Could Americans be barred from developing open-source hardware and/or software in the future?

[tactical371]

Could Americans be barred from developing open-source hardware and/or software in the future (because China could benefit)?

According to Reuters, some U.S. lawmakers want to ban U.S. companies from working on RISC-V, since China could benefit from the open collaboration that is fundamental to open-source development. See https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-c ... 023-10-06/ .

To me, this seems like government overreach. And it seems fundamentally antithetical to the open-source philosophy. China uses Linux too. Should individuals or companies be prohibited from working on improving the Linux kernel, since China could benefit from these improvements?

There are a lot of nasty side-effects that are beginning to emerge from the proprietary closed-source model of technology, including subscription plans to use built-in hardware for your watch or your car (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meWNtrZo5Mw for example). Not only does the U.S. government not care about this new trend, but it seems that they are prepared to defend closed-source technology over open-source technology. The politicians always seem to find an excuse, whether it has to do with protecting the children, or fighting terrorists, or dominating China. But there will always be some sort of enemy or danger in the world that can be pointed at as an excuse to take away our freedom.

I hope that regulations against RISC-V development do not pass into law.

[rijackson741]

Freedom of speech is written into the constitution. So if I want to publish plans or source code, then some in the US government can stamp their feet and pull at their hair, but they probably won't get very far.