Usability Views Article Details  home | timeline | recent | popular | e-reports | userati | books | about  Richard Stallman (03 Mar 2005) The UK government has funded the development of software useful for e-government, and now doesn't know what to do with it. Someone had the bright idea to hand it over to local councils, inviting them to turn themselves into software companies. The public have already paid to develop this software. Isn't it absurd to make them pay, now, for permission to use it? Isn't it absurd to restrict what they can do with it? Alas, such absurdity is not unusual; it is standard practice for governments to deliver publicly funded software into private hands, to companies that make the public - and even the government - beg for permission to use it afterwards. Article URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1428659,00.html Read 59 more articles from guardian.co.uk sorted by date, popularity, or title. Next Article: The Bug Hall of Fame     This site is a labour of love built by Chris McEvoy