January has been a month full of activity both on the grassroots community level and in broad topics like Free Software legal infrastructure. The local Fellowship groups in Berlin and Duesseldorf are very active, and Duesseldorf's Fellowship is planning to expand to nearby cities in the coming months. Meanwhile, FSFE and gpl-violations.org have been deepening their partnership to ensure fair use of Free Software licences in the European area.
This is a great time to get more involved with FSFE and the Fellowship, especially if you are interested in fostering local activities for like-minded Free Software enthusiasts or new members of our community. You can find tips on getting active here: http://fsfeurope.org/contribute.
Shane, FSFE Zurich office
1. GPL-violations.org and FSFE's Freedom Task Force plan future interaction 2. NLnet continues to support FSFE's Freedom Task Force 3. Berlin Fellowship meeting and talk 4. Duesseldorf Fellowship meeting and planning future events 5. FSFE meeting in Göteborg, Sweden 6. SELF Open Documentary Contest
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
7. Richard Stallman Speech about Free Software Philosophy and History in Berlin, 2008-02-18 8. Preparation for FOSDEM, Brussels, 2008-02-23 and 2008-02-24 9. "Standards and the Future of the Internet" Conference, Geneva, 2008-02-26 10. Secure shell speech at Duesseldorf Fellowship, Duesseldorf, 2008-02-27
1. GPL-violations.org and FSFE's Freedom Task Force plan future interaction
On the 31st of January representatives from gpl-violations.org and FSFE's FTF met in Berlin to discuss the future of licence compliance in the European area. Harald Welte and Armijn Hemel discussed the perspective of the successful gpl-violations.org project, while Shane Coughlan represented FSFE. Dr. Till Jaeger attended one of the sessions and brought his considerable legal knowledge to the conversation. GPL-violations.org and FSFE's FTF have agreed to work closely together to ensure fair use, understanding and responsibility in the use of Free Software licences.
http://laforge.gnumonks.org/weblog/2008/02/02/#20080202-gplviolations-meetin...
2. NLnet continues to support FSFE's Freedom Task Force
The initial phase of the FTF was possible thanks to support by the Netherlands based philantropic organisation NLnet foundation. Today the FTF's legal and technical networks cover sixteen European countries, have over seventy members and include contacts from the USA, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan. The FTF delivers training courses in Switzerland in cooperation with Digicomp, in Sweden with Internet Academy and in The Netherlands with ATComputing. Now, after just over twelve months of continual growth, NLnet is providing a second round of financial support to this innovative legal project.
http://fsfeurope.org/news/2008/news-20080118-01.en.html
3. Berlin Fellowship meeting and talk
The Berlin Fellowship Group met at the Newthinking Store as usual and featured a talk from Hannes Hauswedell about the free BSD operating systems. Discussion centred around BSD variants as alternative Free operating systems, description of the various BSD variants and the policies that the BSD projects have regarding Free Software adoption.
If you would like to join in the fun, please note that the Berlin Fellowship meets every second Thursday in the month at the Newthinking Store, Tucholskystr. 48 in 10117 Berlin.
4. Duesseldorf Fellowship meeting and planning future events
The Duesseldorf Fellowship met as usual and discussed future plans. This included a highly interesting and constructive discussion about having a booth at the Labour's Day 1. May at Duesseldorf. The Fellowship will share their booth with other organisations. Chaosdorf e.V. (the local CCC group, http://www.chaosdorf.de) may attend. The Fellowship also planned meetings in other cities like Cologne and Roermond/NL to intensify the contact to other Fellows.
Get in contact with the Duesseldorf Fellowship: rk@office.fsfeurope.org
5. FSFE meeting in Göteborg, Sweden
The Swedish team of the FSFE organised a small meeting for those interested in the FSFE activities on the 28th of january. Some of the issues discussed focused around publishing the videos recorded during FSCONS in december, and generally around video editing and mastering.
6. SELF Open Documentary Contest
The SELF (Science, Education and Learning in Freedom) project has announced a SELF Open Documentary Contest where individuals and companies are invited to "create a documentary about the creation of free knowledge and education in the digital era". The contest runs until the end of may 2008, and the winners will be presented during a SELF conference in Spain in july 2008.
http://www.selfproject.eu/contest
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
7. Richard Stallman Speech about Free Software Philosophy and History in Berlin, 2008-02-18
On Monday 18. February at 19:00 Richard M. Stallman, founder of the GNU project and the FSF, will give a speech at the mediacentre - Atrium, Johannisstrasse 20, in 10117 Berlin-Mitte. He will talk about the history and philosophy of Free Software. The Berlin Fellowship group will have a small booth there and inform visitors about the local groupd and FSFE's work in Germany and Europe. Admission starts at 18:30. The entrance fee is 5 EUR.
8. Preparation for FOSDEM, Brussels, 2008-02-23 and 2008-02-24
Many in FSFE are getting ready for FSFE's 7th trip to FOSDEM. Like previous years, FSFE has been given a large stall just inside the main entrance. FOSDEM is one of the year's two largest Free Software events where FSFE's members, friends, and employees can meet each other and the free software community. It's also an opportunity to buy t-shirts and other FSFE material, and to join the Fellowship of FSFE - which we launched at FOSDEM 2005.
If you're at the event or nearby, drop in an say hi! FOSDEM is very much a community focussed event, with no entrance fee, but you can donate if you like.
9. "Standards and the Future of the Internet" Conference, Geneva, 2008-02-26
Shane Coughlan, the coordinator of FSFE's Freedom Task Force, will host a breakout session discussing licensing issues at the "Standards and the Future of the Internet" Conference being held in Geneva, Switzerland, during the 26th and 27th of February. The conference will be hosted at the International Conference Centre and confirmed speakers include Vint Cerf, Carlo Piana, Thomas Vinje and Jeremy Allison.
10. Secure shell speech at Duesseldorf Fellowship, Duesseldorf, 2008-02-27
Patrick Haehnel will hold a talk at the Duesseldorf Fellowship on the 27th of February. The title of his speech is "Forget the Swiss Army Knife! - Secure Shell - tips'n'tricks."
You can find a full list of forthcoming events here: http://fsfeurope.org/events/events.html
You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters here: http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html
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