(Please support us to reach more people in their native language. Join
our translator team http://fsfe.org/contribute/translators/.)
= FSFE Newsletter - March 2011 =
[Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-201103.en.html ]
== Revolution failed: Facebook not available in Egypt ==
"On 27th January facebook was shut down in Egypt. For the moment this
stopped the protests. Media assumes that this is due to the influence of
Mubarak's granddaughter who is Mark Zuckerberg's girl-friend." Of course
this is not true. But with software which is controlled by one company,
something like this can happen. What if the owner of the social network
would have been an Egypt company? Would this company have been able to
resist state pressure?
For a long time dedicated people have been working on decentralised Free
Software solutions, to make sure there is no vulnerable single point of
control. We as citiziens should be in control of our tools, and as most of
those tools today are comprised of software we do need decentralised
software. That's why FSFE organised a related track at FSCONS[1] , and
our staff as well as dedicated volunteers like Torsten Grote gather
information[2] , give talks[3] or interviews[4] .
1. http://www.fscons.org/divide
2. http://wiki.fsfe.org/CloudComputing
3. http://wiki.fsfe.org/CloudComputing#Video
4. http://wiki.fsfe.org/CloudComputing#Audio
Karsten Gerloff gave a talk on "Power Software Freedom"[5] (there is a
good summary by Brian Gough[6] ) at FOSDEM this month, and one of the
event's keynotes "Why Political Liberty Depends on Software Freedom More
Than Ever"[7] by Eben Moglen targetted this topic as well, especially the
so-called "Freedom Box"[8] which started to receive good media coverage
in turn, and will hopefully push this topic even further.
5.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2011/02/05/fosdem-talk-on-power-software-free…
6.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/bjg/2011/02/decentralised-systems-and-the-tendency-to…
7. http://mirrors.dotsrc.org/fosdem/2011/maintracks/political.xvid.avi
8. http://wiki.fsfe.org/CloudComputing#Freedom_Boxes
== Lawyered! - FSFE's legal workshop ==
More than 75 lawyers, for 2 days, in 1 room -- and all of this organised
by the FSFE. What is it about? We do this to ensure that the best possible
legal knowledge about Free Software is shared between everyone, no matter
whether individuals, businesses or initiatives.
As part of this, FSFE facilitates an annual event called European Legal
Network Conference[9] to allow legal experts to discuss the future of
Free Software law and governance. This has become the world's premier
event for debating, discussing and sharing knowledge around Free Software
legal affairs.
9. http://fsfe.org/projects/ftf/legal-conference.en.html
This year it will be held at the NH Barbizon Palace, Amsterdam, between
the 7th and 8th of April, and will feature speakers like Carlo Piana from
FSFE, Mark Shuttleworth from Canonical, Eben Moglen from SFLC, and Harald
Welte from gpl-violations.org.
== Something completely different ==
- Leaked documents highlight Germany's Foreign Office move back to non-
free software: This move is intransparent, and the more we find out the
more questions we have. See
- Foreign Office: Will it switch off the Free Software beacon?[10]
- Leaked Documents: Change of strategy in the Foreign Office against
recommodations.[11]
- "One study after the other"[12] . Interview from the German Newspaper TAZ
with your editor
- Without Free Software in the Foreign Office[13] - Dradio interview with
Bernhard Reiter.
10. http://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20110202-02.en.html
11. http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release-de/2011q1/000182.html
12.
http://www.taz.de/1/netz/netzoekonomie/artikel/1/eine-studie-nach-der-ander…
13.
http://ondemand-mp3.dradio.de/file/dradio/2011/02/28/drw_201102281034_netzp…
- "Love love love": The Beatles sing about it, we wanted to have some for
Free Software activists at Valentine's Day. As last year we run a
campaign animating people to show their love for Free Software[14] . See
Maëlle's blog post for this years summary[15] and mark February 14th for
2012.
- Fellowship Interview with Italy's PDFreaders heart[16] : While your
editor can inform more people about our our pdfreaders campaign[17] like
in a FOSDEM talk[18] this campaign would not be such successfull without
many dedicated volunteers. This month Fellowship interview is with
Massimo Babieri, IT manager at the Earth Science Department, of the
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, leader of the band The
Radiostars, and "Mr PDFreader" in Italy.
- What happens with your code "when you’re no longer coding. When your
uplink is permanently disconnected. When you’re dead." Armijn Hemmel
wrote an article why the Fiduciary Licence Agreement is an important
tool][19] .
- New editions of Matija Suklje's "Free Software and law related links"
are available for 29.1.-4.2.2011[20] , 5.2.-11.2.2011[21] , and
12.2.-18.2.2011[22] .
- At GoOpen 2011[23] the 22-23rd of March in Oslo, Norway, the Swedish
FSFE team is helping to organise a special FSCONS[24] track. The track
takes some inspiration from previous FSCONS conferences in Sweden and
introduces speakers on Free Software and Free Society.
14. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/valentine/2011/valentine-2011.en.html
15. http://blogs.fsfe.org/maelle/?p=228
16. http://blogs.fsfe.org/fellowship-interviews/?p=257
17. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.en.html
18. http://blog.isabel-drost.de/index.php/archives/310/fosdem-saturday
19. http://blogs.fsfe.org/adridg/?p=1094
20. http://matija.suklje.name/?q=node/226
21. http://matija.suklje.name/?q=node/228
22. http://matija.suklje.name/?q=node/230
23. http://www.goopen.no/program/
24. http://www.fscons.org
== Get active - Activities for Document Freedom ==
Document Freedom Day (DFD)[25] is a global day for document liberation.
March 30th will be a day of grassroots effort to educate the public about
the importance of Free Document Formats and Open Standards[26] in general.
This is how you can help:
25. http://www.documentfreedom.org
26. http://fsfe.org/projects/os/os.en.html
- Join and help a team![27]
- Blog about it, and link to our campaign!
- Donate money to DFD![28]
- Sponsor the campaign![29]
- Put a banner on your website with our Artwork"[30]
- Use !dfd group on Identi.ca and #dfd2011 tag on Identi.ca and Twitter
27. http://documentfreedom.org/2011/teams.en.html
28. http://documentfreedom.org/2011/support.en.html
29. http://documentfreedom.org/2011/sponsors.en.html
30. http://documentfreedom.org/2011/artwork.en.html
Regards,
Matthias Kirschner - FSFE
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= Declare your love for Free Software! =
[Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20110214-01.en.html ]
Why not make this February 14th a very special Valentine's Day? On
Valentine's Day, FSFE calls on Free Software users everywhere to show
their love for Free Software[1] . It is the perfect occasion to show our
love for Free Software and the possibility to use computers in freedom.
On its campaign page[2] , FSFE suggests what users can do to show that
they appreciate Free Software. Simply sending a developer a mail to say
“Thank you”, taking a picture illustrating one's love for Free
Software, declaring your love by microblog[3] with the tag #ilovefs or
donating to a Free Software project[4] is all among the options.
Behind every Free Software initiative and organisation are real,
passionate hard-working people. Just for one day, on Valentine's Day, FSFE
invites all Free Software advocates around the world to send a thank you
message to the people that work to make Free Software happen.
"Without Free Software, there would be no KDE. Free Software gives KDE
life. KDE loves Free Software" declared Cornelius Schumacher, President of
the KDE e.V. "No Free Culture project would be able to enjoy the full
freedoms without the infrastructure created by Free Software
projects[…]. To everyone engaged in supporting this infrastructure:
thank you! We love you!", adds Jonas Öberg of the Society for Free
Culture and Software (Föreningen fri kultur och programvara)[5]
You can see what people have posted so far: http://identi.ca/ilovefs[6].
Add your own declaration there !
1. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/valentine/2011/valentine-2011.html
2. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/valentine/2011/valentine-2011.html
3. http://identi.ca/
4. https://wiki.fsfe.org/DonateToFreeSoftwareProjects
5. http://www.ffkp.se/
6. http://identi.ca/tag/ilovefs
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(Please support us to reach more people in their native language. Join
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= European Patent: FSFE urges European Parliament to wait for legal advice =
[Permanent URL: http://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20110209-01.en.html ]
Free Software Foundation Europe is asking the Members of the European
Parliament to wait for legal advice before voting on a unitary patent for
Europe. While a proposal is on the Parliament's agenda for the coming
week, a legal opinion by the European Court of Justice is expected later
this month.
"Software patents hurt innovation and are an unnecessary burden on
European software developers," says Karsten Gerloff, President of the Free
Software Foundation Europe. "Legislators need to take charge and make sure
the patent system contributes to the public good. As the European Patent
Organisation has acknowledged, this is a decision that cannot be left to
bureaucrats and the judiciary."
FSFE is concerned that the European Parliament will lose legislative
competence regarding patents, which will then be controlled by the
European Patent Organisation. This clearly creates a conflict of interest,
as the EPO will be responsible both for awarding patents and for defining
what is patentable. The EPO's expansionist record in this regard gives
cause to worry that this will lead to software patents being validated.
The European Court of Justice is expected to publish its opinion about the
proposed "enhanced cooperation" of EU member states towards creating a
single patent system for Europe. Documents published so far indicate that
the Court will find the proposal in conflict with the EU treaties.
Resolving these will require fundamental changes to the proposal. The
Parliament's vote should take place after these changes so that the
Parliament can review the actual proposal.
FSFE hopes that the vote will be delayed until the Parliament can read the
Court of Justice's opinion and has had time to analyse this proposal.
== Contacts ==
Free Software Foundation Europe
E-Mail: press at fsfeurope.org
Karsten Gerloff, President
+49-176-96904298
More contact information[1]
1. http://fsfe.org/contact/
== 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 issue of the FSFE.
Regards,
Karsten Gerloff - FSFE
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(Please support us to reach more people in their native language. Join
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= Freedom to Read, Freedom to Write: Celebrating Document Freedom Day 2011 =
[Permanent URL: http://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20110202-01.en.html ]
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) invites individuals, community
groups and institutions to celebrate the Document Freedom Day (DFD) on
March 30th. DFD is a global day to celebrate Open Standards and open
document formats and its importance. Open Standards ensure the freedom to
access your data, and the freedom to build Free Software to write and read
data in specific formats.
You can participate by organizing activities in your home town.
Distributing fliers, organizing talks, adding a banner on your blog,
donating money: there are many ways you can help spread awareness about
Open Standards.
We would like at least 25 cities to take part in Document Freedom Day
2011. Help us to make this event a global success!
For more information about the event, please have a look at
documentfreedom.org[1] .
1. http://documentfreedom.org
Find out how to get involved[2] .
2. http://documentfreedom.org/2011/getinvolved.en.html
== Why Document Freedom Day? ==
An ever greater part of our communication moves into the digital world. In
the digital society, Open Standards and open document formats provide us
with the freedom to read and write. They are crucial to ensure our ability
to exchange information, remain independent of software vendors, and keep
our data accessible in the long term. Open Standards also make sure that
we are able to communicate and work using Free Software.
== What are Open Standards? ==
Open Standards are a common language that all computers can speak. They
enable us to work and communicate using Free Software. They make it
possible for developers to write Free Software applications that are
compatible with other solutions, and allow users to migrate to Free
Software solutions without losing access to their data.
== What is the aim of the Campaign? ==
The campaign brings a message about Open Standards and document formats to
a non-technical audience. Open Standards are a basic condition for freedom
and choice in software. Document Freedom Day raises awareness for Open
Standards and lets everyone contribute to a better information society.
It's easy and fun to participate in Document Freedom Day, whether as a
group or as an individual.
Document Freedom Day is coordinated by the Free Software Foundation
Europe[3] .
3. http://fsfe.org
== Contacts ==
Fernanda Weiden
DFD Campaign Coordinator
Vice President, Free
Software Foundation Europe
Email: weiden - at - fsfeurope - dot -
org
Tel. +41 76 402 1866
Loimar Vianna
DFD Campaign PR Coordinator
Email: vianna - at -
fsfeurope - dot - org
Tel. +353 86 234 1911
Karsten Gerloff
President, Free Software Foundation Europe
Email: gerloff - at - fsfeurope - dot – org
Tel. +49 176 9690
4298
Regards,
Fernanda Weiden - FSFE
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## FSF Announces Support for WebM Project, Encourages Adoption
BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, January 19, 2011 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced that it is officially
supporting the WebM Project, and is encouraging Web site operators to
migrate any H.264-encoded video they have to WebM.
The full FSF announcement, "No double standards: supporting Google's
push for WebM" is available on its web site at
<http://www.fsf.org/news/supporting-webm>.
"Google has been working to bring together a broad coalition of
organizations to support WebM, which will go far to help it become the
video codec of choice with HTML5," explained Brett Smith, license
compliance engineer for the Free Software Foundation. "We want the
world to know that we also support WebM: with its developer-friendly
patent license and free software reference implementation, it's a good
choice to help ensure the Web fulfills its promise of providing a free
way for the world to communicate."
FSF executive director Peter Brown said, "We applaud Google's effort in
not only making WebM available for implementation by free software, but
also in promoting its reasons for deprecating the use of H.264. Now is
the time to act. Through joint community effort in support of WebM, we
can sustain the vision of the Web as free and unencumbered."
Google released the WebM video codec in May 2010. Unlike its competitor
H.264, developers who support WebM in their software do not have to
agree to a patent license that requires royalty payments, or limits how
developers license their own software.
### About the Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
### Media Contacts
Brett Smith
License Compliance Engineer
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x18
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press(a)fsf.org>
http://lists.fsf.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press
(Please support us to reach more people in their native language. Join
our translator team http://fsfe.org/contribute/translators/.)
= FSFE Newsletter - January 2011 =
[Permanent URL: http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-201101.en.html ]
== Robots, Football, and Education ==
Their mission is to bring Free Software into schools and universities.
Their new task is to gather information about [1]their stakeholders,
and [2]create targeted leaflets. And I am sure the favourite colour of
the coordinators [3]Thomas Jensch and [4]Guido Arnold is [5]Fellowship
green. That's [6]our education team.
Can robots help with that? We think they can. Our education team had
[7]a first meeting to get trained in giving programming workshops
using freedroidz robots. We want to teach pupils how to program, show
them that it's good to share and co-operate, and explain Free Software
to their teachers, parents, and politicians.
And what about football? Regular readers might remember that Guido
Arnold is running a parallel tournament to the football championship
in Europe 2012 where the discipline is Free Software usage in
government. So every time there is a football match, Guido starts a
Free Software match between them, while a huge part is of course the
government's education policy. Read [8]Guido's blog to find out why
Russia is a hot candidate for the European champion, but why we need
more information on Eastern European countries.
== Public institutions - hares or snails? ==
Already, 203 public institutions have removed advertisements for
proprietary PDF readers from their websites. Particularly outstanding
were the responses from Croatia, Russia and Slovenia. In Croatia all
except one reported institution deleted the advertisement. Half of
those contacted in Russia and Slovenia fulfilled FSFE's request.
Amongst the public institutions are ministries, parliaments, law
enforcement agencies, local governments, and other administrations.
With [9]our PDFreaders campaign we will continue to follow-up with the
[10]reported institutions and you can still encourage friends [11]to
sign the corresponding petition.
== Something completely different ==
- You think your old C64 was slow? Working on the United Nations
level will change your mind. Karsten Gerloff wrote an article
about FSFE's UN work: [12]"WIPO CDIP/6: Moving the glacier".
- Open Standards in Europe: The European Commission published the
new version of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF). We
at FSFE have been [13]working on this document for a long time.
Read [14]our press release and an [15]article by Karsten assessing
the new EIF.
- Current developments at Nokia, the transformative power of Free
Software, and the potential dangers posed by the use of Free
Software by large organisations. Those are the topics of the
[16]current Fellowship interview with Alexander Kahl, Fedora
packager, Lisp, JavaScript and Perl programmer, and active FSFE
volunteer.
- While Torsten Grote [17]gave a radio interview (German) about
risks of cloud computing and chances of distributed Free Software,
Björn Schiessle [18]writes about how he wants to install
distributed software at home.
== Get active: Help with Euro 2012 championship ==
Help us gathering information about government's Free Software usage.
This information helps us to evaluate the current situation and of
course it will decide who will be the European Free Software champion
in 2012. [19]Add the information on our website before March 25 and it
will influence the next matches, add information continuously and it
will help Free Software activists all over the world.
Regards,
Matthias Kirschner - FSFE
1. http://wiki.fsfe.org/Education#stakeholders
2. http://fsfe.org/about/printable/printable.en.html
3. http://blogs.fsfe.org/riepernet/
4. http://blogs.fsfe.org/guido
5. http://fellowship.fsfe.org/
6. http://fsfe.org/projects/education/education.en.html
7. http://blogs.fsfe.org/guido/2010/12/freedroidz-workshop-with-tarent/
8. http://blogs.fsfe.org/guido/category/euro2012/
9. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.en.html
10. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/buglist.en.html
11. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/petition.en.html
12. http://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/?p=434
13. http://fsfe.org/projects/os/eifv2.en.html
14. http://fsfe.org/news/2010/news-20101216-01.en.html
15.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2010/12/17/assessing-the-new-european-interop…
16. http://blogs.fsfe.org/fellowship-interviews/?p=198
17. http://blogs.fsfe.org/mk/?p=698
18. http://blog.schiessle.org/2010/12/19/a-new-toy-arrived/
19. http://wiki.fsfe.org/Free_Software_usage_in_public_administration
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= 172 public institutions removed non-free advertisement =
[permanent URL: www.fsfe.org/news/2010/news-20101217-01.en.html]
Only one month after the letters for the PDFreaders campaign of FSFE
were sent, 172 public institutions have removed advertisements for
proprietary PDF readers from their websites. Particularly outstanding
were the responses from Croatia [1], Russia [2] and Slovenia [3]. In
Croatia almost all reported institutions deleted the advertisement. Half
of those contacted in Russia and Slovenia fulfilled FSFE's
request.
"Several institutions replied stating that they agree with our concerns
[4], and that they will modify their websites", said campaign manager
Matthias Kirschner. Amongst those are a number of ministries,
parliaments, law enforcement agencies, and the Belgian Prime Minister's
chancellery.
Campaigns like this are made possible by a community of volunteers [5],
and financial supporters [6]. FSFE is following-up with the remaining
organisations [7] in order to get the remaining advertisements
removed.
1. http://www.fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/buglist.html#HR
2. http://www.fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/buglist.html#RU
3. http://www.fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/buglist.html#SI
4. http://www.fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/letter.html
5. http://www.fsfe.org/contribute/index.html
6. http://www.fsfe.org/donate/donate.html
7. http://www.fsfe.or/campaigns/pdfreaders/buglist.html
= About the PDFreaders campaign =
What would you think about a sign on the highway saying “You need a
Volkswagen to drive on this road. Contact your Volkswagen dealer for
a gratis test drive – Your Government”? When it comes to software
that opens PDF files, many public sector organisations do this every
day. With the pdfreaders.org campaign FSFE has turned the spotlight
on government organisations who behave in this way, exposing how
frequent such advertisements for non-free software are. With the help
of activists across Europe, FSFE is contacting these organisations to
explain them how to improve their websites so that they respect our
freedom.
http://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.en.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/
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Free Software Discussions <http://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
Our press release about the European Interoperability Framework
http://fsfe.org/news/2010/news-20101216-01.en.html
contained an incorrect link to the document in footnote [1].
The correct link to the European Interoperability Framework is
http://ec.europa.eu/isa/strategy/doc/110113__iop_communication_annex_eif.pdf
Our apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Your contact for any questions or additional information is FSFE's
President Karsten Gerloff:
gerloff(a)fsfeurope.org
+49 176 9690 4298
With kind regards,
Free Software Foundation Europe
= FSFE welcomes revised European Interoperability Framework =
[permanent URL: www.fsfe.org/news/2010/news-20101216-01.en.html]
The European Commission today published its long-awaited revision of
the European Interoperability Framework [1]. This document aims at
promoting interoperability in the European public sector. The document
is the result of a prolonged and hard-fought process. Free Software
Foundation Europe accompanied this process and offered input to the
European Commission at various stages [2].
"During the history of the EIF, we had reason to worry that Free
Software would effectively be shut out of the European public sector.
FSFE has worked hard to prevent this, and we have succeeded," says
Karsten Gerloff, FSFE's President. "With this document, the Commission
shows that it is willing to lead. We will support and accompany the EC
in this effort."
We are happy that the effort which FSFE has invested in the EIF revision
process has brought results. The document has improved markedly over
previous versions [4] from a Free Software point of view:
- The document explicitly states that Open Standards [5] (called "open
specifications") must be implementable in Free Software.
- The document states that public administrations should prefer Open
Standards.
- The document calls on public administrations to reuse and share
solutions. Free Software is by far the most practical way to achieve this.
Some points of the document could be improved. There is considerable
wriggle room for public bodies to avoid making changes to inefficient IT
systems and practices.
The document's definition of "open specifications" demands that such
standards must be implementable in Free Software, but allows the patents
in those standards to be licensed under so-called FRAND conditions. Such
FRAND conditions normally make it impossible to implement a standard in
Free Software [6]. FSFE will closely accompany the European Commission
in reconciling this apparent conflict.
"While FSFE would have wished for a more forceful push for Open
Standards and Free Software, we congratulate the EC on producing a
useful document out of a heated debate", says Gerloff.
This document ties in with the Commission's eGovernment Action Plan,
announced yesterday, which makes Open Standards a political priority for
European Member States and defines clear actions and deadlines. As a key
action, national governments are expected to align their national
interoperability frameworks with the EIF by 2013.
FSFE has visualised the changes among the various versions of the
document [4]. This has been a key tool for many people's work on EIFv2.
The table is currently being updated to reflect the final version of the
document.
1.
http://ec.europa.eu/isa/strategy/doc/20101216_iop_communication_annex_eis.p…
2. http://www.fsfe.org/news/2009/news-20091127-01.en.html
3. http://www.fsfe.org/projects/os/bsa-letter-analysis.en.html
4. http://fsfe.org/projects/os/eifv2.en.html
5. http://fsfe.org/projects/os/def.en.html
6. http://www.fsfe.org/projects/os/bsa-letter-analysis.en.html#3
== 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/
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <http://www.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>
= European Commission's software contract is a rough deal for Europe =
[permanent URL : http://www.fsfe.org/news/2010/news-20101207-01.en.html]
The European Commission will spend EUR 189 million on proprietary
software over the next six years, in direct contradiction to its own
decisions and guidelines. The Commission last week announced a
six-year framework contract to acquire a wide range of mostly
proprietary software and related services [1].
"This is a rough deal for Europe", says Karsten Gerloff, President of
Free Software Foundation Europe. "Instead of coming up with a strategy
to take advantage of Free Software and become independent from
vendors, the Commission is digging itself deeper into the vendor
lock-in hole."
Last week's contract goes against the stated intentions of several
Commission documents. European procurement rules say that public
sector buying practices should "avoid discrimination and open up
public procurement to competition."
The Digital Agenda, published in May 2010, calls for "ICT products and
services" to be "open and interoperable" [2]. A guideline issued by the
EC's OSOR project cites European procurement rules to say that "calls
for tender [...] should be based on functional requirements, not on
specific products or vendors" [3], while last week's contract comes with
a long list of specific products which the Commission wants to buy.
In the Malmö and Granada declarations of 2009 and 2010, the European
Union's member states called on the EC to "pay particular attention to
the benefits resulting from the use of open specifications in order to
deliver services in the most cost-effective manner", and to "[e]mbed
innovation and cost effectiveness into eGovernment through the
systematic promotion of open standards and interoperable systems" [4].
The procurement process was conducted by the Directorate General for
Informatics (DIGIT). This department is also leading the process to
revise the European Interoperability Framework. FSFE has strongly
criticised [5] previous drafts [6] for falling behind the original
version in their support of Open Standards [7] and Free Software [8].
"European citizens expect the Commission to keep its costs low, to
spend their tax money in ways that promote Europe's development, and
to stick to its own policies," comments Gerloff. "This behaviour by
DIGIT fails Europeans on all three counts. It damages the Commission's
credibility."
== Links ==
[1]
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2010/12/03/244307/European-Commissio…
[2] Digital Agenda for Europe:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52010DC0245%280…
[3] OSOR Procurement Guideline:
http://www.osor.eu/idabc-studies/OSS-procurement-guideline%20-final.pdf
[4] Malmö declaration : http://www.epractice.eu/en/library/299149 and
Granada declaration http://www.epractice.eu/en/news/316468
[5] http://fsfe.org/news/2010/news-20100330-01.en.html
[6] Comparison of different EIF versions:
http://www.fsfe.org/projects/os/eifv2.en.html
[7] Definition of Open Standards: http://www.fsfe.org/projects/os/def.html
[8] What is Free Software?
http://www.fsfe.org/about/basics/freesoftware.en.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/