It seems they only have one (explicit) requirement: "interpreted", but even that isn't really a requirement. Any (platform independent) programming language should do, so long as securities issuers present their source... not bytecode.
A more pressing concern should be standardization. Bryan. --------------------------------------------------------- Pg. 214 of the proposal: http://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/2010/33-9117.pdf "Python is an open source interpreted programming language. Open source means that the source code is available to all users (as opposed to proprietary source code that can be viewed only by the owner or developer of the program). An interpreted language is a programming language that requires an interpreter in the target computer for program execution. We prohibit the inclusion of executable code in electronic submissions on EDGAR because of the computer security risks posed by accepting executable code for filing. Executable code results from separately compiling a computer program prior to running it. Since Python is an interpreted language that does not need to be compiled prior to running it, executable code would not need to be published on EDGAR, and we would not require EDGAR to establish facilities to host, run, or operate any computer program."
Relevant background question: does anyone know how they picked Python? This information would probably tell us a lot about what it is that they're looking for.
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