From press at fsfeurope.org Fri Apr 13 14:53:35 2007 From: press at fsfeurope.org (Free Software Foundation Europe) Date: Fri Apr 13 14:54:20 2007 Subject: [FSFE PR][EN] FSFE Newsletter Message-ID: 1. FTF introduces useful tips for compliance 2. Talk about GPLv3 in Brussels 3. STACS kickoff meeting in Paris 4. FSFE thanks Google for sponsoring 1 year of internship 5. Introducing FSFE's new interns 6. Announcing a new Italian Fellowship meeting 1. FTF introduces useful tips for compliance The Freedom Task Force (FTF) is proud to announce another little step towards making Free Software licensing information more accessible. In partnership with our volunteers we have introduced useful tips for GNU GPL compliance to help users and vendors make the most of Free Software and to provide a stepping stone to authoritative information resources on the Internet. Thanks to the hard work of our translators these guides are available in English, Portugese, and Dutch, with French and German versions coming soon. Useful tips for users: http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/useful-tips-for-users.html Useful tips for vendors: http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/useful-tips-for-vendors.html 2. Talk about GPLv3 in Brussels As part of FSFE's ongoing efforts to raise awareness and explain what is happening in the GPLv3 process, Ciaran O'Riordan organised a talk by Richard Stallman on GPLv3. A transcript of which is already online. The event was co-organised by Association Electronique Libre. http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/brussels-rms-transcript 3. STACS kickoff meeting in Paris STACS (Science, Technology and Civil Society) is an EU funded project that aims to bridge the gap between civil society and research. It will do this by preparing Civil Society Organisations through a series of training sessions. This will help them to build the capacity to approach scientific questions and research. Through a series of workshops STACS will also seek to attract researchers to cooperation with Civil Society Organisations by identifying research topics and helping people meet each other for potential future projects in EU's 7th Framework Program. Within this project, FSFE will organise a workshop and a training session about Free Software. FSFE is also involved in the creation of the public web page of the project, making sure it only consists of Free Software. http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/stacs/ 4. FSFE thanks Google for sponsoring 1 year of internship Started in 2004, internships at FSFE have given several young people the chance to learn all about Free Software and work as part of FSFE's Team. These interns typically come from backgrounds in management, social science, law and administration to help educate the next generation of managers and scientists about Free Software. As a result of the positive experience with previous interns and many requests from potential candidates, FSFE hopes to extend and evolve its internship programme. FSFE would like to thank Google for helping us realise this. http://www.fsfeurope.org/contribute/internship.en.html 5. Introducing FSFE's new interns Guillaume Yziquel is FSFE's new intern in Z?rich, and will be working there up to the beginning of September. Guillaume was born in Grenoble, and obtained a master's degree in mathematics at the ?cole Polytechnique, near Paris, in 2006. He has been an end-user of Free Software since 2001, when he met the VLC development team. He will focus on the promotion of open standards and assist the Freedom Task Force, while also taking care of day-to-day issues as Georg Greve's assistant. Christof Thim joined the FSFE as an intern at the Swedish team in Gothenburg. Christof received his diploma in business informatics at the Berlin School of Economics. After that, he decided to study sociology, politics and economics at the University of Potsdam. Christof got in touch with Free Software during his work at IBM in 2001. In Gothenburg, he will be primarily concerned with the Swedish part of the SELF Project and the preparation of proposals on the 7th Framework Programme of the EC. 6. Announcing a new Italian Fellowship meeting A Fellowship meeting is being organised in these days. It will happen in Cosenza on 13 May in a beatiful area in southern Italy. It will be an occasion for Fellows to meet and bring forward the ideas proposed during the first international meeting in Bolzano. Details of the event are being sorted out as this is written, mainly in Italian on http://fsfe.org/en/fellows/meetings/2007_cosenza and on fsfe.org forums. The Fellowship meeting will also be preceeded by two whole days of scientific conference about Free Software. Details are also in English on http://confsl.org. You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html From press at fsfeurope.org Tue Apr 17 14:10:44 2007 From: press at fsfeurope.org (Joachim Jakobs) Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:10:44 +0200 Subject: [FSFE PR][EN] FSFE launches list of recommended Free Software lawyers Message-ID: <200704171410.45044.press@fsfeurope.org> FSFE launches list of recommended Free Software lawyers FSFE has launched a list of recommended Free Software lawyers by naming Dr. Till Jaeger and Carlo Piana as knowledgeable and reliable Free Software legal experts in Germany and Italy respectively. The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is committed to working with lawyers throughout Europe to maximise the legal security of Free Software and is aware that as the community matures it is important to be able to locate professional legal advice. For this reason FSFE has introduced a new policy for recommending legal experts in individual countries. The FSFE policy for recommending legal experts can be found on the Freedom Task Force (FTF) website [1], along with details of the individuals that FSFE recommends. "The key thing is to help answer the question "who do I talk to?" for people using Free Software," says Shane Coughlan, FSFE Freedom Task Force coordinator. "We have worked with both Dr Till Jaeger and Carlo Piana for several years and have great confidence in their ability. We want to express this confidence in public so that Free Software users will have a clear point of contact for legal advice." "Supporting the growth of a strong network of legal experts in Free Software has been on our agenda for several years now. Establishing the Freedom Task Force was one logical step along that way," explains Georg Greve, FSFE's president. "We will gladly continue supporting projects with the collective competency of our legal network and will take direct legal action on behalf of the projects that are part of our fiduciary programme. But we also wanted to make it easier for others with no direct connection to FSFE to find a legal expert they can have confidence in." "Commercial Free Software has been growing in importance for years and I believe it's time to help formalise support for it" says Stefano Maffuli, FSFE Italy coordinator. "I'm delighted to recommend Carlo Piana as a point of contact for developers and companies seeking legal advice in Italy." Dr. Till Jaeger is a partner in the Berlin law firm JBB Rechtsanw?????lte. He represents FSFE in Germany and Harald Welte in GPL enforcement cases. He is chair of the "Internationalization" subcommittee within the GPLv3 process. Carlo Piana is a partner at the Milan law firm Studio Legale Tamos Piana & Partners. Among other things, he represents FSFE and Samba in the Microsoft vs. EC Commission Antitrust case and lectures at the University of Milan. Dr Till Jaeger can be contacted in the following ways: Email: jaeger [at] jbb.de Telephone: +49 30 443 765 0 Fax: +49 30 443 765 22 Post: JBB Rechtsanwalte, Christinenstrasse 18/19, 10119 Berlin, Germany. Carlo Piana can be contacted in the following ways: Email: carlo.piana [at] avvocatinteam.com Telephone: +39 02 7000 6392 Fax: +39 02 7611 3344 Post: Studio Legale Tamos Piana & Partners, Palazzo dell'Elfo, Via Ciro Menotti 11, 20129 Milano, Italy [1] www.fsfeurope.org/ftf About the Free Software Foundation Europe: The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and involved in many global activities. Access to software determines participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE. Contact: You can reach the FSFE switchboard from: Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57 ext 408 Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73 ext 408 Sweden: +46 31 7802160 ext 408 Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66 ext 408 UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7 ext 408 Shane Coughlan, FTF Co-ordinator, FSFE extension: 408 From press at fsfeurope.org Mon Apr 23 10:10:40 2007 From: press at fsfeurope.org (Joachim Jakobs) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:10:40 +0200 Subject: [FSFE PR][EN] European Parliament must prevent criminalisation of software vendors and users Message-ID: <200704231010.41007.press@fsfeurope.org> European Parliament must prevent criminalisation of software vendors and users FSFE criticises the proposed "second Intellectual Property Enforcement Directive" (IPRED2) for sweeping criminalisation across various areas of law and loosely described areas of activity, including for 'attempting, aiding or abetting and inciting.' The proposed text criminalises these acts for infringement of many dissimilar laws including copyright, trademark, and patents. "This threatens" according to a press release of FSFE "to introduce intimidating degrees of punishment to activities which individuals, community-based projects, and other small to medium-sized groups participate in - groups that may not have sufficient money or lawyers to defend their rights in court." "The proposed text greatly increases the number of criminalised activities and is very unclear on where the limits are", explains Ciaran O'Riordan, FSFE's Brussels Representative, and continues "we understand criminal sanctions might form a useful part of consumer protection and can deter and help prosecution of cases of counterfeit pharmaceuticals or equipment that could create public safety risks. But it is obvious that applying the same sanctions to publishers and software developers is completely unnecessary and is harmful for society." The Directive will be voted on next week when the MEPs are in Strasbourg. If member states already have such consumer protection laws in place, then rejecting the Directive outright would also be a good option. "This directive targets users, distributors, developers and publishers of software in general, including those of Free Software," explains Georg Greve, President of FSFE. "In combination with the lack of a strong directive against software patentability, the directive would create incalculable risk for all participants of the information society." In a broad coalition with FFII, EFF, EBLIDA, and BEUC, FSFE calls on all participants of the information society in EU member states to support the joint amendments published on FFII's site. FSFE's open letter has been sent to MEPs in six languages so far. About the Free Software Foundation Europe: The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and involved in many global activities. Access to software determines participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE. [1] http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ipred2/letter-april-2007.en.html -- Joachim Jakobs 1. FSFE launches list of recommended Free Software lawyers 2. FSFE action on IPRED2 "Criminalisation" Directive 3. Transcript of Richard M. Stallman's speech in Brussels online 4. FSFE at A2K2 conference in Yale Law School 5. Georg Greve and Jonas ?berg in Belgrade, Serbia 6. Ivan Jelic joining European Core Team of FSFE 7. Merchandise available via web order 8. Get active: join the translation team! 1. FSFE launches list of recommended Free Software lawyers The Free Software Foundation Europe has started to maintain a list of lawyers who are experienced an knowledgeable in the field of Free Software. With the work done within the Freedom Task Force, FSFE has already built up a track record of successful cooperation with professional lawyers. Building up this list of recommendations makes it possible for people outside the FSFE to benefit from these positive experiences. http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/network.en.html 2. FSFE action on IPRED2 "Criminalisation" Directive FSFE's Ciar?n O'Riordan has been busy in Brussels and Strasbourg during April. The European Parliament has been discussing, and has since voted on, the European Commission's proposal to criminalise "attempting, aiding or abetting and inciting" practically all infringements of patents, copyright, and trademarks. O'Riordan has been explaining the harms this creates for society's general freedom to participate in software development, distibution, and commerce. In this, invaluable help was provided by the FSFE translators team. The result of the vote was that patents have been excluded and some minor safeguards have been added. More work will be required in the coming stages of this directive. http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/ipred2/ipred2.en.html 3. Transcript of Richard M. Stallman's speech in Brussels online FSFE has invited Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU project and head of the Free Software Foundation, to Brussels to present the latest draft of GPLv3. His speech was then transcribed by Ciar?n O'Riordan and put online. http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/brussels-rms-transcript.en.html 4. FSFE at A2K2 conference in Yale Law School The Information Society Project of the Yale Law School organised its second conference on Access to Knowledge (A2K) with over 300 leading scholars and activists from over 40 countries. Instead of discussing issues of knowledge and information only from the perspective of monopolisation and limitations, A2K approaches the area from the question of rights and necessary access. Free Software plays a central role in this and FSFE president Georg Greve moderated the panel on technologists and their influence on society 5. Georg Greve and Jonas ?berg in Belgrade, Serbia Organised by the Free Software Network (FSN) Serbia, FSFE president and vice-president Georg Greve and Jonas ?berg visited Belgrade to meet Free Software activists from Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia. In the evening, Georg Greve spoke about Free Software and its political influence on democracy and Jonas ?berg gave a talk on the SELF project and Free Software education at a local cultural center. 6. Ivan Jelic joining European Core Team of FSFE Ivan Jelic, founder and chairman of the Free Software Network Serbia, is FSFE's latest addition to its European Core Team of committed volunteers. Ivan will be coordinating the Serbian Team of FSFE and also work on FSFE's system administration, one of the current bottlenecks. 7. Merchandise available via web order T-shirts and other merchandise from FSFE has always been sold at various events and tradeshows. However, sometimes a booth runs out of a specific design or size, and people have repeatedly requested a way to order T-shirts online. The webmasters team has now created a new online order page with pictures, descriptions, and an overview of the available sizes. http://www.fsfeurope.org/order/order.en.html 8. Get active: join the translation team! The Free Software Foundation Europe is an international organisation. Having information available in as many languages as possible is essential to reach people all over Europe, and translating web pages, press releases, and other texts is a task for which FSFE depends heavily on the work of volunteers. There's always something to translate or to proofread, so if you want to support FSFE's work directly and efficiently, join the translation team! http://www.fsfeurope.org/contribute/translators.en.html You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html From press at fsfeurope.org Fri May 18 10:50:58 2007 From: press at fsfeurope.org (Joachim Jakobs) Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 10:50:58 +0200 Subject: [FSFE PR][EN] The MS message: Time to invest in Free Software Message-ID: <200705181050.58637.press@fsfeurope.org> The MS message: Time to invest in Free Software In an attempt to inspire fear, uncertainty and doubt in the hearts of the financial world, Microsoft alledged massive patent infringement by Free Software in a recent Fortune article. [1] According to Microsoft the Linux kernel violates 42 patents, Free Software graphical user interfaces violate 65 patents, OpenOffice.org productivity suite violates 45 patents, Free Software email clients infringe 15 patents and other unspecified Free Software programs infringe 68 patents. On the grounds of these hitherto unsubstantiated claims, Microsoft now seeks to cash in on the work of all the companies and developers that earn their living through Free Software. "Microsoft has built an empire in which it benefits from every transaction. It can bolster and break companies at will and each and every inhabitant of their world needs to financially pledge their allegiance in certain intervals," explains Georg Greve, FSFE's president. "Now that they are losing market share to a free market economy built on Free Software, they again try to impose their vig on the work of others." "This is a good example of the impact of software patents. The main effect of such patents is not innovation, but monopolisation and establishing a licence to sue, or at least to slander," comments Shane Coughlan, FSFE's coordinator for legal activities. "Unfortunately Novell has given these ludicrous claims false credibility by entering into an agreement with Microsoft, and paying Microsoft for a promise not to sue its customers." FSFE lawyer Carlo Piana continues: "I understand why Microsoft insists on the Novell deal, but it is not a reliable example. If one examines the recent history of the agreements between the two companies, Microsoft does not seem to be the one selling something. Two years ago Microsoft convinced Novell to withdraw antitrust claims against Microsoft, and thus its support to the European Commission [2], for monetary compensation. On the most recent deal the money apparently went in the same direction. Paying your infringer nearly one billion dollars in two years is quite an odd way to show reliance on your patents portfolio." Novells CEO, Ron Hovsepian, has indeed published a letter [3] in which he contradicts Microsofts claims about violation of software patents in Free Software. But since Microsoft paid good money for the deal they apparently wanted some return on their investment and they selected FUD. "Companies that sign up with Novell as a result of this deal are wasting their shareholders' money. There is no substance to these claims, and no need to pay anything to Microsoft to use a system that Microsoft had no part in," explains Georg Greve, FSFE president. "If there is a lesson to be learned from this, it is that Microsoft is getting desparate and does not know how to counter Free Software with innovation," continues Greve. "This is a good proof of the business success of Free Software, which is extremely stable not only technologically, but also legally. So if you are a smart financial analyst, this is the time to invest in Free Software." About the Free Software Foundation Europe: The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and involved in many global activities. Access to software determines participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE. [1] http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/ [2] http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2005q4/000118.html [3] http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft/community_open_letter.html From press at fsfeurope.org Wed Jun 13 21:55:56 2007 From: press at fsfeurope.org (Free Software Foundation Europe) Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:55:56 +0200 Subject: [FSFE PR][EN] FSFE Newsletter Message-ID: 1. FSFE and Digicomp announce Free Software Licensing course 2. Meeting Libre 2007 in Miraflores, Spain 3. FSFE at eLiberatica 2007 in Romania 4. Richard Stallman in Sweden 5. ConfSL, LUGConf and Fellowship meeting in Cosenza, Italy 6. Linuxtag in Berlin 7. Linuxwochen tour through Austria 8. Donations now tax-deductable in Switzerland 1. FSFE and Digicomp announce Free Software Licensing course The Swiss training academy Digicomp is now offering Free Software licensing courses delivered by FSFE's Freedom Task Force Coordinator Shane Coughlan. The courses are intended for project managers, developers and technicians who wish to become more knowledgeable regarding code distribution options and give practical examples of integrating Free Software into business models. These courses will take place for the first time on the 25th and 26th of June, with additional courses being offered on the 10th and 11th of September and the 10th and 11th of December 2007. More information can be found here: http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/trainingcourse 2. Meeting Libre 2007 in Miraflores, Spain FSFE's associate organisation in Spain, the Free Knowledge Foundation, has organised the LibreMeeting 2007, the first International Free Knowledge Meeting of Madrid. Georg Greve presented the FSFE while Ciar?n O'Riordan spoke about the GPLv3. 3. FSFE at eLiberatica 2007 in Romania Brasov, Romania right in the heart of Transylvania was the place that the Romanian Free Software community chose for its 2007 eLiberatica conference to share knowledge and build awareness for Free Software in Romania. FSFE president Georg Greve gave one of the keynotes on Open Standards and freedom of competition and also participated in the panel on the future of knowledge regulation. 4. Richard Stallman in Sweden On the 16th of May 2007, Richard Stallman held a speech in Gothenburg (Sweden). The speech, Free Software and Beyond: Human Rights in the Use of Software and Other Published Works, can be downloaded (audio) here: http://www.fsfe.org/en/content/download/32738/202513/file/rms-speech-gbg-sweden-2007.ogg.torrent. On the 17th of May 2007, Richard Stallman held a speech in Link?ping (Sweden). The speech, Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks, can be downloaded here: http://www.lysator.liu.se/upplysning/film/20070517_RMS/RMS_2007-05-17_Digifri_Lysator.ogg.torrent 5. ConfSL, LUGConf and Fellowship meeting in Cosenza, Italy The Italian Free Software community met in Cosenza for three events at the same time: the ConfSL2007, the LUGConf and a Fellowship meeting. In total, everyone enjoyed three days of talks, workshops and plain good fun. Stefano Maffulli and Shane Coughlan were there representing FSFE and during the LUGConf Fellow Marco De Rossi presented the recently formed Milan Advocacy group. http://fsfe.org/en/fellows/maffulli/rants/(tag)/cosenza 6. Linuxtag in Berlin Like the years before, FSFE was present with a booth at Linuxtag in Berlin, where people from FSFE and volunteers informed about Free Software and answered lots of questions. 7. Linuxwochen tour through Austria "Linuxwochen" is the name of a series of events in Austria that take place every year around May. This year, FSFE was present in Eisenstadt, Graz, and Vienna. 8. Donations now tax-deductable in Switzerland FSFE is glad to announce that donations are now tax-deductable in Switzerland after it has been recognised as charitable public interest organisation by the authorities in the Kanton of Z?rich, where FSFE's Swiss offices are located. Your donation is essential to make our work possible, for more information please take a look at http://fsfeurope.org/help/donate-2007-ch You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html