I think we have an annoying problem, perhaps someone can correct me if I'm wrong:
There has been talk in various contexts about having FreedomBox (FB) interact with things like Twitter (Twit) and FaceBook (FacB). For example, if there is a "micro-blogging" feature on FB, it would be nice to be able to push the user's micro-blog onto Twitter (if the user wants). In the browser for FB micro-blogs, if the user wants, perhaps their Twit feed can also be displayed. I think this might be legally unachievable. In order to use the Twit API, a program must use an authentication key (called "consumer key and secret") assigned to the software program using the key. That is, programs that use the Twit API must be registered with Twitter and must use that key. The process of requesting and being granted an application key comes with legal encumbrances. There are two general kinds of encumbrance that matter: 1) You may not use the API for certain activities. For example, you are restricted in how you may display a tweet. You are restricted in what your program can do with a tweet obtained via the API, even if that tweet was authored by the user. 2) Your program (in some cases) must not be freely redistributable. In particular, if your software is used as an alternative to the official Twit interfaces, then you may not pay someone to distribute your program. We need a legal expert to look into the matter further but it appears to me to be effectively impossible to write free software programs which interoperate as desired with the Twit API. The FacB API also requires some sort of developer key. I have not looked into the particular terms of service that apply to using this key but (1) I would be surprised if they did not have similar problems; (2) The mere fact that critical APIs are protected by such keys means that services like FacB and Twit have absolute authority over what client applications may and may not do. -t _______________________________________________ Freedombox-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss
