Write to the Brazilian Receita Federal against "Softwares Impostos"!

Jue Feb 22 01:59:33 UTC 2007

As part of FSFLA's campaign against "Softwares Impostos", we have
written an article and letters to Receita Federal (Brazilian IRS) that
explain why its decision to require taxpayers to use non-Free Software
violates constitutional principles and citizens' fundamental
constitutional rights, imposes various juridic risks upon taxpayers,
including compulsory copyright infringement, and unlawfully
discriminates against political and philosophical convictions.

FSFLA's Brazilian board members have written and sent the letters
below to Receita Federal, summarizing the main points of the article
published at http://www.fsfla.org/?q=pt/node/143 (so far only in
Portuguese).  We urge citizens and taxpayers to send their own letters
to Receita Federal at
https://www.receita.fazenda.gov.br/dvssl/atbhe/falecon/comum/asp/env_msg.asp?id=31.
Copies of your letters are welcome at softwares-impostos at fsfla.org.

FSFLA invites Receita Federal to act on these requests before IRPF2007
is released, and to contact us as soon as possible to seek an amicable
resolution.

Meanwhile, FSFLA urges citizens to pursue their rights, invites the
Public Ministry and the Republic's General Attorney Office to support
citizens in this pursuit, and offers its mailing list on legal issues,
legales at fsfla.org, to lawyers and laymen interested in planning legal
action, should it prove necessary.  Alternate communication methods
can be arranged should the need for confidentiality arise.

The IRPF2007 release is scheduled to March 1st, so don't wait!  Send
your letter right away!

== About FSFLA

FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free
Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India.
These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies
towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same
freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but
cooperating globally.  For more information about FSFLA and to
contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or
write to info at fsfla.org.

== Press contacts

Alexandre Oliva
Board member, FSFLA
lxoliva at fsfla.org
+55 19 9714-3658 / 3243-5233

Pedro A.D. Rezende
Board member, FSFLA
prezende at fsfla.org
+55 61 3368-6031 / 3307-2482

======

Copyright 2007 FSFLA

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
entire document without royalty provided the copyright notice, the
document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.

http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/145

== Letters sent to Receita Federal

(translated to English)

Dear Mr. Jorge Antonio Deher Rachid,
Secretary of Receita Federal,

I hereby request your assistance to address some difficulties I've had
in complying with my tax obligations.  There are more details at
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=pt/node/143 (in Portuguese).

According to Article 5.XXXIII of the Brazilian Federal Constitution of
1988, and to the transparency it demands from the public
administration, I understand I'm entitled to receive from SRF
information of private or collective interest.  I request, thus, the
source code of all software provided by SRF for purposes of
preparation and delivery of income tax declarations.

My interest in this source code is related with my philosophical
beliefs as Free Software advocate.  I understand that philosophical
discrimination is not permitted by the constitution, also per Article
5.VIII and .XLI.

So I'd like to obtain permission from SRF to adapt its programs to
Free operating systems and/or Java virtual machines, and to offer the
result of my modifications to others who share my beliefs.

To this end, it would be enough for SRF to license these programs,
whose copyright it holds, under a Free Software license.  I understand
SRF's software, without any license whatsoever, imposes on taxpayers
the violation of article 9 of law 9609/98, who incur the penalties
described in article 12 of law 9610/98, with the aggravation of § 3.I.
SRF can be held liable for this, so immediate corrective action is
recommended.

The referenced article details these and other technical and legal
problems related with juridic insecurity and the violation of
constitutional principles and taxpayers' fundamental citizen rights,
that SRF has been conducting.

I thank you in advance for your prompt cooperation towards addressing
in an amicable way these certainly unintentional transgressions.

Yours respectfully,

Alexandre Oliva

======

Dear Mr. Jorge Antonio Deher Rachid,
Secretary of Receita Federal,

I seek, by means of this letter, to point out problems detailed in
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=pt/node/143 (in Portuguese), that I
co-authored, and request appropriate measures to address them.

I find RF's dependency on proprietary information technologies and the
imposition of these inscrutable and inauditable on taxpayers
disturbing.  I recommend, according to government standard e-PING 2.0,
the adoption of standards, formats and software under free licenses.

As researcher in cryptography and security, I'm concerned about
taxpayers of whom electronic submission of tax forms is required, for
public scrutiny of the employed programs, formats and protocols is
impossible, requiring blind trust on the technical abilities and
ethical infallibility of RF's employees.

As far as we can see through the obscurity of the process, taxpayers
who submit their declarations over the Internet are exposed to
multiple technical and juridic risks that, among other things, also
represent pressure and responsibility overload upon Receita's own
internal auditing.

I cite, for the sake of an example, the impossibility for a taxpayer
to demonstrate, to her/himself and before third parties, that the
forms s/he filled have been transmitted and processed according to the
norms and without adulteration.  In case of questioning, the best
someone who needs to face RF on court can do is to present an
electronic receipt, also alterable or falsifiable at the source, that
only RF itself can validate, in a potentially vitiated way by whoever
possesses controls over its processing.

It also frustrates me that I cannot verify whether technical
mechanisms are already in use that enable effective internal auditing,
and that may offer taxpayers legal evidence, should they be formally
accused by tax authorities of defaulting their tax obligations.

Certain of being able to count on your cooperation,

Pedro Antonio Dourado de Rezende

======

Dear Mr. Jorge Antonio Deher Rachid,
Secretary of Receita Federal,

Based on the article http://www.fsfla.org/?q=pt/node/143 (in
Portuguese), I hereby request actions towards helping address some
concerns I have.

Residents abroad are not allowed to present their income tax
declarations in non-electronic formats.  Since I live abroad, this
causes me concern and trouble, for myself and for others in the same
situation.

Trouble, because I'm a Free Software advocate, and it's disturbing to
not only be required to use non-Free Software, but also to watch the
Brazilian public administration promote, through its choice of
platform for this program, other non-Free Softwares, infringing even
on the constitutional principle of impersonality.

Concern, because, being trained in computing, I understand it's not
possible to trust software that won't permit inspection and auditing;
secret file formats; or allegedly-secure secret communication
protocols.

In order to guarantee the transparency of the process and taxpayers'
legal safety, it would be necessary for taxpayers to have access to
the source code of the programs, or at least to the specifications of
protocols and file formats, such that we could develop our own
programs.

It would certainly be more efficient if we could inspect and use
Receita Federal's own programs, on software platforms that respected
our philosophical beliefs.  For this reason, I suggest Receita Federal
to distribute its programs under the terms of some Free Software
license that ensures that any taxpayer who receives the program is
entitled to run it legitimately, study it, adapt it to her own needs
and distribute it, with or without modifications.

I count on your support to solve the problems pointed out above, and
offer FSFLA's assistance for clarifications and joint efforts to this
end.

Fernanda Giroleti Weiden

-- 
Alexandre Oliva
FSF Latin America Board Member         http://www.fsfla.org/