ICC policy statement on Open Source Software

Open source software –as a software development and licensing model – is an emerging business reality that deserves thoughtful consideration. It is appropriate to address this subject in a balanced way and to look at the practical, pragmatic issues surrounding the emergence of this software development model in the marketplace, and the public policy implications.

Generally speaking, open source software (OSS) refers to software for which the underlying "source" code (the programme text written in a programmeming language, such as C and C++, that is understandable to humans) is available for inspection and modification by anyone interested in doing so.