification, we will update the list of endorsers at the bottom of the Position Statement. Please indicate whether you would like your organization to be listed, or yourself  as an individual .

Below is MOSSA's "Position Statement on Software Neutrality and Openness".

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MOSSA
(Malaysia Open Source Software Alliance)
Position Statement on Software Neutrality and Openness
7 December 2006

Background

On 21 November 2006, Y.B. Dato' Sri Jamaludin Jarjis, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation announced that the Malaysian Government is adopting a neutral technology platform policy that does not favour either open source software (OSS) or proprietary software, and that government procurement policies will now be based on merit and not on platform choice. The Minister was also quoted that this does not void MAMPU's Open Source Software Master Plan.

Purpose of Position Statement

Malaysia Open Source Software Alliance (MOSSA) consists of ICT solution developers and providers, associations, groups, users and individuals as listed below. We would like to state our support for the announced policy and our views on how the policy should be practiced.

Position Statement

1.  We have always regarded the Malaysian Public Sector OSS Initiative with its Master Plan as one of the best in the world, and it has a balanced approach to software deployment with no preference given to either open source or proprietary software. We believe this remains the case today and we are pleased that the Malaysian Government is reaffirming this policy.

2.  We support a procurement structure based on neutrality, and we would like to see a draft on what 'neutrality' means. Key concerns are:

• Software neutrality should result in a competitive playing field which benefits the consumers in terms of quality of service received and long term gains.
• Software neutrality should include triggers that look beyond the short-term goals and mitigate risks of market manipulation by companies or organizations who might offer more in return for market monopoly, imposing restrictive strategies and retarding the growth of the local IT industryin the long run.
• Software neutrality should result in openly developed, openly maintained, openly accessible and royalty and patent free standards to mitigate these risks, which favour both the market and industry, beside truly giving meaning to neutrality.
• Software neutrality includes understanding that considerations when acquiring software are independent of whether the software comes from a proprietary or open source provider. Procurement decisions should be based on solid business rationale which must consider functionality, cost effectiveness, interoperability through open standards, security, flexibility and performance. Additional considerations would include the effect on local economies, the adoption of open file formats, and adaptability to future technologies.

3.  We are working on a Customer Charter that represents our commitment to the industry and market, incorporating the following:

• Innovation means making the customer receive exactly what he wants.
• Empowerment means allowing the customer to move forward as he chooses after the service is delivered.
• Fair play means allowing the customer to choose the software he wants and still run the solutions he paid for.
• Neutrality means not restricting the customer to our business model when he does not like it.
• Democracy is giving the customer a choice.

The following individuals, associations and companies endorse the Position Statement:

1. Ang Chin Han
2. Ang Kian Meng
3. Colin Charles, Arena Techniques Pty Ltd, Australia
4. Ditesh Kumar
5. Exoweb Limited, China
6. Ezwan Aizat Bin Abdullah Faiz
7. FMM (Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers)
8. IBM Malaysia Sdn Bhd
9. Jayakumar
10. Kenneth Wong Yoong Chiat
11. Magnifix Sdn Bhd
12. MNCC (Malaysian National Computer Confederation)
13. Nah Soo Hoe
14. ODF SIG (OpenDocument Format Special Interest Group) of MNCC
15. OSSIG (Open Source Special Interest Group) of MNCC
16. Novell Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd
17. Omnilogic Sdn Bhd
18. Open Source Systems Sdn Bhd
19. QubeConnect Sdn Bhd
20. Red Hat Limited (Malaysia Representative Office)
21. Skali (Alam Teknokrat Sdn Bhd)
22. Sun Microsystems Malaysia Sdn Bhd
23. UNDP-APDIP International Open Source Network (ASEAN+3, South Asia and Pacific Islands nodes)