[school-discuss] SIF versus other initiatives

[Tom Adelstein <adelste@netscape.net>]

After a careful analysis of the SIIA SIF standard, I want to recommend 
that Schoolforge avoid this standard 100% and look at other initiatives 
in progress such as  ADL Co-Lab Network,  SCORM (Sharable Content Object 
Reference Model), among aothers.

I'd like to reference an article call "The Standard Bearers Close Ranks".

http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=7359

The article addresses each initiative as well as SIF.

SIIA is an organization closely resembling Microsoft's front 
organization BSA which has gone after schools for not having licenses or 
proof of purchase.They show up with Federal Marshall's and embarass the 
school district in an attempt to discredit and intimidate the boards 
into submission to their claims. They only want your money. They are not 
a benevolent orgainzation.

I have person experience with SIIA.  Two former disgruntled employees 
(fired) told SIIA that my company was pirating software for 
distribution. In fact, we were a Linux shop and developed Linux 
software. We didn't have any of their software.

It took two years to get the SIIA to give up. They billed me 
extraordinary amounts for things I never had or owned. They sent us 
registered letters, gave us deadlines for compliance, hired law firms to 
send us drafts of law suits they planned to file. I check with other 
firms and the consensus is that SIIA are bullies. I spoke to their 
chairman during a conference call and he wanted me to run their audit 
software on our Linux boxes and to submit a diagram of our network. 
Are you up from that kind of threatment? BTW, they interferred with our 
productivity by continously calling, writing our attorney with demands 
for discovery.

This is  what you may face.

Funding for Open Source projects for K12 schools will be forthcoming in 
the next few months. No need exists for schoolforge members to follow SIF.

I plan to bring up opposition to the SIIA standard by petitioning 
Congress under the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001".

Hopefully, you will respond to this email and suggest alternatives 
before I do.

If it was up to me, I would have Congress outlaw the SIIA and BSA. But, 
they will ultimately die - unless of course, they get into the 
"standards business".

Respectfully submitted,

Tom Adelstein
Open Source Software Institute