FSFE launches list of recommended Free Software lawyers
FSFE has launched a list of recommended Free Software lawyers by naming Dr. Till Jaeger and Carlo Piana as knowledgeable and reliable Free Software legal experts in Germany and Italy respectively.
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is committed to working with lawyers throughout Europe to maximise the legal security of Free Software and is aware that as the community matures it is important to be able to locate professional legal advice. For this reason FSFE has introduced a new policy for recommending legal experts in individual countries.
The FSFE policy for recommending legal experts can be found on the Freedom Task Force (FTF) website [1], along with details of the individuals that FSFE recommends.
"The key thing is to help answer the question "who do I talk to?" for people using Free Software," says Shane Coughlan, FSFE Freedom Task Force coordinator. "We have worked with both Dr Till Jaeger and Carlo Piana for several years and have great confidence in their ability. We want to express this confidence in public so that Free Software users will have a clear point of contact for legal advice."
"Supporting the growth of a strong network of legal experts in Free Software has been on our agenda for several years now. Establishing the Freedom Task Force was one logical step along that way," explains Georg Greve, FSFE's president. "We will gladly continue supporting projects with the collective competency of our legal network and will take direct legal action on behalf of the projects that are part of our fiduciary programme. But we also wanted to make it easier for others with no direct connection to FSFE to find a legal expert they can have confidence in."
"Commercial Free Software has been growing in importance for years and I believe it's time to help formalise support for it" says Stefano Maffuli, FSFE Italy coordinator. "I'm delighted to recommend Carlo Piana as a point of contact for developers and companies seeking legal advice in Italy."
Dr. Till Jaeger is a partner in the Berlin law firm JBB RechtsanwÃâ¬lte. He represents FSFE in Germany and Harald Welte in GPL enforcement cases. He is chair of the "Internationalization" subcommittee within the GPLv3 process. Carlo Piana is a partner at the Milan law firm Studio Legale Tamos Piana & Partners. Among other things, he represents FSFE and Samba in the Microsoft vs. EC Commission Antitrust case and lectures at the University of Milan.
Dr Till Jaeger can be contacted in the following ways: Email: jaeger [at] jbb.de Telephone: +49 30 443 765 0 Fax: +49 30 443 765 22 Post: JBB Rechtsanwalte, Christinenstrasse 18/19, 10119 Berlin, Germany.
Carlo Piana can be contacted in the following ways: Email: carlo.piana [at] avvocatinteam.com Telephone: +39 02 7000 6392 Fax: +39 02 7611 3344 Post: Studio Legale Tamos Piana & Partners, Palazzo dell'Elfo, Via Ciro Menotti 11, 20129 Milano, Italy
[1] www.fsfeurope.org/ftf
About the Free Software Foundation Europe:
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and involved in many global activities. Access to software determines participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE.
Contact:
You can reach the FSFE switchboard from: Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57 ext 408 Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73 ext 408 Sweden: +46 31 7802160 ext 408 Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66 ext 408 UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7 ext 408
Shane Coughlan, FTF Co-ordinator, FSFE extension: 408