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 <title>The Problem Is Software Controlled By Its Developer
 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
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 <h2>The Problem Is Software Controlled By Its Developer</h2>
 
 <address class="byline">by Richard Stallman</address>
 
 <p>
 I fully agree with Jonathan Zittrain's conclusion that we should
 not abandon general-purpose computers. Alas, I disagree completely
 with the path that led him to it. He presents serious security
 problems as an intolerable crisis, but I'm not convinced. Then he
 forecasts that users will panic in response and stampede toward
 restricted computers (which he calls &ldquo;appliances&rdquo;), but there is no
 sign of this happening.</p>
 
 <p>
 Zombie machines are a problem, but not a catastrophe. Moreover, far
 from panicking, most users ignore the issue. Today, people are indeed
 concerned about the danger of phishing (mail and web pages that
 solicit personal information for fraud), but using a browsing-only
 device instead of a general computer won't protect you from that.</p>
 
 <p>
 Meanwhile, Apple has reported that 25 percent of iPhones have been
 unlocked. Surely at least as many users would have preferred an
 unlocked iPhone but were afraid to try a forbidden recipe to obtain
 it. This refutes the idea that users generally prefer that their
 devices be locked.</p>
 
 <p>
 It is true that a general computer lets you run programs designed to
 <a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html">spy on you, restrict you, or
 even let the developer attack you</a>.  Such programs include KaZaA,
 RealPlayer, Adobe Flash Player, Windows Media Player, Microsoft
 Windows, and MacOS.  Windows Vista does all three of those things; it
 also lets Microsoft change the software without asking, or command it
 to permanently cease normal functioning [<a href="#note1">1</a>].</p>
 
 <p>
 But restricted computers are no help, because they present the
 same problem for the same reason.</p>
 
 <p>
 The iPhone is designed for remote attack by Apple. When Apple remotely
 destroys iPhones that users have unlocked to enable other uses, that
 is no better than when Microsoft remotely sabotages Vista. The TiVo is
 designed to enforce restrictions on access to the recordings you make,
 and reports what you watch. E-book readers such as the Amazon
 &ldquo;<a href="/philosophy/why-call-it-the-swindle">Swindle</a>&rdquo;
 are designed to stop you from sharing and lending your
 books. Features that artificially obstruct use of your data are known
 as Digital Restrictions Management (DRM); our protest campaign against
 DRM is hosted
 at <a href="https://www.defectivebydesign.org/">defectivebydesign.org</a>. (Our
 adversaries call DRM &ldquo;Digital Rights Management&rdquo; based on their idea
 that restricting you is their right. When you choose a term, you
 choose your side.)</p>
 
 <p>
 The nastiest of the common restricted devices are cell phones. They
 transmit signals for tracking your whereabouts even when switched
 &ldquo;off&rdquo;; the only way to stop this is to take out all the
 batteries. Many can also be turned on remotely, for listening,
 unbeknownst to you. (The FBI is already taking advantage of this
 feature, and the US Commerce Department lists this danger in its
 Security Guide.) Cellular phone network companies regularly install
 software in users phones, without asking, to impose new usage
 restrictions.</p>
 
 <p>
 With a general computer you can escape by rejecting such programs. You
 don't have to have KaZaA, RealPlayer, Adobe Flash, Windows Media
 Player, Microsoft Windows or MacOS on your computer (I don't). By
 contrast, a restricted computer gives you no escape from the software
 built into it.</p>
 
 <p>
 The root of this problem, both in general PCs and restricted
 computers, is software controlled by its developer. The developer
 (typically a corporation) controls what the program does, and prevents
 everyone else from changing it. If the developer decides to put in
 malicious features, even a master programmer cannot easily remove
 them.</p>
 
 <p>
 The remedy is to give the users more control, not less. We must insist
 on free/libre software, software that the users are free to change and
 redistribute. Free/libre software develops under the control of its
 users: if they don't like its features, for whatever reason, they can
 change them. If you're not a programmer, you still get the benefit of
 control by the users. A programmer can make the improvements you would
 like, and publish the changed version. Then you can use it too.</p>
 
 <p>
 With free/libre software, no one has the power to make a malicious
 feature stick. Since the source code is available to the users,
 millions of programmers are in a position to spot and remove the
 malicious feature and release an improved version; surely someone will
 do it. Others can then compare the two versions to verify
 independently which version treats users right. As a practical fact,
 free software is generally free of designed-in malware.</p>
 
 <p>
 Many people do acquire restricted devices, but not for motives of
 security. Why do people choose them?</p>
 
 <p>
 Sometimes it is because the restricted devices are physically
 smaller. I edit text all day (literally) and I find the keyboard and
 screen of a laptop well worth the size and weight. However, people who
 use computers differently may prefer something that fits in a
 pocket. In the past, these devices have typically been restricted, but
 they weren't chosen for that reason.</p>
 
 <p>
 Now they are becoming less restricted. In fact, the OpenMoko cell
 phone features a main computer running entirely free/libre software,
 including the GNU/Linux operating system normally used on PCs and
 servers.</p>
 
 <p>
 A major cause for the purchase of some restricted computers is
 financial sleight of hand. Game consoles, and the iPhone, are sold for
 an unsustainably low price, and the manufacturers subsequently charge
 when you use them. Thus, game developers must pay the game console
 manufacturer to distribute a game, and they pass this cost on to the
 user. Likewise, AT&amp;T pays Apple when an iPhone is used as a
 telephone. The low up-front price misleads customers into thinking
 they will save money.</p>
 
 <p>
 If we are concerned about the spread of restricted computers, we
 should tackle the issue of the price deception that sells them.
 If we are concerned about malware, we should insist on free
 software that gives the users control.</p>
 <div class="column-limit"></div>
 
 <h3 class="footnote">Postnote</h3>
 
 <p>
 Zittrain's suggestion to reduce the statute of limitations on software
 patent lawsuits is a tiny step in the right direction, but it is much
 easier to solve the whole problem. Software patents are an
 unnecessary, artificial danger imposed on all software developers and
 users in the US. Every program is a combination of many methods and
 techniques&mdash;thousands of them in a large program. If patenting these
 methods is allowed, then hundreds of those used in a given program are
 probably patented. (Avoiding them is not feasible; there may be no
 alternatives, or the alternatives may be patented too.) So the
 developers of the program face hundreds of potential lawsuits from
 parties unknown, and the users can be sued as well.</p>
 
 <p>
 The complete, simple solution is to eliminate patents from the field
 of software. Since the patent system is created by statute,
 eliminating patents from software will be easy given sufficient
 political
 will. (See <a href="https://endsoftwarepatents.org">End Software Patents</a>.)</p>
 
 <h3 class="footnote">Footnote</h3>
 <ol>
 <li id="note1">Windows Vista initially had a &ldquo;kill switch&rdquo; with
 which Microsoft could remotely command the computer to stop
 functioning.  Microsoft
 subsequently <a href="https://badvista.fsf.org/blog/windows-genuine-disadvantage/">removed
 this</a>, ceding to public pressure, but reserved the
 &ldquo;right&rdquo; to put it back in.</li>
 </ol>
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 <p>Copyright &copy; 2008, 2010, 2014, 2021 Richard Stallman</p>
 
 <p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
 href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative
 Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p>
 
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 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
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