-- press release --
-- for immediate release--
Essen/Wien, Wednesday March 24th, 2004
FSFE welcomes three new members from Austria
(Essen/Wien) Three Free Software activists from Austria join Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE).
After years of successful cooperation through their membership in the "Verein zur Förderung Freier Software" (FFS), Austria's associate organization of the FSF Europe, Georg Jakob, Karin Kosina and Reinhard Müller have now officially joined the ranks of the FSFE.
"Joining the FSF Europe was a logical and important step, something the FFS has been aiming to build capacity for from its first days," says Georg Jakob, current president of the FFS. "Being part of the European Union, Austria is not only strongly influenced by European politics, we also feel this is the right step as we've always seen ourselves as Europeans as well as Austrians."
"The most important threats we are currently facing, such as software patents, cannot be dealt with on a national scale alone. European cooperation is necessary. We are confident that this cooperation, which has proved its effectiveness many times already, will increase even more through the integration of Austrian representatives into the FSF Europe core team," Karin Kosina continues.
"Working together across language, cultural and political barriers is sometimes a very challenging task, but also one that is very rewarding," says Georg Greve, president of the FSF Europe. "Seeing the network grow is both exciting and promising. We hope that others will also feel the desire to build cooperation across all borders and get active within the FSF Europe."
Having seen a constantly growing group of permanent and occasional volunteers, this brings the amount of fully represented countries in the FSF Europe up to five, with more to be expected.
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition - allow equal participation in the information age. 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 FSF Europe, which was founded in 2001 as the European sister organization of the Free Software Foundation in the United States.
Contact
Europe: Georg C. F. Greve greve@fsfeurope.org phone: +49-40-23809080 fax: +49-40-23809081
Austria: Georg Jakob jakob@fsfeurope.org Karin Kosina kosina@fsfeurope.org Reinhard Müller mueller@fsfeurope.org
Further contact information available at
About the Verein zur Förderung Freier Software (FFS)
The "Verein zur Förderung Freier Software" (FFS) was founded in 2001 as a non-profit organization to complement the existing international organizations in attending to users and developers of Free Software in Austria. Apart from the participation in various projects for the support of Free Software in the private, business, and public sectors, the growing number of members also care for the protection and improvement of the legal foundations of the development and use of Free Software.