As with other memory card formats, SD cards are protected by numerous patents and registered trademarks, and authorization can only be performed by the Secure Digital Card alliance. The Security Digital Card Alliance's authorization agreement in 2013 does not allow open source SD drivers, a situation that has generated a lot of debate about open source and free software. The common practice is to develop an open source shell, but at the core is a closed source SD driver for a specific platform, a practice that is too different from the expected open standards. Another common practice is to adopt the older MMC model, because all SD cards must support MMC mode according to the SD card standard.