= Italian consumers shouldn’t have to pay for software they don’t want – Letter to Regulators =
[ Version en ligne: https://fsfe.org/news/2014/news-20141017-02.fr.html ]
FSFE and Italian consumer association ADUC, along with Italian group
ILS, are asking regulators to take concrete steps to protect Italians
from being forced to pay for software they do not want or need. Italy’s
High Court ruled in September[1] that computer vendors must reimburse
customers for the price of unwanted non-free software that comes pre-
installed on PCs and laptops. Today, FSFE, ADUC and ILS have sent a
letter to the Italian competition authorities[2], calling on them to
ensure that vendors will comply with the High Court’s decision, and
respect the rights of their customers.
“Vendors can’t rightfully ask consumers to jump through hoops in
order to enjoy their legal rights, and the authorities have a duty
to protect those rights,” says FSFE’s President Karsten Gerloff.
“The simple steps we are calling for today would lead to much
greater freedom of choice for Italians. We are hopeful that the
competition authorities will take action to implement the High
Court's ruling.”
- FSFE, ADUC, and ILS are asking the competition watchdog to take the
following steps: When non-free software is pre-installed on a device,
it must carry a prominent notice to users to make them aware of the
possibility to receive a reimbursement for the price of the software
license.
- Hardware vendors should put in place simple procedures for consumers
to claim reimbursements for pre-installed software in line with market
prices. Reimbursement procedures must not be unnecessarily
complicated, and need to be easy for consumers to find and follow.
- Warranty and support provisions for the device must not be affected by
whether a consumer chooses to have the price of the software
reimbursed.
Alternatively, vendors could sell their devices pre-installed with Free
Software, releasing them from the above obligations.
“Only Free Software allows users to fully control what their
computers are doing, and where their personal data goes,” says
FSFE’s President Karsten Gerloff. “Anyone who buys a computer should
have the option of receiving it with Free Software pre-installed.”
In most European countries, it is difficult for consumers to acquire PCs
and laptops without being forced to pay for a license for a non-free
operating system at the same time. FSFE has long been pushing for
vendors to end their current practice of pushing non-free software on
consumers who do not want or need it. The organisation maintains a wiki
page[3] with advice for consumers. Here, buyers can also report their
experiences in obtaining reimbursements from different vendors in
various countries.
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. https://fsfe.org/news/2014/news-20140912-01.en.html
2. https://fsfe.org/www.aduc.it/generale/files/file/allegati/Istanza%20AGCM%20…
3. https://fsfe.org//wiki.fsfe.org/WindowsTaxRefund.fr.html
== 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.
http://fsfe.org/
= EC distorts market by refusing to break free from lock-in =
[ Version en ligne: https://fsfe.org/news/2014/news-20140708-01.fr.html ]
The European Commission has recently renewed its commitment to a
proprietary desktop and secret file formats.The Commission is refusing
to get serious about breaking free from vendor lock-in, and is ignoring
all available alternatives. In doing so, the EU's civil service fails to
practice what it preaches.
In April, the Commission signed two contracts with Microsoft: An
agreement for "high-level services"[1] worth 44 million Euro, and a
framework agreement on software licensing conditions[2]. The actual
licenses are provided by Hewlett-Packard under a separate contract from
2012[3], worth 50 million euro. The contracts cover the Commission
itself, and 54 other EU organisations.
"We are extremely disappointed about the lack of progress here,"
says FSFE president Karsten Gerloff. "The Commission has not even
looked for viable alternatives. Its lazy approach to software
procurement leaves the Commission open to allegations of inertia,
and worse."
The Commission recently admitted publicly for the first time[4] that it
is in "effective captivity" to Microsoft. But documents obtained by
FSFE[5] show that the Commission has made no serious effort to find
solutions based on Open Standards. In consequence, a large part of
Europe's IT industry is essentially locked out of doing business with
the Commission.
In a strategy paper which the Commission released[6] in response to
official questions from MEP Andersdotter, the EC lays out a three-track
approach for its office automation platform for the coming years. This
strategy will only deepen the Commission's reliance on secret,
proprietary file formats and programs.
"The Commission should be setting a positive example for public
administrations across Europe," comments Gerloff. "Instead, it
shirks its responsibility as a public administrations, and simply
claims that such alternatives don't exist. Even the most basic
market analysis would have told the Commission that there's a
vibrant Free Software industry in Europe that it could have relied
on."
Many public organisations in Europe are successfully using Free Software
solutions that implement Open Standards. Examples are the German city of
Munich with its internationally recognised Limux project, and the UK
government, which has made great strides in using Free Software and Open
Standards to obtain value for money in IT procurement. Over the years,
many of these progressive organisations have asked the Commission for
practical and moral support[7] for their course. This latest move by the
Commission will seem a cruel joke to them.
Despite this setback, FSFE will continue to work with the Commission,
and help it improve the way it buys software. It could do so by relying
on specifications and standards rather than brand names, by using an
open call for tender instead of talking to a single vendor, and by
figuring future exit costs into the price of any new solution. These
practices are fast becoming the norm across Europe's public sector. The
EC should practice what it preaches, and adopt these practices for its
own procurement.
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:140675-2014:TEXT:EN:HTML
2. http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:140672-2014:TEXT:EN:HTML
3. http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:105131-2012:TEXT:EN:HTML
4. http://download.fsfe.org/policy/procurement/201401.EC_Future_Office_Automat…
5. http://download.fsfe.org/policy/procurement/
6. http://download.fsfe.org/policy/procurement/201401.EC_Future_Office_Automat…
7. https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/news/mayor-munich-eu-laptops-should-have-libreo…
== 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.
http://fsfe.org/
= FSFE: 32 Free Software Pact supporters elected to the European Parliament =
[ Version en ligne: https://fsfe.org/news/2014/news-20140528-01.fr.html ]
The European elections have brought 32 Free Software supporters into the
new European Parliament. Candidates across the political spectrum signed
the Free Software Pact[1], promising to support Free Software and Open
Standards during their time in Parliament. Out of 162 signatories, 32
were elected
"We congratulate the fresh MEPs on their election, and would like to
thank everyone who signed the Free Sotware Pact," says Karsten Gerloff,
president of the Free Software Foundation Europe. "Europe deserves more
software freedom. We rely on these MEPS to make sure that Europeans can
be in full control of the computers they use. FSFE will be happy to
support them in this important effort."
The Free Software Pact campaign is run by April[2] and supported by FSFE
and other Free Software organisations. Candidates who signed the pact
stated their support for Free Software and Open Standards in politics,
law and administration. Free Software activists all over Europe
collected 162 signatures from candidates across the political spectrum
in 16 countries. France is Europeans country with the highest number of
successful elected signatories, followed by Germany and Slovenia.
FSFE's outreach coordinator Erik Albers says: "Please join us in
continuing the push for software freedom in the Parliament. Contact your
Member of the new European Parliament and get her or him to sign the
Free Software Pact! Europe needs their support for Free Software and
Open Standards."
- More information: April's press release on the Free Software Pact
results in France[3]
- List of all Free Software Pact signatures[4]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. http://freesoftwarepact.eu/
2. http://april.org
3. http://www.april.org/free-software-pact-162-signataires-dans-16-pays-17-sig…
4. http://freesoftwarepact.eu/europarl2014/
== 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.
http://fsfe.org/
= Open Letter to EU institutions: Time to support Open Standards =
[ Version en ligne: https://fsfe.org/news/2014/news-20140326-02.fr.html ]
In an open letter[1] to the European Parliament and the European
Commission, Free Software Foundation Europe and Open Forum Europe[2] are
asking the European institutions to improve their support for Open
Standards. The letter is directed to Giancarlo Vilella, the president of
the European Parliament's DG ITEC and chair of the Inter-Institutional
Committee for Informatics.
In a recent letter[3] to MEP Amelia Andersdotter, the EC acknowledges
that is is in a state of "effective captivity" to Microsoft. As FSFE has
pointed out repeatedly[4], this is a persistent problem for the
Commission, the Council and the Parliament.
"Recognising a problem is always the first step towards solving it. We
appreciate the Commission's newfound frankness on the subject," says
FSFE's president Karsten Gerloff. "Along with Europe's citizens and the
continent's software industry, we now expect the Commission to take
action and free itself from this captivity."
The letter also raises the issue of video formats. Currently, it is
difficult or impossible for Free Software users to follow the
proceedings of the Parliament and the Council in real time, because the
live video streams of these organisations rely on proprietary
technology. This is a problem which OFE and FSFE have highlighted for
many years.
"This would be a comparatively simple measure for the European
institutions to improve the transparency of their work for ordinary
citizens," says Gerloff. "We fail to understand why there has not been
more progress on this issue over the past six years."
1. http://fsfe.org/activities/os/2014-03-26.OpenLetterToVilella.en.html
2. http://openforumeurope.org
3. https://ameliaandersdotter.eu/sites/default/files/andersdotter_annex.pdf
4. https://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2011/06/06/the-european-commissions-locked-i…
== 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.
http://fsfe.org/
= Document Freedom Day delivers messages of interoperability around the world =
[Version en ligne: http://fsfe.org/news/2014/news-20140326-01.fr.html]
Over the following 24 hours Open Standards will be celebrated to the
ends of the earth. The Document Freedom Day campaign for
interoperability is being enacted from Tokyo to Rio[1], and Birmingham
to Taipei[2]. 41 Events are taking place in 18 countries so far.
Open Standards provide the means for apps and computers to communicate
together using common formats that everyone can use. This year two
Document Freedom Day events have been organised by Government bodies:
the Brazilian Federal Government CISL Committee[3], and the Nepalese
Department[4] of Information Technology. Events in the European
Parliament[5] are today exploring Open Standards used for encryption,
while the OpenStreetMap Foundation on Saturday received the Document
Freedom Day UK award[6] in Birmingham.
"Spying revelations of the last year have proven the value of Open
Standards for security as well for documents" says Sam Tuke, Campaign
Manager. "Encrypted messages and network connections using Open
Standards provide world-class privacy, used by Edward Snowden[7] and the
NSA alike."
Supporting organisations have marked the occasion in their own style,
with a series of articles[8] on SVG by Libre Graphics Magazine, a new
whitepaper by The Document Foundation later this week, and a standards
infographic by PHPList.
"This year, teams are using a broad range of multilingual educational
resources to introduce Open Standards to the public" says Erik Albers,
Community Manager. "Thousands of Cartoons, leaflets and posters have
already been dispatched, and online editions[9] have been printed in
Turkey and Japan. New groups can still participate by locally
distributing materials and registering[10] their event."
Document Freedom Day 2014 is facilitated by the Free Software Foundation
Europe, and made possible by support from Google, Commons Machinery, and
Freiheit Technologies. A report of all events will be published in
April, collecting highlights and media from participating groups.
1. http://documentfreedom.org/events/events.html
2. http://documentfreedom.org/events/events.html
3. http://www.softwarelivre.gov.br/eventos/dfd-document-freedom-day
4. http://www.ku.edu.np/cse/kucc/?event=one-day-workshop-on-open-standards
5. http://www.greens-efa.eu/greensefa-4th-document-freedom-day-in-the-european…
6. http://documentfreedom.org/news/2014/news-20140324-01.en.html
7. http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/17/encrypting-your-email-works-says-nsa-whist…
8. http://libregraphicsmag.com/blog/
9. http://documentfreedom.org/artwork.html
10. http://documentfreedom.org/registerevent.html
== 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.
http://fsfe.org/
= L'informatique à l'ère post-Snowden : choisir avant de payer ! =
[Version en ligne: http://fsfe.org/news/2014/news-20140324-01.fr.html]
L'informatique à l'ère post-Snowden : choisir avant de payer ! Les
révélations d'Edward Snowden sur la surveillance massive des
communications et des usages rappellent le besoin impérieux que chaque
personne puisse avoir la maîtrise des ordinateurs et des téléphones
quélle utilise. Pourtant, les constructeurs et les vendeurs
d'ordinateurs et de téléphones nous imposent, dans l'immense majorité
des cas, l'utilisation de programmes qui mettent notre vie privée en
péril.
Chaque personne devrait donc pouvoir refuser de payer pour les
programmes non libres et pouvoir au contraire choisir les programmes
fonctionnant sur son téléphone ou son ordinateur.
Aujourd'hui, Free Software Foundation Europe sássocie à des
organisations du monde entier[1] pour réclamer le libre choix du système
déxploitation sur les téléphones, les ordinateurs portables et les
autres formes d'ordinateurs.
- Signez la pétition internationale ![2]
- Pour en savoir plus[3]
- Pour vous aider à promouvoir cette pétition[4]
1. http://no.more.racketware.info/petition/support
2. http://no.more.racketware.info/petition/click/fr
3. http://no.more.racketware.info/petition/fr/index
4. http://no.more.racketware.info/petition/index
== 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.
http://fsfe.org/
= Show your love for Free Software =
[Version en ligne: http://fsfe.org/news/2014/news-20140211-01.fr.html]
On 14th February, the Free Software Foundation Europe asks all Free
Software users to think about the dedicated hard-working people in the
Free Software community and to show them their appreciation like last
year[1].
"Every day, we use Free Software and often take it for granted. We
write bug reports, tell others how they should improve their
software, or ask them for new features. Often we are not shy about
criticising. So, to let the people in Free Software receive a
positive feedback once a year, there is the 'I love Free Software
day'." says FSFE's vice president Matthias Kirschner, who initiated
the #ilovefs campaign[2] in 2010.
For the "I love Free Software Day"[3] the FSFE has several suggestions
how to show your love creatively to the people behind Free Software,
including:
- Write an e-mail or letter to contributors expressing how much you like
what they are doing.
- Share your feelings about Free Software in social networks and
microblogs using #ilovefs[4]. Or write a blog post about your
favourite Free Software application.
- Buy your favourite contributor a drink. Or buy someone else a drink
and while enjoying it, tell her/him about your favourite Free Software
program.
- Give a contributor a hug (ask for permission first). You might wonder
how many Free Software developers live in your area!
- Help us collecting quotes for our testimonials of people loving Free
Software[5]. Ask developers, artists, politicians, or other users to
send their quote to fellowship fsfeurope.org.
- Take a picture of yourself showing your feelings for Free Software,
and post them online.
- Donate to Free Software initiatives[6] or to FSFE[7] to express your
gratitude. They depend on your contribution to continue their work. So
check out your favourite organisation and make a donation. You can be
sure they will love you back.
- Finally you can help spread the love by sharing the campaign
banners[8], by e-mail, (micro)blog or by spreading through any social
network (please use the hashtag #ilovefs for this).
"Free Software gains its strenghts by the community and the ability
to work together and join forces." says Matthias Kirschner. "We
should not underestimate the power of a simple "thank you" for
people who are easing our everyday work. So say thank you on 14th
February!"
1. http://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130221-01.fr.html
2. http://ilovefs.org
3. http://ilovefs.org
4. https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ilovefs
5. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/ilovefs/whylovefs/whylovefs.fr.html
6. https://wiki.fsfe.org/DonateToFreeSoftwareProjects
7. http://fsfe.org/donate/donate.fr.html
8. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/ilovefs/artwork/artwork.fr.html
== 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.
http://fsfe.org/
[Version en ligne: http://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130927-01.fr.html ]
It was 30 years ago that Richard Stallman announced the GNU project[1].
An initiative that started with a programmer's frustration over a broken
printer driver has changed our society. The idea of software that
everyone can use, study, share and improve has proven very powerful
indeed.
"Without the GNU project and the Free Software movement that it
inspired, our everyday lives - and the Internet - would be a very
different place right now," says Karsten Gerloff, President of the
Free Software Foundation Europe.
Free Software[2] puts the control of electronic devices where it
belongs: with the people who own them. Today, Free Software is
everywhere. It powers the Internet, our mobile phones, televisions,
cars, routers, and electronic devices of all sorts. Free Software has
fundamentally changed the way people create software: instead of
preventing people to adapt the software to their own needs, they invite
people to participate in the development.
"The GNU project has acted as the starting point of a movement that
makes sure we can control technology, and not technology controlling
us," says Matthias Kirschner, FSFE's head of Public Awareness.
The influence of the GNU project's approach to sharing knowledge goes
far beyond the GNU/Linux operating system, and extends beyond computer
programs. With the power of shared knowledge, Wikipedia has fast risen
to become the world's mainstream encyclopedia. Creative Commons licenses
let artists, musicians and authors use their work in ways ideally suited
to the digital age. Scientists and engineers rely on Free Software tools
to cure diseases and make everyone's life better. A generation of young
people is now coming of age for whom sharing knowledge is simply the
natural thing to do.
"We are grateful to Richard Stallman for sparking this epochal change,
and to everyone who has worked so hard to drive Free Software's
progress for three decades," says Gerloff. "Join our movement, support
our work[3], and help us met the challenges ahead."
1. http://gnu.org
2. http://fsfe.org/about/basics/freesoftware.fr.html
3. http://fsfe.org/fellowship/join.fr.html
== 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.
http://fsfe.org/
= FSFE Newsletter - Août 2013 =
[Version en ligne: http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-201308.fr.html ]
== Des entreprises de logiciel propriétaire demandent à la Commission
Européenne de restreindre les modèles économiques ==
Parce qu'Android est du Logiciel Libre et gratuit, les logiciels non-
libres ne peuvent pas rivaliser avec lui, ainsi le marché à moins
d'alternatives et les consommateurs souffrent de ce manque de
compétition. En résumé, voilà l'argumentaire de la coalition "Fair
Search". En fait, ils demandent à la Commission Européenne de favoriser
leur modèle économique restrictif face à un plus libéral, ce qui est
l'exact opposé de ce qui devrait être fait par une autorité de
concurrence pour obtenir un marché équitable pour tous.
Demander à la Commission Européenne d'handicaper le Logiciel Libre pour
permettre aux vendeurs de logiciels propriétaires de vendre leur
systèmes fermés est absurde. C'est pourquoi laFSFE a écrit une lettre à
l'autorité de régulation de la concurrence de la Commission Européenne
pour réfuter ces arguments, et expliquer pourquoi le Logiciel Libre est
essentiel à un marché IT compétitif. Dans notre courrier nous demandons
à la Commission Européenne de rejeter les demandes infondées de la
coalition "Fair Search" sur les prix agressifs, et de ne pas les inclure
dans les décisions qu'elle souhaiterait prendre. Pour plus
d'information: notre conseil légalCarlo Piana a écrit un article de fond
sur ce cas.
== Logiciels électoraux : le code source est disponible mais ce n'est
pas du Logiciel Libre ==
L'Estonie utilise le vote sur Internet pour ses élections générales
depuis 2005. Des militants locaux ont récemment œuvré pour convaincre le
comité électoral de rendre disponible le code source d'une partie du
logiciel publié sous licence non-libre. Mais cette licence n'autorise
pas la diffusion des réalisations dérivées, ni l'usage commercial, et
n'est donc pas libre. En outre "des composants importants du système
sont complètement inconnus du public. Un de ces composants est
l'application cliente de vote qui doit être téléchargée et exécutée sur
l'ordinateur du votant," indique Heiki Ojasild, représentant à
l'assemblée générale de la FSFE dans notrecommuniqué de presse
accompagnant notrelettre ouverte au Comité électoral national Estonien
concernant le système de vote national sur Internet.
De même, en Norvège : Paul Boddie signale à propos du(système de) vote
Norvégien et de l'illusion de l'"Open Source", que le logiciel publié
n'autorise que le "test, l'examen et l'évaluation du code", limite
l'utilisation commerciale, et pour de nombreuses choses vous avez besoin
d'un accord écrit des fournisseurs.
== Les révélations sur la NSA motivent les activistes du Logiciel Libre
==
Pendant plus de deux décennies la Free Software Foundation a travaillé
pour une société où le contrôle des technologies puisse se faire de
manière distribuée. Nous travaillons pour un monde où personne ne pourra
empêcher les autres d'étudier comment l'informatique fonctionne. Un
monde dans lequel les programmeurs pourront travailler ensemble au lieu
de travailler les uns contre les autres. Un monde où personne ne sera
contraint d'utiliser un certain type de logiciel qui ne laisse aucune
possibilité pour l'utilisateur d'ajuster le logiciel à ses propres
besoins mais au contraire l'oblige à s'ajuster lui-même au logiciel. Un
monde où tout le monde pourra auditer un logiciel, comprendre ce qu'il
fait exactement et ce qui arrive à vos données.
Le mouvement du Logiciel Libre a produit beaucoup de logiciels qui
respectent votre vie privée, y compris des logiciels de chiffrement et
d'anonymisation. La FSFE milite pour les standards ouverts pour éviter
les monopoles en permettant aux logiciels de fonctionner les uns avec
les autres. Nous soutenons les systèmes décentralisés, afin qu'il n'y
ait pas de point unique dans notre infrastructure qui ait trop de
pouvoir et afin que vous puissiez conserver vos données dans un
environnement de confiance.
Il semble que les fuites de la NSA de ces dernières semaines aient
renforcées la volonté de la communauté du Logiciel Libre à se battre
pour les libertés dans la société numérique. De plus en plus de
personnes écoutent les développeurs et les activistes du Logiciel Libre,
demandent des solutions libres, utilisent des Logiciels Libres pour
protéger leur vie privée, et apprécient le travail des développeur de
Logiciel Libre. Par exemple,Eva Galperin de l'EFF disait durant son
discours à la conférence Akademy KDE: "Aidez nous Logiciels Libres, vous
êtes notre dernier et seul espoir". Elle demandait aux développeurs de
Logiciel Libre de créer de nouveaux produits pour "nous sauver"! Comme
vous le verrez dans la suite, le mouvement du Logiciel Libre va
continuer à le faire.
== Par ailleurs... ==
- La vie privée est un droit humain fondamental, et est essentiel au
maintien des sociétés démocratiques. La FSFE a rejoint plus de 100
autres organisations dans lademande aux états de respecter les droits
de l'homme, et de soumettre le dispositif de surveillance à un
contrôle démocratique. Un an après, cette demande est plus pertinente
que jamais. La FSFE a aussisigné une lettre ouverte pour stopper la
surveillance qui propose 12 mesures politiques, incluant le
développement et la promotion du logiciel libre pour l'auto-défense
numérique.
- La FSFEa commenté des documents divulgués qui montrent la coopération
active de Microsoft avec la NSA.
- Avec l'Open Rights Group nous avons envoyé unelettre ouverte sur la
transparence à Martin Schulz, Président du Parlement Européen. Nous
avons récemment demandé à Mr Schulz de fournir une étude sur la
transparence au sein du Parlement. Dans notre lettre nous offrons
notre aide à Mr Schulz dans ce sens, et suggérons plusieurs questions,
notamment est-ce que le parlement devrait être obligé de publier le
code source des logiciels qu'il utilise.
- Les nouvelles sur le Logiciel Libre dans l'éducation sont de
retour:Guido Arnold résume les derniers événements dans le secteur de
l'éducation pour avril, mai et juin. Il résume aussiles parties
intéressantes du sommet mondial de l'UNESCO pour une société de
l'information (WSIS+10).
- Ubuntu souhaite lever 32 million de dollars par crowdfunding pour
produire Ubuntu Edge, un ordinateur - téléphone mobile avec un double
boot Android et Ubuntu GNU/Linux.Notre organisation sœur la FSF pose
une question cruciale : : Ubuntu Edge s'engage-t-il à n'utiliser que
du Logiciel Libre ?. Paul Boddie, Fellow et mainteneur duwiki
Fellowship, s'est intéressé à la question :Ubuntu Edge rendra-t-il les
choses encore plus difficiles pour le matériel ouvert ?
- Par ailleurs,notre organisation sœur rapporte que la revue "New
Internationalist" a adopté le label DRM-free et que plus de 50 autres
ont été ajoutées au Guide DRM-free.
- Côté administration publique : Les étudiants et professeurs de 160
lycées de la région de Bruxelles ont commencé à utiliser du Logiciel
Libre, notamment Libre Office ou Mozilla Thunderbird, sur leurs PCs et
tablettes. Joinup rapporte que le ministère français de l'agriculture
utilise intensément le Logiciel Libre: par exemple pour 2012, il a
dépensé 174 000 euro en support pour du Logiciel Libre. Encore des
nouvelles de France : Lucile a écrit un article surle Zombie de la
mise à disposition de Logiciel Libre -- une loi sur le Logiciel Libre
en France pour l'enseignement supérieur -- et comment contacter les
politiciens.
- Pour ceux parmi vous qui prennent la parole dans des conférences : LWN
propose maintenant uncalendrier pratique pour les appels à
communication.
- En direct depuisla planète:
- L'ancien président de la FSFE, Georg Greve, a écrit une tétralogie
sur la société Post-PRISM. Ilrassemble ce qui a déjà été prouvé,ce
que cela veut dire pour la société,quelles sont les implications
pour les entreprises à travers le monde etjette un œil sur les
gouvernements. Il soutient que tout gouvernement doit pouvoir
répondre à la question suivante : Quelle est votre politique en
matière de logiciel et d'infrastructure numérique souveraine ? Si
cette question n'a pas eu de réponse, Georg Greve conseille de se
mettre au travail pour y répondre. Et vite.
- Le président de la FSFE, Karsten Gerloff, a écritsur les moyens de
sécuriser vos communications, e.g. en se mettant à la politique.
- Werner Koch, auteur de GnuPG et membre de l'Assemblée Générale de la
FSFE nous parle deGpg4win et les fédéraux, commentant un article de
CT qui mentionne GnuPG et prétend que seule une version qu'on a soi-
même compilée est digne de confiance.
- Kevin Keijzera documenté comment il maintenait sa vie privée en
ligne..
- L'amateur en Anonymisation, Jens Lechtenboerger,explique comment il
choisit les nœuds gardiens Tor dans un contexte de surveillance
globale, et, en tant que développeur, comment il analyse la
situation.
- Une proposition pour une nouvelle application mobile de chiffrement
des messages, appelée Hemlis, a récoltée 125 000 $ en crowdfunding.
C'est une bonne chose de voir de nouveaux projets de logiciels
ambitieux obtenir le soutient de la communauté lorsqu'il s'agit de
Logiciel Libre. Sam Tuke a vérifié sicela était réellement le cas
avec Hemlis.
- Viktor Horvatha publié une vidéo de sa conférence à FOSDEM sur
SlapOS une plate-forme libre décentralisée.
- Lucile nous donne différents exemples d'utilisations intéressantes
de politique de transparence relatives aux Logiciels Libres en
particulier en France.
- Est-ce qu'une personne doit être lié par des conditions
d'utilisation et des contrats lorsqu'elle a été forcée de les
accepter ? D'autres questions sur l'IT à l'université sont aussi
posée par Paul Boddie dans"Étudiants : Attention au cloud
académique!"
- Des nouvelles du projet de Martin Gollowitzer"Tracking for
Freedom"(Pister pour la Liberté) : il roule à présent avec les pros.
- Mirko Böhm nous rapporte son voyageà l'Akademy et au sommet des
contributeur Qt. Avec Armijn Hemel, ils ont commencé le processus
pourintégrer la publication défensive à la routine de mises à jour
Qt,
- et les activités autour du Logiciel Libre se sont intensifiées à
Munich. Christian Kalkhoff et le groupe de Munich viennent d'acheter
un pavillon pourêtre présent à de plus en plus d'événements publics
(en Allemand).
== Soyez actif : aidez les crypto-parties ==
Les crypto-parties montent en popularité. Elles attirent également le
financement d'éditeurs de logiciels non-libres. Une entreprise a fait un
don financier aux organisateurs de crypto-parties sous condition de
mentionner un logiciel non-libre (en Allemand). Heureusement, un grand
nombre de volontaire de la FSFE soutiennent déjà les organisateurs afin
d'aider les participants à installer leurs logiciels de cryptographie,
et les éduquer aux Logiciels Libres.
Au sein de la communauté du Logiciel Libre beaucoup d'entre nous savent
comment fonctionne le chiffrement de bout-en-bout. Actuellement,
nombreux sont les nouveaux utilisateurs de Logiciels Libres qui veulent
l'utiliser. Si vous avez un peu de temps, vous pouvez aider des amis,
des collègues, rejoindre des crypto-parties organisées localement, et
montrer à d'autres comment utiliser GnuPG pour le chiffrement des
e-mails, OTR pour le chiffrement du tchat, TOR pour anonymiser vos
habitudes sur la toile, ou des programmes comme Jitsi pour chiffrer les
communications vidéo et audio.
Merci à tous lesFellows et auxdonateursqui rendent possible notre
travail,
Matthias Kirschner -FSFE
--
Free Software Foundation Europe
FSFE News
Upcoming FSFE Events
Fellowship Blog Aggregation
Free Software Discussions
= FSFE Newsletter - August 2013 =
[Version en ligne: http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-201308.html ]
== Proprietary companies ask European Commission to restrict business
models ==
Because Android is Free Software and gratis, the non-free software
competition cannot compete with it, therefore the market has less
alternatives, thus the consumer suffers from this lack of competition.
In a nutshell that is the argumentation of the so-called "Fair Search"
coalition. Essentially they are asking the European Commission to favour
a restrictive business model over a liberal one, which is exactly the
opposite of what competition regulators should do in order to achieve a
fair market.
Asking the European Commission to cripple Free Software in order to
allow proprietary vendors to sell their locked-down systems is absurd.
Therefore the FSFE has written a letter to the European Commission's
competition authorities to refute the claims[1], and make it clear that
Free Software is critical for a competitive IT market. In our letter we
ask the European Commission to dismiss the "FairSearch" coalition's
unfounded claims regarding predatory pricing, and not make them part of
whatever steps it decides to take. For further information: our legal
council Carlo Piana wrote a background article about this case[2].
== Election software: source code available but not Free Software ==
Estonia has used Internet voting for general elections since 2005. Local
activists have recently managed to convince Estonia's National Electoral
Committee (NEC) to release source code for some of the software under a
non-free licence, but this licence does not permit distribution of
derivative works or commercial use and therefore is non-free. Besides
"[i]mportant system components remain completely unknown to the general
public. One of those components is the client side voting application
that must be loaded and executed on the voter's computer," said Heiki
Ojasild, Fellowship representative in the FSFE's General Assembly in our
press release[3] accompanying our open letter to NEC regarding the
country's Internet voting system[4].
Similar in Norway: Paul Boddie reports about the Norwegian voting and
the illusion of "Open Source"[5], where the published software covers
only "testing, reviewing or evaluating the code", restricts commercial
purposes, and for a lot of things you need a "written approval" from the
vendors.
== NSA leaks motivates Free Software activists ==
For almost two decades the Free Software Foundations have been working
for a society where the power over technology is distributed. We work
for a world in which nobody can prevent others from learning how
computers work. A world in which programmers can work with each other
instead against each other. Nobody should be forced to use a certain
kind of software without being able to adjust it to her own needs
instead of adjusting herself to the software. Everybody should be able
to audit software, to understand what a program does exactly and what
happens to your data.
The Free Software movement wrote a lot of software which respects your
privacy, including encryption and anonymisation software. The FSFE
pushed for Open Standards to prevent monopolies by enabling different
software to work with each other. We promote decentralised systems, so
there is no single point in our infrastructure which has too much power
and which enables you to store the data in a trusted enviroment.
It seems the NSA leaks of the last weeks have strengthened the Free
Software community's will to continue fighting for our freedoms in a
digital society. More people are listening to Free Software programmers
and activists, more people demand Free Software solutions, more people
are using Free Software to protect their privacy, and more people
appreciate Free Software developer's work. E.g. Eva Galperin from EFF
said in her keynote at KDE's conference akademy[6]: "Help us Free
Software, you are our last and only hope". She asked Free Software
developers to build new products, and "save us"! And as you will see
below, the Free Software movement will continue to do so.
== Something completely different ==
- Privacy is a fundamental human right, and is central to maintaining
democratic societies. The FSFE joined more than 100 other
organisations in demanding that states respect human rights, and bring
their surveillance apparatus under democratic control.[7] More than
one year in the making, the demands are now more relevant than ever.
The FSFE also signed an Open Letter to stop surveillance[8], which
calls for twelve political steps including the development and
promotion of Free Software for digital self-defence.
- The FSFE commented on leaked documents[9] which show how Microsoft is
actively cooperating with the NSA.
- Together with the Open Rights Group we sent an open letter on
transparency to Martin Schulz, President of the European
Parliament[10]. Mr Schulz has recently been asked to produce a study
on transparency within the Parliament. In our letter we are offering
Mr Schulz our help in this effort and suggest several questions, e.g.
if the Parliament would be obliged to publish the source code of the
software it uses.
- News about Free Software in education are back: Guido Arnold
summarised what happened in the education sector[11] during April,
May, and June. He also summarised the relevant parts[12] of the UNESO
conference World Summit on an Information Society (WSIS+10).
- Ubuntu is aiming to raise $32 million in crowdfunding to produce
Ubuntu Edge, a mobile computer that can dual-boot between Android and
Ubuntu GNU/Linux. Our sister organisation[13] the FSF is asking the
crucial question: Will Ubuntu Edge commit to using only Free
Software?[14]. Paul Boddie, Fellow and maintainer of Fellowship
wiki[15], looked into the question if Ubuntu Edge is making things
even harder for open hardware?[16]
- Besides our sister organisation reports that the New Internationalist
adopted the DRM-free label[17] and over 50 others were added to the
DRM-free Guide.
- From the public administrations: Students and teachers at 160 high
schools in the Brussels Region have started to use Free Software[18]
like LibreOffice or Mozilla Thunderbird on PCs and tablets. Joinup
reports that France's ministry of Agriculture extensively uses Free
Software[19]: For instance in 2012 it spent 174,000 euro on support
for Free Software. Additionally news from France: Lucile wrote about
the Zombie Free Software provision[20] -- a Free Software law for
France's higher education -- and how to contact politicians.
- For those amongst you giving talks at conferences: LWN now offers a
handy calendar for call for papers[21].
- From the planet aggregation[22]:
- Former FSFE president Georg Greve wrote a tetralogy about the Post
PRISM society. He puts together what actually has been proven so
far[23], what that means for society[24], what the implications for
businesses around the world are[25], and takes a look at
governments[26]. He argues that any government should be able to
answer the following question: What is your policy on a sovereign
software supply and digital infrastructure? If that question cannot
be answered, he suggests it is time to get to work. And soon.
- FSFE's president Karsten Gerloff wrote about what you can do to
secure your communications[27], e.g. participating in politics,
- Werner Koch, author of GnuPG and FSFE GA member wrote about Gpg4win
and the feds[28], commenting on a CT article which mentions GnuPG
and claims that only a self compiled version is trustworthy.
- and Kevin Keijzer documented how he maintains his online
privacy[29].
- Anonymisation hobbyist Jens Lechtenboerger explains how he selects
Tor guard nodes under global surveillance[30], and also publishing
code how he analysed the situation.
- A proposal for a new encrypted mobile messaging app called Hemlis
received $125,000 in crowdfunding. It is good to see ambitious new
software projects get support from the community when they are Free
Software. Sam Tuke checks if this is really the case with
Hemlis[31].
- Viktor Horvath published the video from his talk at FOSDEM about
SlapOS[32] a decentralised Free Software plattform.
- Lucile wrote about several examples of interesting uses of
transparency policies[33], related to Free Software especially for
France.
- Should a person be bound by terms of use and contracts where that
person has been effectively coerced into accepting them? Other
questions about IT in universities are asked by Paul Boddie in
"Students: Beware of the Academic Cloud!"[34]
- News from Martin Gollowitzer's "Tracking for Freedom"[35] project:
he is now cycling with the pros.
- Mirko Böhm reports from his travel to Akademy and the Qt contributor
summit[36]. Together with Armijn Hemel he started a process to make
defensive publications a routine part of the Qt release process[37],
- and Free Software activities in Munich have intensified. Christof
Kalkhoff and the Munich group now bought a pavilion to be present at
more and more public events (German)[38].
== Get active: Help with Crypto parties! ==
Crypto parties are getting more popular. They also attract funding from
non-free software companies. One company offered money to crypto party
organisers if they also mention non-free software (German)[39]. Good
that a lot of FSFE's volunteers already support the organisers to help
people install encryption software, and educate participants about Free
Software.
In the Free Software community a lot of us understand how end-to-end
encryption works. At the moment a lot of people new to Free Software
want to use it themselves. If you have some time, either help some
friends, colleagues, or search for local crypto parties and show others
how to use GnuPG for e-mail encryption, OTR for encrypted chats, TOR to
anonymise your online behaviour or programs like Jitsi to have encrypted
audio and video communications.
Thanks to all the Fellows[40] and donors[41] who enable our work,
Matthias Kirschner - FSFE
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <http://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <http://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <http://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <http://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <http://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. http://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130729-01.en.html
2. http://piana.eu/android
3. http://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130730-01.en.html
4. http://fsfe.org/ee/i-voting/2013-07-26_Open_Letter_to_NEC.en.html
5. https://blogs.fsfe.org/pboddie/?p=291
6. https://lwn.net/Articles/559124
7. https://necessaryandproportionate.org/
8. http://www.stopsurveillance.org/?page_id=20
9. http://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130712-01.en.html
10. http://fsfe.org/activities/os/transparency-letter.en.html
11. https://blogs.fsfe.org/guido/2013/07/free-software-in-education-news-aprilm…
12. https://blogs.fsfe.org/guido/2013/06/1347/
13. http://fsfe.org/about/fsfnetwork.en.html
14. https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/will-ubuntu-edge-commit-to-using-only-f…
15. http://wiki.fsfe.org
16. https://blogs.fsfe.org/pboddie/?p=366
17. https://www.defectivebydesign.org/new-internationalist-drm-free-label-guide…
18. http://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/osor/news/open-source-tablets-and-pcs-…
19. http://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/osor/news/extensive-open-source-use-fr…
20. https://blogs.fsfe.org/lucile.falg/2013/06/28/zombie-free-software-provisio…
21. https://lwn.net/Calendar/Monthly/cfp/2013-08/
22. http://planet.fsfe.org
23. https://blogs.fsfe.org/greve/?p=553
24. https://blogs.fsfe.org/greve/?p=568
25. https://blogs.fsfe.org/greve/?p=573
26. https://blogs.fsfe.org/greve/?p=586
27. https://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2013/07/01/some-things-you-can-do-to-secure-…
28. http://rem.eifzilla.de/archives/2013/07/16/gpg4win-and-the-feds
29. https://blogs.fsfe.org/the_unconventional/2013/06/29/more-work-to-maintain-…
30. https://blogs.fsfe.org/jens.lechtenboerger/2013/07/19/how-i-select-tor-guar…
31. https://blogs.fsfe.org/samtuke/?p=564
32. https://blogs.fsfe.org/viktor/archives/62
33. https://blogs.fsfe.org/lucile.falg/2013/07/19/clear-answers-demanded
34. https://blogs.fsfe.org/pboddie/?p=197
35. https://blogs.fsfe.org/gollo/2013/07/06/tracking-for-freedom-cycling-with-t…
36. http://creative-destruction.me/2013/07/10/kde-akademy-and-qt-contributor-su…
37. http://creative-destruction.me/2013/07/16/qt-project-and-defensive-publicat…
38. http://www.softmetz.de/2013/07/16/bericht-vom-treffen-der-muenchner-fsfe-fe…
39. http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/hacker-lehnen-teletrustt-sponsor…
40. http://fellowship.fsfe.org/join
41. http://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus.en.html