1. FSFE stands firm in Microsoft case 2. FSFE gains observer status at the WIPO 3. Intensifying world wide co-operation 4. Two FSFE members attending SFScon 5. Other public appearances
1. FSFE stands firm in Microsoft case
Microsoft has steadily been soliciting supporters of the European Commission antitrust case to withdraw their support for the Commission by offering a series of financial settlements. The agreement with Sun Microsystems to withdraw has now been joined by financial settlements with Novell and the CCIA, after which they also agreed to withdraw from the case. In light of these developments, the FSFE reaffirms its determination to support the European Commission in the landmark antitrust case, in which a decision is expected soon.
This leaves much of the European Commission case depending on the independence and reliability of FSFE, but it also increments the personal and financial resources the FSFE will have to spend. Everybody can help to strengthen FSFE's position against Microsoft with a donation.
http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/ms-vs-eu/ http://www.fsfeurope.org/help/paypal.en.html
2. FSFE gains observer status at the WIPO
The Free Software Foundation Europe is now officially accredited as observer at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), where it will be working along with others to question the ideology that more monopolisation of knowledge is always good. As announced in the October WIWO statement, FSFE will be working to change WIPO towards a "World Intellectual Wealth Organisation."
http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/wipo/
3. Intensifying world wide co-operation
Earlier last month, Georg Greve contributed a keynote to the Congresso Internacional de Software Livre (CONISLI) in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He also used the opportunity to increase communication with the vibrant Brazilian Free Software community and visit several Telecentros in Sao Paulo. The Telecentro movement is currently the largest digital inclusion project in the world and a prime example how Free Software can sustainably and directly empower people.
4. Two FSFE members attending SFScon
The LUG Bozen/Bolzano/Bulsan decided to enrich their traditional LinuxDay with the first South Tyrol Free Software Conference (SFScon). This event also addressed people outside the usual target group, for example with a meeting of Wikipedia authors. The FSFE supported this conference with three speeches: Werner Koch talked about "privacy and encryption techniques", and Alessandro Rubini presented "Free Software in teaching" and gave an "Introduction to kernel programming".
5. Other public appearances
On 5 November, a seminar on Free Software was organised in Västerås by the local LUG, the Swedish Linux Association and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Mälardalen University. Jonas Öberg gave an introduction about the four freedoms that make software free.
At a local event in Genova on 11 November, Alessandro Rubini held a speech about the development process of Free Software. He explained that while collaborative development is good, smaller projects often cannot build up a large community. Still, as long as the software is free, the projects remain useful in their niche problem space even years after development stopped. Several schools participated in the event, and the final discussion brought in the topic of Free Software in education and the problem of software patents.
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