Thanks to all of you for your participation at the Fellowship workshop
before FSCONS. We worked together on DFD, the DRM booklet, and the
PDFreaders campaign. There are three TODOs in the report.
Thanks you so much! We really achieved a lot at this day!!
Matthias
= Document Freedom Day =
European Parliament: Erik presented his ideas for an event in the
EP about ebooks. Erik will keep us posted here.
Sweden: There was the idea to check government websites for non-free
formats like doc, docx, xls, etc. report those them. On Document Freedom
Day announce the result and name some who have done well.
TODO: Who will follow up on DFD in Sweden?
= DRM booklet =
Several people worked on the DRM booklet. With your help Karsten was
able to send it out this week.
TODO: Karsten will let you know about the final result.
= PDFReaders =
We had a followup for some countries, following the guide here:
<https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/follow-up.en.html>
- translated model Letter in Swedish
https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/letter.sv.html
- translated petition into Swedish
https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/petition.sv.html
- improved PDFreaders.org front page http://pdfreaders.org/index.sv.html
Our PDFreaders questions were now filed from an MEP. We are trying to
get them asked in Belgium and Sweden as well. It was suggested to get in
contact with the following MPs in Sweden to ask if they can ask the
questions there:
- Karl Sigrid
- Gustav Fridolin
- Mikael von Knorring
- Maria Färm
TODO: Who can take care of asking those MPs?
Here are the questions:
Subject: Software advertising on public websites
Numerous EU public websites refer to proprietary software, like
Acrobat Reader, as the only possibility to read PDF files and provide
a download link. This is a case of direct advertising by public
institutions, which creates a competitive advantage for one company to
sell its products.
1. Currently, on how many of the Commission's own web pages do such
advertisements appear?
2. Could the Commission provide links to these pages, as well as names
of EU institutions that have such advertising on their websites?
3. What are the Commission's reasons (e.g. financial gain, lack of
other functional software, etc) for advertising this particular
software as the only possibility to read PDF files?
4. Have the institutions, that have such advertising on their website,
explained whether they tried other PDF readers before? Which software
did they mention?
5. What steps is the Commission taking to resolve this problem
regarding a) the Commission's own website, and b) the websites of
public institutions in Member States?
--
Matthias Kirschner - FSFE - Fellowship Coordinator, German Coordinator
FSFE, Linienstr. 141, 10115 Berlin, t +49-30-27595290 +49-1577-1780003
Free Software is important to you? Join today! (fsfe.org/join)
Weblog (blogs.fsfe.org/mk) - Contact (fsfe.org/about/kirschner)
= Svensk aktivist erhåller Nordic Free Software Award 2011 =
[ http://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20111114-01.sv.html ]
Erik Josefsson är mottagare av the Nordic Free Software Award 2011. Med
utmärkelsen uppmärksammar Föreningen Fri Kultur och Programvara (FFKP)
Josefsson för hans insatser i kampanjen för frihet i
infomationssamhället.
"Det är en glädje för oss att få uppmärksamma Erik för det oerhört
viktiga arbete han har utfört under de senaste 10 åren", säger FFKP:s
vice direktör Jonas Öberg. "Erik har en exceptionell förmåga att förstå
och förklara sambandet mellan teknik och politik. Vi är oerhört
tacksamma för hans insats. Hans arbete inspirerar oss alla."
Från en karriär som professionell basviolinist har Josefsson gradvis
gått över till att bli heltidsaktivist för frihet i
informationssamhället. Han grundade den svenska grenen av Föreningen för
en Fri Informationsinfrastruktur (FFII) år 2004. Året därefter listades
han som en av Sveriges 30 främsta makthavare inom teknik, i samband med
den stora debatten om patent på mjukvara inom EU. Josefsson räknas som
en av de främsta försvararna av fri programvara i Europa.
Som aktivist i Bryssel 2005, hade Josefsson en nyckelroll i att få
EU-parlamentet att förkasta förslaget till direktiv om patent på
programvara. I fjol hade han en lika viktig roll i att förhindra
lagstiftning som skulle stänga av människor från Internet utan
föregående juridisk prövning. För närvarande bekämpar han en
ratificering av ACTA-fördraget. [1]
Josefsson är för närvarande anställd av den Gröna gruppen i
EU-parlamentet, som rådgivare i internetfrågor. Han arbetar på att bygga
upp verktyg, som t.ex. ParlTrack [2], som gör parlamentets arbete mer
transparent för unionens medborgare. "Det är en källa till verklig
makt", says Henrik Sandklef, vice ordförande i Free Software Foundation
Europe (FSFE) [3]. "Att förstå hur parlamentet arbetar och kunna påverka
vid rätt tid i processen är oerhört viktigt om rörelsen för fri
programvara ska få något inflytande alls. Erik är oerhört duktig på att
förklara filosofin bakom fri programvara för politiker, och på att
hjälpa frihetsaktivister att förstå maktstrukturen inom EU."
Varje år sedan 2007 har FFKP [4] delat ut Nordic Free Software Award för att
uppmärksamma och belöna personer, projekt och organisationer i de
Nordiska länderna, som har gjort betydande bidrag till framsteg inom Fri
Programvara. Tidigare mottagre har varit Bjarní Runar Einarsson (2010),
Simon Josefsson och Daniel Stenberg (2009), Mats Östling (2008), samt
Skolelinuxprojektet (2007).
1. http://en.act-on-acta.eu/
2. http://parltrack.euwiki.org/
3. http://fsfe.org
4. http://ffkp.se
== Press contact ==
Jonas Öberg
Executive Director, FFKP
Email: jonas(a)ffkp.se
Phone: +46 31 780 21 61
= Om Free Software Europe =
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) är en icke-statligt
organisation hängiven alla aspekter inom Fri Programvara i Europa.
Tillgång till programvara bestämmer vem som får delta i ett digitalt
samhälle. Friheterna att använda, kopiera, modifiera och
vidaredistribuera programvara - som beskrivs i definitionen av Fri
Programvara - gör att all kan deltaga på lika villkor i
informationsåldern. Att skapa medvetenhet kring dessa frågor, att
säkerställa Fri Programvara politiskt och juridiskt samt att ge
människor frihet genom att stödja utvecklingen av Fri Programvara är
centrala frågor för FSF Europe, vilken grundades 2001 som den
europeiska systerorganisationen till Free Software Foundation i USA.
http://www.fsfe.org/
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= Swedish activist receives Nordic Free Software Award 2011 =
[Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20111114-01.en.html ]
Erik Josefsson is the winner of the Nordic Free Software Award 2011.
With the award, the Swedish Foundation for Free Culture and Free
Software (FFKP) honours Josefsson for his achievements as a campaigner
for freedom in the information society.
"We are proud to honour Erik for the tremendously important work he has
done over the past ten years", says FFKP [1] Executive Director Jonas
Öberg. "Erik has an exceptional ability to understand and explain the
link between policy and technology. We are hugely grateful for his work.
He is an inspiration to all of us."
From a career as a professional double-bass player, Josefsson gradually
moved to full-time activism for freedom in the information society. He
founded the Swedish Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure
(FFII Sweden) in 2004. Listed among Sweden's 30 most influential people
during the European debate about software patents in 2005, Josefsson is
among Europe's foremost defenders of software freedom.
As an activist in Brussels, Josefsson was instrumental in getting the
European Parliament to reject the Software Patent Directive in 2005.
More recently, he prevented the EU from passing a law to cut off
people's Internet access without due process, and is currently
campaigning against ACTA. [1]
Josefsson currently works as an adviser on Internet policies for the
Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament. He is busy building tools
such as ParlTrack [2] that make the Parliament's processes transparent
to citizens. "This information holds real power", says Henrik Sandklef,
Vice President of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). [3]
"Understanding how the Parliament works is very important for the Free
Software movement. Erik does a great job of explaining software freedom
to politicians, and helping freedom campaigners to understand Europe's
power structure."
Every year since 2007, FFKP [4] has used the Nordic Free Software Award
to honour people, projects and organisations in the Nordic countries
that have made a prominent contribution to the advancement of Free
Software. Previous winners of the award are Bjarní Runar Einarsson
(2010), Simon Josefsson and Daniel Stenberg (2009), Mats Östling (2008),
and the Skolelinux project (2007).
1. http://en.act-on-acta.eu/
2. http://parltrack.euwiki.org/
3. http://fsfe.org
4. http://ffkp.se
== Press contact ==
Jonas Öberg
Executive Director, FFKP
Email: jonas(a)ffkp.se
Phone: +46 31 780 21 61
== 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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= FSFE Newsletter - November 2011 =
[Read Online : http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-201111.en.html ]
== WWW would have been better if it was patented ==
How long should copyright last? Should living beings or software be
patentable? The World Intellectual Property Organisation deals with this
sort of questions. Since 2004, we are involved in the WIPO to make sure
they do not harm Free Software. Our most important demand is that when
it comes to copyright and patents, the benefits should be weighed
against the costs.
The new Director General Francis Gurry's said that the World Wide Web
would have been better if it was patented. This shows us that the
current trend is in the opposite direction. Read more about this in
Karsten's article WIPO sliding back into the Dark Ages?[1], our WIPO
dossier[2], and support the Geneva Declaration[3].
1.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2011/10/24/wipo-sliding-back-into-the-dark-ag…
2. http://fsfe.org/projects/wipo/wipo.de.html
3. http://fsfe.org/projects/wipo/wiwo.de.html
== Daily business - step by step ==
Why do FSFE so frequently give interviews and talks, and travel to
promote FSFE issues? Our mission is to promote freedom in emerging
digital society. So as you can see on our events page[4]it is part of
our daily business to travel around, give talks, interviews, and
organise events. Paul Boddie improved our Fellowship event
calendar[5]which now integrates GriCal. This way you can subscribe to
the calendar. If you are already subscribed to the the event's RSS feed
<http://fsfe.org/events/events.de.rss>or the Ical feed[6]you can skip
the next paragraph.
4. http://fsfe.org/events/events.de.html
5. http://blogs.fsfe.org/pboddie/?p=54
6. webcal://fsfe.org/events/events.en.ics
So for example in October Karsten and Matija gave talks at LinuxCon
Europe in Prague, Sam gave a speech at the DIY Feminist Festival in
Manchester[7], our UK team had a booth at FLOSS UK Unconference 2011 in
Manchester, your editor gave a talk about "10 misunderstandings about
Free Software (or are they lies?)" at the technical university in
Berlin, our Austrian coordinator Peter Bubestinger gave a talk "Free
Software and Open Formats: virtual immortality and independence for
digital archives" at the National Library in Vienna, and our French
coordinator Hugo Roy organised a talk on "A Free Digital Society" by
Richard Stallman[8].
7. http://blogs.fsfe.org/samtuke/?p=215
8.
http://www.libertesnumeriques.net/evenements/stallman-19octobre2011?lang=en
On the interview front: Karsten gave a radio interview about our work at
WIPO[9], Hugo an interview to the French GNU Linux Magazine Essentiel,
your editor to the German newspaper TAZ about Secure boot[10].
9.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2011/10/24/wipo-sliding-back-into-the-dark-ag…
10. http://blogs.fsfe.org/mk/?p=845
== Something completely different ==
- Rikard Fröberg works at The Society for Free Culture and
Software[11], and contributes this year to the FSCONS[12]organisation
and thereby supporting our Free Software in Politics track[13]. In the
October Fellowship Interview[14]he considers the importance of having
an active and engaged community of users.
- Free Software from a human rights angle. Instead of just saying good-
bye after the end of his internship, Diego wrote us a nice article as
a gift:"Free Software social networks for social change"[15].
- A selection of interesting blog entries from our planet
aggregation[16]:Denmark - Portugal 4:5. The regular qualification for
the EURO2012 in Free Software are over. Which country has good Free
Software and Open Standard practices? Guido Arnold looked at this[17].
(Even though they were not able to win against Belgium, your editor is
happy that Germany qualified. It is difficult to compete against teams
with such good players as FOSDEM[18].)
- New government in Denmark, read what new opportunities Fellow Carsten
Agger sees[19].
- Converting letters into e-mails? Working on our PDFreaders
campaign[20], Sam received letters from public administrations and had
to forward them to our mailing list. So he took this opportunity to
write about Easy OCR on GNU/Linux with gImageReader"[21].
- The first 100 customers matter! Writes Georg Greve in his article
about an Open climate for entrepreneurs in Europe[22]. Read more about
Research and Development programmes, Silicon Valley, and software
patents.
- UnRAR in freedom: Thanks to The Unarchiver initiative, we are now able
to extract recent rar files completely with Free Software[23].
- When is a bug report useful?[24]Read the article, and file about to
this month newsletter.
- KDE became 15 Years in October. Paul Adams wondered how that does
look like[25].
11. https://ffkp.se/
12. http://fscons.org/
13. http://blogs.fsfe.org/mk/?p=840
14. http://blogs.fsfe.org/fellowship-interviews/?p=446
15.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/diegojavier/2011/10/10/free-software-social-networks-…
16. http://planet.fsfe.org
17.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/guido/2011/10/euro2012-in-free-software-regular-quali…
18. http://www.fosdem.org
19.
https://blogs.fsfe.org/agger/2011/10/01/denmark-new-government-new-opportun…
20. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.de.html
21. http://blogs.fsfe.org/samtuke/?p=227
22. http://blogs.fsfe.org/greve/?p=455
23. http://blogs.fsfe.org/torsten.grote/2011/10/14/unrar-in-freedom/
24. http://blogs.fsfe.org/myriam/2011/10/when-is-a-bug-report-useful
25. http://blogs.fsfe.org/padams/?p=251
-
== Get Active: Document Freedom Day - Let's get ready to rumble ==
Coordination for next years Document Freedom Day[26]is starting. Your
editor is responsible for next years international coordination, and
shamelessly asks you to join the team, subscribe to our mailinglist[27],
give input about the last year, help with campaign planing, taking care
of coordination events in a certain country, taking care with the
communication with partners, help with the organisation of events for
next year, help with setting up the new website, writting texts,
translate them, help with designing t-shirts and other promotion
materials, or if you do not have time, make a donation[28]to support us
in this activity.
26. http://documentfreedom.org
27. http://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/df-coordination
28. http://fsfe.org/donate/donate.en.html
Thanks to all the Fellows[29]and donors[30]who enable our work,
29. http://fellowship.fsfe.org/join
30. donate/thankgnus.de.html
Matthias Kirschner- FSFE
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <http://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <http://fsfe.org/news/news.de.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <http://fsfe.org/events/events.de.rss>
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Free Software Discussions <http://fsfe.org/contact/community.de.html>
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