An Interview with Dr. Edgar Villanueva

Dr. Edgar Villanueva has recently become
somewhat of a celebrity in the Free Software and Open Source
communities as a result of
his legislative
efforts favoring free software and his highly publicized,
well informed and eloquent
response
(English translation
here)
to a Peruvian Microsoft executive's
letter
(English translation
here).

Much of the media coverage has focused on the letter and the
response. An import part of the story, however, is how the proposal
started and how it's garnered support. In the interview below, Dr.
Villanueva graciously acknowledges the support of the Peruvian
Linux Users' Group. In e-mail exchanges with Antonio Ognio, a
Peruvian activist and PLUG member, we discovered that the LUG
actually played an advisory role in determining the text of some of
the more sensitive areas of the proposed law. The participation of
LUGs in the drafting of legislation--that's grass roots at its
finest.LJ What has been your
exposure to, or experience with, free software?Villanueva I've kept up with
the Free Software movement in Peru for several years. Both the
philosophy that drives it and the fact that, for technical and
economic reasons, this software allows the implementation of
solutions for a range of organizations.LJ There are a number of
other countries considering proposals similar to 1609, from Asia to
Europe to Latin America. Are you familiar with these? If so, are
there parts of your proposed bill that make it unique?Villanueva Bill number 1609
has now been improved and is currently in the committee stage with
number 2485, which is also signed by Congressman Jacques Rodrich.
Congressman Daniel Estrada has presented a similar bill that is
based on the same free software spirit. Among other countries, the
closest are Brazil and Argentina; for Europe, we know about the law
passed by the German parliament, as well as the proposal in France
and the study presented to the English parliament. In Asia, above
all there are the actions of the Chinese Government. All these
bills are essentially similar, but in ours, like the Argentinian
one, we claim exclusivity in all state bodies. Obviously putting
this exclusivity into practice will need a whole process, which
will take some time, because there are state bodies that are
working well with proprietary software and would only choose free
software for their future requirements, assuming it's available on
the market. That applies quite generally to any institution. I'm
only mentioning it because I'm convinced of how critical migration
is, the importance of careful planning, and the availability of the
necessary resources to cover the time and the risks that you
take.LJ Is the proposed software
libre law inspired by that of any other nation?Villanueva The support of
the Argentinian movement is invaluable; above all I'd like to
acknowledge the great efforts of Enrique Chaparro, Federico Heinz,
all the members of the
"proposicion"
mailing list, the
Cordoba Linux Users Group,
the Vía Libre
Foundation and Dr. Dragan and his team. All their
experience has fed into ours and allowed us to move forward without
hesitation. The direct contact with the Argentine movement was
suggested to us by Dr. Stallman, and we all know about his
pioneering vision in free software.LJ Is there currently much
(user) training for Linux or other free software in Peruvian public
schools under the supervision of people with degree-level
qualifications? If not, are there plans for this?Villanueva Here I should
emphasize the great support from the local GNU-Peru movement, the
PLUG, and above all the "Activismo" group, which pulled out all the
stops to get to where we are today. Free software usage is still
small, but it's growing exponentially. In the six months since we
launched the bill, the movement has grown more, and there are
projects started in the universities (Engineering, Ricardo Palma)
for the training of future teachers. In one of the universities
they already started evaluating a future diploma or certificate in
free software. It's not only in Lima: the movement in the provinces
in the interior of the country is the strongest and the most
interested, because we all know they would be the ones to benefit
most.LJ If the law is passed, do
you foresee any need for the government of Peru to develop any of
its own software?Villanueva That could be one
of the possibilities, but it's not the essential point of the law.
The aim is to establish the state as the principal user and to
generate demand for private companies to develop software and
provide services. To generate real competition between these firms,
which are few in number, but given the conditions of free software
will soon multiply and following the liberal laws and globalization
of the economy that governments are so fond of, foreign capital
could come to invest in this market.LJ If so, are there any
plans for the funding of such?Villanueva Funding plans
could be set up in some cases, just as the state might finance any
other project in other sectors, but the aim isn't for the state to
become the main software developer. Perhaps it could take part in
mixed state and private financing initiatives, but it should not
create its own bureaucracy. The main aim is to establish free
competition between the firms that want the Peruvian technical and
scientific community to have the control to realise their own
research and development, thus creating software that is
competitive with that of other countries.LJ There is a growing trend
of copyright holders applying licenses not only to software, but
also to data. Is there any proposal to require that e-books
purchased by the government also be licensed under terms that
permit free access and fair use?Villanueva That's a point
that worries me as well, so I keep up with what's happening in
other countries, but the idea is to take one step at a time and
fight for what is already within our grasp. Certainly, once
citizens realise that there are new alternatives to the ones they
are using through imposition by the media and private interests,
they will demand that their legislators develop similar laws to the
one for free software.LJ Is Peru party to any
treaties that foreign proprietary software vendors might use
against Bill Number 1609?Villanueva The bill does not
limit freedom of trade in any way and does not affect any other
existing law, so that none of the international free trade or
intellectual property treaties would be affected by the application
of the law.LJ How would the government
of Peru carry out security audits for free software being
considered for use?Villanueva As it's a new
model we are proposing, we still have to polish up the regulations
for the law, which are missing from the bill for legal reasons. In
any case these regulations have to be developed with the
participation of software experts, of whom there are quite a few in
the country, but from the free software point of view. That's where
all the necessary mechanisms for normal and special applications,
security, auditing, etc., will be set out.LJ Does Peru recognize
patents on mathematical algorithms or business methods? Could such
patents be used to deprive the government of important free
software?Villanueva At the moment,
software programs are protected in Peru by the law on authors'
rights. And as free software has always respected authors' rights,
and has always developed efficiently under that legislation, as
long as the law doesn't change I don't believe it will block that
normal development. Now, the patents that they've wanted to apply
globally since the Hague are something else entirely.--Translated by Graham SeamanRichard Vernon is editor in
chief and Don Marti is technical
editor of Linux Journal.