= FSFE signs association joint letter for terminal device freedom =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20151028-01.sv.html ]
Together with 9 other civil and economic organisations the Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) sent a letter to numerous members of the German
Bundestag concerning the compulsory routers issue at the present
Wednesday. The letter is supposed to highlight the importance of passing
the bill for freedom of terminal devices in telecommunication.
On the 4th of November the four parliament committees Economy and
Energy, Law and Consumer Protection, Traffic and Digital Infrastructure,
and Digital Agenda will consult about the bill „for selection and
connection of telecommunication terminal devices“. The 132
representatives who sit in the committees will bear a special
responsibility since it is in their power to save the rights of
consumers and protect small and medium-sized businesses.
„We welcome the Federal Government drafting a bill which can
effectively eradicate compulsory routers“, says Matthias Kirschner,
FSFE's President. „The current status of compulsory routers is
harmful for both citizens and economy. This fact has to be known to
all representatives cross-party. Now we need a quick and unmodified
implementation of the drafted law.“
The bill is the outcome of a long discussion about so-called compulsory
routers. These forbid internet users to use a terminal device of their
choice and force them to always have the provider's device in the own
home network. This widespread practise is a threat to security, privacy,
and independence of all internet users and has negative effects on free
and fair competition of manufacturers.
Despite the unanimous opinion of experts, consumer protectors, and
politicians some members of the Federal Council aligned with the few
current bill's opponents. In doing so they adapted technically
inconsistent and long-disproved arguments of internet providers and
network carriers. Up to now the Federal Government rejected the
Council's criticism as not reasonable.
„Today's letter shall prevent a repetition of the Council's
disappointing reaction. With a broad alliance of many-faceted
supporters of terminal device freedom we ask the committees' members
to put those basic user rights as soon as possible and without any
rotten compromises into law“, says Max Mehl, FSFE's Germany
Coordinator. „As of today no representative can plead lack of
knowledge of the importance of terminal device freedom for the
independent usage and security of the internet.“
You can view the depersonalised version of the sent association joint
letter here[1]. Additionally we listed all important events in the
course of the compulsory routers debate seperately on our website[2].
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. https://fsfe.org/activities/routers/files/20151027_Verbaendeschreiben.pdf
2. https://fsfe.org/activities/routers/timeline.sv.html
== 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 convinces 1125 public administrations to remove proprietary software advertisements =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20151013-01.sv.html ]
After six years of activity, the PDFreaders campaign[1] is coming to a
close this month as one of our most successful campaigns.
The campaign began in 2009 with the intent of removing advertisements
for proprietary PDF reader software from public institutions' websites.
To start it all off, volunteers submitted 2104 "bugs", or instances of
proprietary PDF software being directly promoted by public authorities,
and the FSFE listed[2] them online. Since then, hundreds of Free
Software activists took action by writing to the relevant public
institutions and calling for changes to their websites. We received a
lot of positive feedback from the institutions thanking us for our
letters, and to date, 1125 out of the 2104 websites (53%) edited their
websites by removing links to proprietary PDF readers, or adding links
to Free Software PDF readers.
In addition to writing letters, FSFE also collected signatures for a
petition calling for an end to advertisement for proprietary software
products on government websites[3]. 90 organizations, 63 businesses, and
2731 individuals signed this petition.
Furthermore, we were able to push for change at both national and
international levels.
- In Germany, national parties[4] gave statements in favor of free PDF
readers and the German Government itself has recommended the usage of
our text snippet in their migration guide[5]. FSFE's coordinator for
Germany, Max Mehl, covers it[6] in more detail on his blog.
- In the EU: the European Parliament directly asked[7] the European
Commission what were the reasons for advertising a specific software
and which steps were taken to solve this problem.
- In 2011 one of our pdfreaders.org coordinators, Hannes Hauswedell, was
in contact with Google[8], asking them to release the PDF reader
included in their Chrome browser as Free Software. Finally, in May
2014, the pdfium sources were published openly[9], and while FSFE's
enquiry might not have been the only reason they were released, it
marks an important change for the widespread adoption of Free Software
PDF readers.
"This success would not have been possible without the help and hard
work from our volunteers and the support from our donors. *Thank
you!* While many public and private web-sites still promote
proprietary readers, the level of awareness has changed
significantly during our campaign and now it should be much easier
for you to approach the remaining web-site administrators. Also most
internet users today already use Free Software when they open a PDF
file in their browser -- a huge difference from 2009!" says Hannes
Hauswedell who started the campaign. "Of course work still remains
and we invite you to keep on reminding (public) administrators to
use Open Standards and not recommend proprietary software. And with
your support, we too, will continue to fight for a web that respects
its users' privacy and freedom!"
To get involved[10] you can use our sample letter[11] to send to the
relevant public administration, or you can write one of your own. Just
make sure to include where to find a list of Free Software PDF
readers[12] that could replace the link from their website.
A special thanks again to the activists, volunteers, and donors who
helped make this campaign a success!
1. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.sv.html
2. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/buglist.sv.html
3. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/petition.sv.html
4. http://gruen-digital.de/2012/03/document-freedom-day-kleine-anfrage-zur-wer…
5. http://www.cio.bund.de/Web/DE/Architekturen-und-Standards/Migrationsleitfad…
6. http://blog.mehl.mx/2015/german-government-wants-authorities-to-advertise-p…
7. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/parliamentary-questions-eu.en.html
8. http://blogs.fsfe.org/polina/2015/09/10/free-pdf-reader-for-the-web-browser/
9. https://twitter.com/nasko/status/469595752734269440
10. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/follow-up.sv.html
11. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/letter.sv.html
12. http://pdfreaders.org
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org/
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= "Freedomvote": 10 questions about digital freedom for the Swiss national election =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150916-01.sv.html ]
In anticipation of the Swiss national parliament elections (Nationalrat-
/ Ständeratswahlen) on 18 October 2015, FSFE Switzerland starts the
„Freedomvote“[1] campaign today, in cooperation with the "Swiss Open
Systems User Group“ (/ch/open). The campaign offers an online portal
that lists those candidates who will run for election, and their opinion
towards Internet policy, Free Software, and open data formats.
The Freedomvote campaign aims to give voters guidance about the
candidates who are running for election. For many voters nowadays, it is
important what candidates think about aspects of Internet politics, such
as freedom and user rights in the digital age. However, many politicians
still try to avoid these topics. With its Freedomvote campaign, the FSFE
Switzerland wants to change that and bring Internet policy topics and
the use of Free Software into the political agenda. All candidates are
invited to answer diverse questions affecting digital user rights,
e-voting, net neutrality, open data, educational material, Free Software
and encryption. In addition, candidates are welcome to explicitly
explain their own position and provide answers to each question in a
free text field. Based on the answers of the candidates, voters who care
about digital rights, receive help to decide for whom they might vote
for. To get the best results, it is also possible to set up one's own
profile as a voter in order to match your distinct answers with those of
the candidates.
„To answer the ten questions, candidates can use our platform directly
themself and forward the answers via their party, or directly contact
us" says Simon Wächter from Freedomvote, "what we hope for is active
encouragement of candidates from all parties to our transparency
initiative. The more who participate, the more can the campaign help to
offer good guidance for the voters." FSFE Switzerland sends out
hundreds of mails and letters this week, to ask candidates for their
participation. You can help them by additionally asking the candidates
of your region about their participation, personally.
Besides the development and provision of Freedomvote by FSFE Switzerland
and /ch/open[2], the campaign is supported by various civil rights
organisations, such as Parldigi[3], Internet Society Switzerland
Chapter[4], Opendata.ch[5], Digitalle Allmend[6], and Willhelm Tux[7].
The underlying software of freedomvote.ch is self-developed and is
published as Free Software[8].
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. https://freedomvote.ch
2. http://ch-open.ch/
3. http://www.digitale-nachhaltigkeit.ch/
4. http://www.isoc.ch/
5. http://opendata.ch/
6. http://allmend.ch/
7. http://www.wilhelmtux.ch/
8. https://freie.software/adfinis-sygroup/freedomvote
== 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/
_______________________________________________
Press-release-sv mailing list
Press-release-sv(a)fsfeurope.org
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= "Freedomvote": 10 questions about digital freedom for the Swiss national election =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150916-01.sv.html ]
In anticipation of the Swiss national parliament elections (Nationalrat-
/ Ständeratswahlen) on 18 October 2015, FSFE Switzerland starts the
„Freedomvote“[1] campaign today, in cooperation with the "Swiss Open
Systems User Group“ (/ch/open). The campaign offers an online portal
that lists those candidates who will run for election, and their opinion
towards Internet policy, Free Software, and open data formats.
The Freedomvote campaign aims to give voters guidance about the
candidates who are running for election. For many voters nowadays, it is
important what candidates think about aspects of Internet politics, such
as freedom and user rights in the digital age. However, many politicians
still try to avoid these topics. With its Freedomvote campaign, the FSFE
Switzerland wants to change that and bring Internet policy topics and
the use of Free Software into the political agenda. All candidates are
invited to answer diverse questions affecting digital user rights,
e-voting, net neutrality, open data, educational material, Free Software
and encryption. In addition, candidates are welcome to explicitly
explain their own position and provide answers to each question in a
free text field. Based on the answers of the candidates, voters who care
about digital rights, receive help to decide for whom they might vote
for. To get the best results, it is also possible to set up one's own
profile as a voter in order to match your distinct answers with those of
the candidates.
„To answer the ten questions, candidates can use our platform directly
themself and forward the answers via their party, or directly contact
us" says Simon Wächter from Freedomvote, "what we hope for is active
encouragement of candidates from all parties to our transparency
initiative. The more who participate, the more can the campaign help to
offer good guidance for the voters." FSFE Switzerland sends out
hundreds of mails and letters this week, to ask candidates for their
participation. You can help them by additionally asking the candidates
of your region about their participation, personally.
Besides the development and provision of Freedomvote by FSFE Switzerland
and /ch/open[2], the campaign is supported by various civil rights
organisations, such as Parldigi[3], Internet Society Switzerland
Chapter[4], Opendata.ch[5], Digitalle Allmend[6], and Willhelm Tux[7].
The underlying software of freedomvote.ch is self-developed and is
published as Free Software[8].
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. https://freedomvote.ch
2. http://ch-open.ch/
3. http://www.digitale-nachhaltigkeit.ch/
4. http://www.isoc.ch/
5. http://opendata.ch/
6. http://allmend.ch/
7. http://www.wilhelmtux.ch/
8. https://freie.software/adfinis-sygroup/freedomvote
== 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 welcomes adoption of copyright report in EP's JURI committee =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150616-01.sv.html ]
In an important step towards modernising the EU's copyright laws, the
Legal Affairs committee of the European Parliament on Tuesday adopted a
report on the Copyright Directive by MEP Julia Reda.
By adopting the report with 23 votes in favour and 2 against, the
committee asks the European Commission to consider a number of important
updates to copyright as it works towards a revision of the EU Copyright
Directive.
"In a world built on information, copyright law is important in shaping
the ways in which we live and work," says Karsten Gerloff, FSFE's
president. "We hope that MEPs will further strengthen the rights of
users as the report moves towards a plenary vote."
FSFE, which provided input[1] to the MEPs on the Legal Affairs committe
ahead of the vote, views the adopted report as largely positive. The
committee generally supported the idea that copyright exceptions and
limitations should apply equally both on- and offline. The MEPs also
voted in favour of allowing authors to dedicate their works directly to
the public domain.
The JURI commmitte adopted language stating that technological measures
such as Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) should not stop users from
enjoying copyright exceptions and limitations. However, the adopted
report leaves out concrete measures to ensure that people can actually
enjoy the full use of works that they have acquired.
On the negative side, the text adopted today is lacking in some
important respects. It does not contain an explicit statement that
hyperlinks do not require a copyright license, so that this essential
building block of the web remains in danger.
Reda's proposal for an "open norm" akin to the "fair use" concept in the
US was significantly weakened. The adopted wording on text and data
mining is regrettably ambiguous. FSFE also regrets the deletion of
language that made a clear distinction between physical and
"intellectual property".
MEPs can still submit amendments to the report. The European Parliament
is scheduled to hold a plenary vote on July 9.
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. http://fsfe.org/activities/policy/eu/20150605-Comments-On-Reda-Report.en.ht…
== 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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= A restriction on technological restrictions =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150506-01.sv.html ]
== The right to install other software on your computing devices ==
Safecast is a global project to map radiation data from around the world
and release this information openly. When the project just started out,
they used modified hardware, together with their own custom software and
a few clever tweaks, to allow anyone to participate in the project. This
kind of ingenuity, the ability to re-purpose or adapt existing
technology by replacing or supplementing its software, should be
permitted and encouraged by the law. In the example of Safecast,
fortunately nobody prevented them from being innovative.
But all of us depend on the possibility to install or replace programs
that we use every day, to increase our security, privacy or convenience
-- or just because we happen to like using a different program on our
laptop, tablet, phone, router, television, car, or on other devices.
Today, on the International Day Against DRM, the undersigned
organisations are calling on lawmakers to safeguard the right to tinker
for everyone. To make sure that the owner of every device is allowed to
replace or supplement the software in that device if they so choose,
thereby empowering owners to control their own property. Many
manufacturers today add technological restrictions that prevent device
owners from changing their devices, or having someone do so for them.
This can be in breach of the licences on the devices (as with Free
Software/Open Source Software licences, which grant the rights to use,
study, share, and improve the software for any purpose). It is clear
that any right to tinker must also be coupled with a legal provision
that prevents technological restrictions of the same right.
To successfully guarantee that device owners are in control of their own
technology, the following organisations ask that the right to tinker be
guaranteed for everyone, and that technological restrictions that
interfere with this right be limited by law.
- L'Association Francophone des Utilisateurs de logiciels libres (AFUL) <https://www.aful.org>
- Chaos Computer Club <https://www.ccc.de>
- Deutscher Konsumentenbund <https://www.konsumentenbund.de>
- Digitalcourage <https://digitalcourage.de>
- Digitale Gesellschaft <https://digitalegesellschaft.de>
- European Digital Rights <https://edri.org>
- Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
- KDE e.V. <https://ev.kde.org>
- Associazione LibreItalia ONLUS <https://www.libreitalia.it>
- Open Rights Group <https://www.openrightsgroup.org>
- Open Source Business Alliance <https://www.osb-alliance.de>
- Open Source Initiative <https://opensource.org>
- The Document Foundation <https://www.documentfoundation.org>
- UFC-Que Choisir <https://www.quechoisir.org>
- VideoLAN <https://www.videolan.org>
- Vrijschrift <https://www.vrijschrift.org>
== Press contact ==
Matthias Kirschner <press(a)fsfeurope.org>
Vice President, Free Software Foundation Europe
Schönhauser Allee 6/7, Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49-1577-1780003
== 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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= Worldwide more than 50 events about Open Standards =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150324-01.sv.html ]
On March 25 is this years Document Freedom Day and, depending on your
time zone, it has already started. Document Freedom Day is the global
campaign for document liberation by local groups throughout the world.
So far more than 50 groups registered their events in over 25 countries
ranging from Asia, Europa, Africa, to South and North America.
Open Standards are crucial to ensure that different computer systems can
work together, and that users can access documents regardless of the
computing platform or device they use. They are the foundation of the
Internet and the World Wide Web as well as all kinds of technical
communication.
Every year, on the last Wednesday of March and the days around, people
highlight these important aspects of our digital sovereignity by
celebrating Document Freedom Day. In 2015, Document Freedom Day is
happening around the world beginning on Tuesday 24, 12 UTC until
Thursday, 12UTC. Following the path of the sun, the first events are
happening in Japan, Taiwan and India, followed by more than 20 events in
Europe, 1 in Africa, and more than 20 in North- and South American.
Taken together, all these events make DFD the biggest campaign to
promote Open Standards on a local level.
And Document Freedom Day is growing even beyond: In the past years,
Document Freedom Day achieved to establish a view on technological
boundaries and freedoms under social aspects. More and more, Document
Freedom Day is becoming a day to raise political attention also on a
national level or global. In 2015, different organisations will use
Document Freedom Day to publish and spread political statements. If you
are not close to any event or you miss the time to pass by, watch out
#DFD2015 in the news, blogs and media, participate and help to get the
world interconnected in freedom.
You can still participate: use this day to invite your friends or work
mates for a drink or a coffee break and tell them about the
international day of Open Standards and why Open Standards are important
to you - and for everyone.
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
== 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/
_______________________________________________
Press-release-sv mailing list
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= Jonas Öberg joins FSFE as Executive Director =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150302-02.sv.html ]
FSFE has recruited long-time Free Software activist Jonas Öberg to be
the organisation's Executive Director. He joins the organisation's
leadership team on March 1.
Jonas Öberg[1] is one of FSFE's founding members, and was the
organisation's vice president from 2001 through 2008. He has
considerable experience in managing Free Software-related projects and
organisations. Before joining as the organisation's Executive Director,
he has been a Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow working on the Elog.io
project to create a global provenance repository for creative works,
worked as Creative Commons' regional coordinator in Europe, lectured in
Software Engineering and built up the conference FSCONS in its original
form.
Jonas first started volunteering for Free Software in 1998, while
studying mathematics at a university level. Finding the classes in
computer science much more interesting than mathematics, he soon found
Free Software and began volunteering for the Free Software Foundation as
chief webmaster for the GNU Project. Through the years, he's also
participated in Debian, the GNOME project, and authored the occasional
software himself.
"We're absolutely delighted to have Jonas on board," says Karsten
Gerloff, FSFE's president. "FSFE's volunteers and staff are
enourmously dedicated and motivated. Jonas will channel this energy
into an even greater capacity for action. Thanks to him, we will be
able to achieve so much more for Free Software."
"We face a need to secure the legal, social and technical
foundations of Free Software, as well as continuing the work of
raising awareness of Free Software," says Jonas Öberg. "Those are
challenges that I very much look forward to tackling together with
our staff, Fellows and volunteers across Europe and elsewhere, as
well as in collaboration with other organisations."
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. http://www.fsfe.org/about/oberg/
== 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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= Call for events: Be a part of Document Freedom Day 2015 =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150224-01.sv.html ]
Document Freedom Day (#DFD2015) is a global campaign for document
liberation, with grassroots events throughout the world taking place on
March 25, 2015. Add your voice to this worldwide celebration of Open
Standards, and register your DFD event for 2015![1]
Every year since 2008, people who care about a free information society
celebrate Document Freedom Day to raise awareness of Open Standards[2].
On this day activists around the world come together to talk about
access to communications, run local public activities, and generally
spread the word about Open Standards in a dozen different ways. Be part
of the movement and sign up your DFD team today![3]
== How to get involved ==
"Every year, the most important part of this campaign is being done
by people just like yourself that run local events around the world.
For this, we have made it easier than ever to organise an event"
says Erik Albers, head of the international Document Freedom Day
team. "We are offering promotion materials[4] in many languages, and
artwork you can remix, share and improve[5] to publicise your own
event."
To coordinate this year's DFD campaign, FSFE's Document Freedom Day team
has also built a shiny new website[6], making it easier for you to get
in touch with other people participating in DFD around the world, and
with FSFE's campaign staff.
If you are running a local event, we may be able to offer funding of
your local activities or your local print runs[7] - thanks to DFD's
generous sponsors[8]. To get inspired, take a look at what other groups
from Mexico to Japan did last year[9].
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. https://www.documentfreedom.org/registerevent.html
2. https://fsfe.org/activities/os/index.sv.html
3. https://www.documentfreedom.org/registerevent.html
4. https://www.documentfreedom.org/promotion.html
5. https://gitorious.org/document_freedom_day/artwork
6. https://www.documentfreedom.org/index.html
7. https://www.documentfreedom.org/funding-expenses.html
8. https://www.documentfreedom.org/sponsors.html
9. https://www.documentfreedom.org/news/2014/news-20140424-01.en.html
== 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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= Position paper for the boost of Open Educational Resources on the basis of Free Software =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150210-01.sv.html ]
Together with FSFE and other partners, the Bündnis Freie Bildung ("Free
Education Alliance") today publishes its position paper about the
creation and usage of Open Educational Resources (OER). Therein, the
Bündnis demands a consequent publishing of all OER-material under public
licences and their availability as Free Software and in Open Standard
formats.
The Bündnis Freie Bildung is following a vision to have "all educational
resources usable without any legal or technical barriers". This can only
be achieved by using Free Software and Open Standards. Consequently, we
find it as a core postulation of the alliance's initial position
paper[1] "Der Weg zur Stärkung freier Bildungsmaterialien" ("The road to
boost Open Educational Resources" only available in German). The paper
has a specific focus on the creation and usage of OER inside the German
educational system.
"In the upcoming years, Open Educational Resources will receive an
ever growing importance inside all sectors of public and private
education", says Erik Albers from the FSFE. "To bring OER to their
full potential, Free Software is indispensable. We are happy to join
the Bündnis Freie Bildung today to bring an understanding of this
context into politics and society."
Furthermore, the position paper demands to consider the use of Free
Software already during the development or extension of IT
infrastructures. In addition, it shall be mandatory to publish
educational resources that have been paid with public money as Open
Educational Resources. By this, the Bündnis Freie Bildung expects a
higher fairness in education and the promotion of participative
structures inside the educational system. Both are characteristics, that
experience an ever growing importance with the ongoing digitalisation of
learning and teaching.
"The more we see classic educational environments equipped with
computers, the more important it is to offer every learner an
education that is independent from manufacturers and products, that
is participative and is built on top of free educational material.
For the FSFE, this begins with Free Software and achieves perfection
in interaction with OER", says Erik Albers.
== About the Bündnis Freie Bildung ==
The Bündnis Freie Bildung[2] is a coalition of organisations and
individuals with the aim to pin the usage and support of Open Education
Resources into politics and society. The alliance was founded by
Creative Commons Germany, Open Knowledge Foundation Germany and
Wikimedia Germany. The FSFE affiliates with the Bündnis as a partner.
Inside the alliance, the FSFE raises awareness about free technology -
namely Free Software and Open Standards - as a necessary condition for a
sustainable development of Open Educational Resources.
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1. http://buendnis-freie-bildung.de/positionspapier-oer/
2. http://buendnis-freie-bildung.de/
== 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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