FSFE-IE July 2006

fsfe-ie@lists.fsfe.org

6 participants
10 discussions

GPLv3 draft 2 is out - plus draft new LGPL, and new rationale doc, etc.
by Ciaran O'Riordan 27 Jul '06

27 Jul '06

I've just seen this now. Haven't read the drafts/docs yet, so just FYI: http://gplv3.fsf.org/gpl3-dd2-guide.html And the rest should be at http://gplv3.fsf.org -- Ciarán O'Riordan __________________ \ http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3 http://ciaran.compsoc.com/ _________ \ GPLv3 and other work supported by http://fsfe.org/fellows/ciaran/weblog \ Fellowship: http://www.fsfe.org

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Software Freedom Day and Linux Format
by Mel McWeeney 26 Jul '06

26 Jul '06

Hi all, Last year I tried to gather up a lot of material by way of OOo documentation and found a fair amount on the web. Given the move to opendocument, a lot of this may now be out of date, or otherwise obsolete. So... in response to a LXF letter (someone was screaming for a way to showcase Linux / Free Software) I sent in a letter to the effect that it would be nice if Linux Format put some material on the DVD that comes with the magazine, ideally a 'printable CD insert' indicating what is on the OpenCD (3.1 the last I checked) and how to start using Dapper. I was contacted but the letter didn't appear in the last issue... still I'll wait to see if anything is forthcoming in the next issue before personally trying to prepare these inserts myself. After that, it's just a matter of getting people to man stands... Mel

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Software Freedom Day, September 16th - plans?
by Ciaran O'Riordan 24 Jul '06

24 Jul '06

As Mel McWeeney (remotely) reminded us during the last IFSO meeting, Software Freedom Day is Saturday September 16th: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_Freedom_Day http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/ The idea of organising another event has been tossed around at the last few meetings, so here's as good a deadline as any to get us focussed. It's 7 1/2 weeks away. Possible formats: 1. Declare IFSO's September meeting (the 19th), as the Software Freedom Day meeting. (This is similar to a "do nothing" option.) 2. Have some first annual IFSO plus other groups (such as ILUG if they're interested) event from 1pm to 4pm on Saturday evening, somewhere, where people will make short presentations and talk during tea breaks If you've another suggestion, this is a great week to mail the list about it. Topical things: 1. Software patents: getting started on round 2 2. GPLv3: How's it going 3. Free Software business networks -- Ciarán O'Riordan __________________ \ http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3 http://ciaran.compsoc.com/ _________ \ GPLv3 and other work supported by http://fsfe.org/fellows/ciaran/weblog \ Fellowship: http://www.fsfe.org

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Thursday Night 20th 7pm gnupg key signing
by Paul O'Malley 19 Jul '06

19 Jul '06

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi there, As I predicted almost two weeks ago on the ILUG mailing list there would be a GnuPG key signing session. Location: Mahaffeys of Pearse St. Lots of parking outside. (For those who don't want to drink the stuff that stops you driving.) A different kind of map: http://www.ifso.ie/images/mahaffeys.png If I recall correctly this was made by someone using a gps logging system and walking around the area, dumping it onto a computer and away you go. I am going to say 8pm. I would like the keys to be signed before At the moment I have about 10 interested parties, I know some will come in anyway. So what say ye to 10 each. If you want to turn up mail me if you are going. As I said in my previous mail: For those that want to use gnugp but find it hard to find a suitable faq here is a how to. http://wiki.openskills.net/OpenSkills/OpenPGP+Key+Creation My advice is set your key forever - and BACK IT UP, and also create a revocation key and keep it safe too. What to bring: Photo ID of a good nature and bring on a piece of paper your data that looks like the following: **pub 1024D/3D824579 2006-06-23 [expires: 2009-06-22] Key fingerprint = 7D5D 1381 2D2C 1DA1 258C 4A7F A169 B481 3D82 4579 uid Paul O'Malley (Dublin Ireland) <ompaul(a)eircom.net> Regards, Paul O'Malley -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2.2 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFEvfFUoWm0gT2CRXkRArfsAKCn7mXZ+SMEReSZVzPiqHx/uY7AWwCfbA5h IxBDnvHRojSWmCyNzhMPsQk= =ZTHb -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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IFSO Meeting: Tuesday 18th July 2000h, Mahaffey's Pub
by Malcolm Tyrrell 18 Jul '06

18 Jul '06

The forthcoming Tuesday is the third of the month, so there will be an IFSO meeting in Mahaffey's pub. http://www.ifso.ie/get-involved.html#meetings Good luck, Malcolm.

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Videos and transcripts of recent GPLv3 event in Barcelona
by Ciaran O'Riordan 13 Jul '06

13 Jul '06

Videos of the presentations from both days are at: http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/europe-gplv3-conference.en.html And full transcripts have been made of Stallman and Moglen's presenations, including the Q&A sessions: http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/barcelona-rms-transcript.en.html http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/barcelona-moglen-transcript.en.html They're good quality and it's important content, so I'd like these materials to be spread as far as possible. The videos are available by BitTorrent, so even a slashdotting would be no problem. Any help informing mailing lists, blogging it, submitting to slashdot etc. would be useful. -- Ciarán O'Riordan __________________ \ http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3 http://ciaran.compsoc.com/ _________ \ GPLv3 and other work supported by http://fsfe.org/fellows/ciaran/weblog \ Fellowship: http://www.fsfe.org

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Fw: [ffii] FFII statement at EU patent policy hearing
by Malcolm Tyrrell 12 Jul '06

12 Jul '06

----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Jonas Maebe <jmaebe(a)ffii.org> To: news(a)ffii.org Sent: Wednesday, 12 July, 2006 1:18:10 PM Subject: [ffii] FFII statement at EU patent policy hearing PRESS RELEASE -- [ Europe / Economy / ICT ] ======================================================================== FFII statement given at EU patent policy hearing ======================================================================== Brussels, 12 July 2006 - The FFII today asks in its speech at the EU patent policy hearing for addressing the European patent problems at the core: the malpractice of the European Patent Office (EPO). The FFII is particularly concerned about how the proposed European Patent Litigation Agreement would put the only future European patent court under EPO control. In the US, a single centralised patent court led to the proliferation of software and business method patents. Europe must not make the same mistake. Honourable Chair, Ladies and Gentlemen, The FFII represents 3,500 IT companies and 100,000 IT individuals. I will speak on behalf of the FFII constituency. As has been said by other speakers, the EPLA will make litigation 2-3 times more expensive. Numbers come from the EPO. What does this mean for SMEs? It means that if you are an SME and have a patent, it will become harder to enforce your patent because litigation just became 2-3 times more expensive. It also means that if you are an SME and accused of patent infringement, it becomes harder to defend yourself because litigation just became more expensive. And if you cannot defend yourself, you will be forced to license, even if the patent is weak or invalid. Granted patents that are invalid are a plague, yet 50% of all patent litigation concerns patent validity. That means every second trial relates to a problem that should not be there in the first place. Every second patent trial is a trial which could be 100% cheaper for all parties involved if the organisation responsible for the granting of patents would have taken it's full responsibility, but also if these patents would never have been filed. Patent inflation is not a victimless crime. The victims are SMEs, even more so if litigation becomes 2-3 times more expensive. But instead of fighting patent inflation and work on the problems at the EPO, we are now focussing on litigation. Why is that so? Maybe the answer lies close to what the Commission recently said in the Extended Consultation documentation, where the Commission strongly criticised the European Patent Office over attempting to define European patent policy. I quote: "Whilst being basically a patent granting office, the EPO has ambitions to steer patent policy at European and international levels. It has a business culture of its own with very little understanding for what happens in Brussels in a more global context. Initiatives from Brussels implying changes to the existing multilateral European patent system are considered as an attack on the holy writ. The EPO has close ties with national patent offices and far less with the ministerial level in Member States. Recently the EPO has become subject to growing criticism by MEPs and various EU Member States for a lack of political accountability." End quote. Now, if lack of political accountability is considered a problem, why give EPO even more power? The EPLA would remove all national patent courts and put a single European-wide court in its place. However, the judges of this European-wide court would be appointed by the people who run the European Patent Office. Moreover, these judges could hold positions at the European Patent Office in parallel. Further, every six years these judges can be re-appointed if they live up to the expectations of, again, the very same people who run the European Patent Office. EPLA puts an executive organisation in charge of running the judiciary. This is unacceptable. Tax offices, city planning departments and social assistance offices do not re-appoint judges deciding over their work, and there is no reason why a patent office should be exempted from this rule. An executive must not control the judiciary. The Commission, if anyone, must know that. Why this extremism? Petty differences between EPO and national interpretation and patent practice need not EPLA to be resolved. European judges can themselves find out if e.g. the special term "edible fruit" is disclosing prior art compared to the general term "vegetables". But the more serious, EPO also thinks programs for computers are inventions, even if EPC and its national implementations say that they are not. This is a fundamental difference. It has been said the centralised US court "Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit" was the driving force behind the introduction of software and business method patents in the US. Maybe this is the most important reason why EPO needs EPLA, but is it what Europe needs? The answer from the European Parliament last year was No. Thank you ======================================================================== Links ======================================================================== * EU patent policy hearing agenda http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/docs/patent/final_agenda_en.pdf * Commission criticises EPO's behaviour and lack of accountability http://wiki.ffii.org/ComEPOPr060710En * EPLA analysis showing EPLA will be more expensive for SMEs http://wiki.ffii.org/EplaAnalysisEn * Permanent link to this press release http://wiki.ffii.org/PatHearing060712En ======================================================================== Contact Information ======================================================================== Erik Josefsson FFII representative +32-484-082063 ehj(a)ffii.org (Swedish/English) Benjamin Henrion FFII Brussels +32-2-414 84 03 (fixed) +32-484-56 61 09 (mobile) bhenrion(a)ffii.org (French/English) Jonas Maebe FFII board member jmaebe(a)ffii.org (Dutch/English) ======================================================================== About the FFII -- http://www.ffii.org ======================================================================== The FFII is a not-for-profit association registered in twenty European countries, dedicated to the development of information goods for the public benefit, based on copyright, free competition, open standards. More than 850 members, 3,500 companies and 100,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion rights (intellectual property) in data processing. _______________________________________________ FFII Press Releases. (un)subscribe via http://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/news, or contact media(a)ffii.org for more information.

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FSFE Newsletter
by Free Software Foundation Europe 07 Jul '06

07 Jul '06

1. GPLv3 conference in Barcelona 2. FSFE at UN WIPO PCDA/2 3. Anja Vorspel hired part time to help in FSFE office 4. Georg Greve at dorkbot.swiss 5. Linuxwochen in Linz (Austria) 6. Stefano Maffulli at Java Conference Milano 1. GPLv3 conference in Barcelona The Free Software Foundation Europe organised the third international GPLv3 conference in Barcelona, Spain. The first day of the two day event featured speeches from Georg Greve, Richard Stallman, Ciarán O'Riordan and Eben Moglen about the changes in GPLv3 and the public consultation process. The second day included four panel discussions, a talk by Pablo Machón about software patents and a closing presentation by Stefano Maffulli. Hosting an official GPLv3 conference in Europe was very important, and the FSFE was proud to be able to organise it. Financial contributions from the Fellowship and the work of the Fellows and other volunteers were essential to make this conference possible. Also, FSFE would like to thank Stichting NLNet, whose donation supports a large part of the GPLv3 activities. http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/europe-gplv3-conference.en.html 2. FSFE at UN WIPO PCDA/2 The United Nations World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) held its second Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to a WIPO Development Agenda meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. This meeting was the last before the next WIPO general assembly, and was intended to formalise the agenda items for a WIPO reform. After several days of discussion, a proposal to drop all items except those immediately acceptable to the United States and European Union led to escalation, and a total disassembling of the meeting. FSFE's statements can be found online at http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/wipo/ and FSFE's president Georg Greve also summarised much of what has happened throughout these days in his blog: http://www.fsfe.org/fellows/greve/freedom_bits/(tag)/WIPO 3. Anja Vorspel hired part time to help in FSFE office Thanks to Rainer Kersten, FSFE's new office in Düsseldorf is up and running. Rainer works in the office on part time basis and is joined by Anja Vorspel as a complimentary part time officer. Anja has been helping as a volunteer in the new office from the start. 4. Georg Greve at dorkbot.swiss FSFE's president Georg Greve spoke at the dorkbot.swiss event in Zürich, Switzerland. The dorkbot events are a global network of events about "doing strange things with electricity", bringing together artists from various fields and interested people. Georg Greve spoke about Free Software, its social impact, and how Free Software is both shaping art and offering new perspectives for artistic work. 5. Linuxwochen in Linz (Austria) After the positive experience in Vienna, Karin Kosina also gave a presentation about the FSFE at another event in the Linuxwochen series, this time in Linz. Although this event was much smaller, her talk was again well received. 6. Stefano Maffulli at Java Conference Milano During the latest Java Conference in Milano on 27 June, the Italian chancellor of FSFE presented the revision process of the GPLv3 to a public of small and medium enterprises. You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html

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Initial findings from public consultation on Europe's patent system
by Malcolm Tyrrell 04 Jul '06

04 Jul '06

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/patent/hearing_en.htm Here's the Reg article where I read about it: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/04/patent_europe/ Malcolm.

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Shane is acting the advocate
by Shane M. Coughlan 04 Jul '06

04 Jul '06

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 Just to let you all know I've joined Jono's Planet Advocacy, so if you want to see me ramblings about stuff that's the place to go. Thanks very much to Jono for accepting me. It's a decision he's bound to regret. www.planetadvocacy.org I'm going to try and cover quite a lot of Free Software stuff over the next couple of months. Regards to all Shane - -- Shane Martin Coughlan e: shane(a)opendawn.com m: +447773180107 (UK) +353862262570 (Ire) w: www.opendawn.com - --- OpenPGP: http://www.opendawn.com/shane/publickey.asc -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2.2 (GNU/Linux) iQCVAwUBRKm7w9wG3M95JPpzAQht3wP+Lf8pGy69xPH0te6wZiGNMGYsJZhVBdQm QtxAzdxbo+nk5U3SMh7iNj2rOoM+KrDZN1nMHOJgpkll/ux8vGuO/PiOsTMqVYHk 10B9A9AELqWvrFZKWxpo4PNeosKqpM9vwzCVAlXq/A1Z3mQ0LQnQ89Cwv9r1y182 DFi2adZ0UmE= =N9Ic -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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FSFE-IE July 2006