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Dear @EU_Commission, I said this at the European Parliament but let me repeat it:
Public funding for tech should come with a stipulation that the organisations that take (our) public funds should not then be able to take venture capital (VC) and have private capital enclose what is built with that public funding.
Context: Delta Chat (@delta), which has received public funding from multiple #EU funds, #NLNet, etc. is reportedly now considering a VC offer.
FFS, so it was an April Fool’s joke.
*smh* :)
Sadly, being disappointed in folks you believed in and trusted is a feeling I’m all too familiar with in tech. Didn’t really need to feel it again tonight.
On the bright side, says loads for Delta Chat if they feel confident enough to joke about it. So yay, I guess.
Remember this the next time it’s some other organisation and it isn’t a joke
@aral @EU_Commission just to be sure also in this sub-thread here that rumors are not escalating further unnecessarily -- please check https://chaos.social/@delta/110125374889504001 and you all enjoy a nice weekend!
@aral
Can using a "strong" license such as #AfferoGPL be a feasible answer to this issue?
@EU_Commission @delta
@paoloredaelli @EU_Commission @delta It can be part of the solution. The main one would be a clause in the contract that says the equivalent of “by receiving this funding you agree to not take private equity for this product”.
As I said at the EU Parliament, “why are we acting like an unpaid research and development department for Silicon Valley?” Replace “Silicon Valley” with private equity or venture capital if you want a more universal quote. The point holds.
Public funds? Public tools.
@aral
I'm not a lawyer but as far as I know it's one of the results of using the Affero General Public License. @carlopiana or other people from @fsfe surely know something more than me
@EU_Commission @delta
@paoloredaelli @aral @fsfe @EU_Commission @delta I agree that using a strong copyleft public license can only go that far, a license is only part of the problem. Public money should be only used in an efficient way. I'm not against favoring private business out of this, provided that there is a fair and equal competition. The key is this: efficiency and competition.
@aral @EU_Commission @delta April Fool’s jokes are seldom funny and organisations should just stop doing things like this.
@aral @EU_Commission @delta And now the only thing I know about delta is that they are one of *those* and I will be avoiding them in the future. For all I know this was used to float the idea and gauge response under the guise of a “joke”. April 1st is used as an excuse to lie to your friends. For many, it’s a form of bullying that can be very cruel. Especially to neurodiverse people. If you hadn’t guessed, I’m not a fan.
Pokemon Go was also an April Fool's joke. Sometimes it's less "prank" and more "testing the waters."
Fortunately for me, I know nothing about Delta Chat. But in any case you're 100% right that nothing that gets public money should then be able to flush the results of that investment down a for-profit corporation.