1. IPRED2 - the new attack against freedom 2. Stichting NLnet donate 150,000 EUR to support GPLv3 activities 3. Alessandro Rubini in Slovenia 4. Stefano Maffulli at the OpenOffice.org Conference in Slovenia
1. IPRED2 - the new attack against freedom
The European Commission has recently published it's draft for a second directive on the enforcement of "intellectual property rights." The text proposes criminalising most infringements of patents, copyrights, and trademarks, and also criminalising the aiding, abetting, or inciting of such an infringement. By requiring that jail sentences, large fines, and other harsh punishments be available for these new crimes, this directive could create enough fear to prevent citizens and companies from participating in the production and distribution of software, and to an extent, the use of software and the publication of information. It would also turn patent, trademark, and copyright laws into affordable weapons for well-funded companies to use on competitors.
Ciaran O'Rioran has put together a page in which he explains how this directive could be abused to harm Free Software and what can be done against it.
http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/ipred2/
2. Stichting NLnet donate 150,000 EUR to support GPLv3 activities
Stichting NLnet, a non-profit foundation based in The Netherlands, announced to donate 150,000 EUR to support the GPLv3 activities of the Free Software Foundation and the Free Software Foundation Europe. This is an important contribution, and NLnet hopes to encourage other grant-making organisations to help fund this unique project.
3. Alessandro Rubini in Slovenia
In Portoroz in Slovenia, Alessandro Rubini participated in a business conference about Free Software. He gave a talk about the the use of Free Software in business and participated in a round table discussion about how the government should help Free Software companies grow. Apart from these official appearances, he spent most of the time in Slovenia establishing contacts with other Free Software advocates from both Slovenia and Croatia.
4. Stefano Maffulli at the OpenOffice.org Conference in Slovenia
At the OpenOffice.org Conference in Koper - Capodistria, Stefano Maffulli spoke at the round table that closed OOoConf2005. The debate ranged from the decision of Massachusetts to use OpenDocument Format to the next advancements in OpenOffice.org. The Conference was very well managed and the hospitality of LUG Trieste and LUGOS (Slovenia) was wonderful.
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