fyi. I just signed.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: melanie dulong <melanie.ddr(a)gmail.com>
Date: 2010/1/25
Subject: [A2k] launching the Public Domain Manifesto
To: a2k(a)lists.essential.org
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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
The Public Domain Manifesto launches today, it can be read and signed at:
http://www.publicdomainmanifesto.org
The Public Domain as a whole is the wealth of
information that is free from the barriers to
access or reuse usually associated with copyright
protection, either because it is free from any
copyright protection or because the right holders
have decided to remove these barriers. The Public
Domain ensures that the principles of Article 27
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
('Everyone has the right freely to participate in
the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the
arts and to share in scientific advancement and
its benefits.') can be fully enjoyed by everyone
across the world.
In order to increase public awareness about such
concepts and potentialities for spreading
knowledge and culture, today COMMUNIA, the
European Thematic Network on the Digital Public
Domain, announces the launch of the Public Domain
Manifesto (http://www.publicdomainmanifesto.org).
The document outlines a series of general
principles (opening with: the Public Domain is
the rule, copyright protection is the exception)
along with various issues relevant to today's
Public Domain, and provides some recommendations
aimed at protecting the Public Domain and
ensuring that it can continue to function in a
meaningful way-with particular relevance to
education, cultural heritage and scientific
research.
The Public Domain Manifesto reinforces the recent
Public Domain Day (1. January 2010) initiatives
and is already available in several languages
with more translations underway, also featuring
dozens of initial signers-both individuals and
organizations worldwide. Everyone is encouraged
to sign it, to follow our Facebook page andŠ to
spread the word!
For more information:
- Public Domain Manifesto website: http://www.publicdomainmanifesto.org
- Public Domain Manifesto Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/The-Public-Domain-Manifesto/448371…
- Public Domain Day website: http://www.publicdomainday.org
-------------------
About the Public Domain
In the strict copyright law realm, "Public
Domain" refers to those works which are no longer
or have never been protected by copyright. But in
today's digital networked Information Society,
the definition of Public Domain essentially
covers any cultural material that can be used
without restriction, absent copyright protection
- broadening its range to include close relations
with open access, open licensing, fair use, and
orphan works.
About COMMUNIA
The COMMUNIA Thematic Network focuses on
theoretical analysis and strategic policy
discussion of existing and emerging issues
concerning the public domain in the digital
environment. Its activities cover several related
topics, including, but not limited to,
alternative forms of licensing for creative
material; open access to scientific publications
and research results; management of works whose
authors are unknown (i.e. "orphan works"). Funded
by the European Commission within the
eContentplus framework, the 2007-2010 project
expects to provide policy guidelines that will
help each stakeholder involved - public and
private, from the local to the European and
global level. The network includes 51 members and
is coordinated by Politecnico of Torino's NEXA
Research Center for Internet and Society.
More info: http://communia-project.eu/
Contacts:
COMMUNIA Media Office:
press(a)communia-project.eu
_______________________________________________
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Hi all.
January's IFSO meeting is tomorrow evening. You'll find us in the Long
Stone at 20h00:
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=53.345979&lon=-6.256133&zoom=18&layers=B0…
Here's the proposed agenda:
------8<-----------8<----------8<------------
Discuss response to our 'free software as part of education computer
budget' letter, and decide on next steps.
Put the stop-software-patents banner on the IFSO site?
Throwing IFSO's mighty weight behind the task of gathering 1,000,000
signatures for a legislative-proposal petition.
(Possible intersection SWpat/education as in Ciaran's email of
2009-11-23.)
Recent enquiry concerning legality of charging for Free Software.
Do we need to start thinking about rustling up an AGM?
Consider whether we can do something with the information that Brian dug
out ages ago about libraries offering computer skills courses, and can
we at least make them aware of the possibility of using free software to
do so.
Ben visited the Young Scientists exhibition and saw quite a lot of Free
Software in use. Could we dig into this more and/or include in further
letter re the education funding?
The German government recently advised its citizens not to use Internet
Explorer. Should be write to somebody suitable in the Irish government
and/or the press, advising the same?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8463516.stm
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Malcolm
FSFE Newsletter - December 2009
Despite the temperatures dropping below zero all over Europe and the
Christmas holidays approaching, FSFE kept working as usual for software
freedom. The major news of December are that we have begun to
restructure our website, added Andreas Tolf Tolfsen as webmaster deputy
coordinator, and published a statement on the EC's settlement with
Microsoft in the browser antitrust case. Read on to learn more about
what we did in December.
Moreover, let us offer you our best wishes for a great and Free 2010!
Giacomo Poderi
1. Fellowship Jabber meeting: What do your taxes buy? Free Software in the public sector, 21 Dec
2. Restructuring FSFE's website
3. The Fellowship interviews: Simon Josefsson
4. FSFE welcomes Andreas Tolf Tolfsen as core team member and webmaster deputy coordinator
5. November Fellowship grants
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
6. FSFE welcomes greater user choice in browsers, warns that Free Software is excluded from interoperability
IT HAPPENED IN THE PAST
7. Samba team receives Microsoft's interoperability information
UPCOMING EVENTS
8. Election for Fellowship GA representative
1. Fellowship Jabber meeting: What do your taxes buy? Free Software in the
public sector, 21 Dec
Various Fellows participated in an interesting jabber meeting on Free
Software in the public administration. Karsten Gerloff, FSFE's
president, chaired the meeting and brought his sound experience on the
topic into the chat-room. The ISO standardization process, Open
Standards, procurement rules in the Netherlands, and Free Software in
the Swiss Federal Court and Munich were discussed for nearly two
hours. As usual the conversation went on much longer in an informal
way, after the official closure of the meeting.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/blog/2009/12/18/what-do-your-taxes-buy-free-software-…
2. Restructuring FSFE's website
In order to make FSFE's work more accessible, the web team this month
started work on a major restructuring of fsfe.org's content and
usability. The website wasn't originally designed to include so many
documents and information related to so many different domains: from
the legal to the political, from the educational to the community
oriented and more. The time has now arrived to improve its structure,
and so that it can reflect the diversity and quality of FSFE's
work. The web team's goal is to make our website easier to browse and
to read, and make it possible to find information much faster. If you
would like to help...join the web team!
http://www.fsfe.org/contribute/web/index.en.htmlhttp://home.e-tjenesten.org/~ato/2009/12/restructuring-fsfe-website
3. The Fellowship interviews: Simon Josefsson
This month, Stian Rødven Eide interviewed Simon Josefsson. Simon is a
Fellow and 'old' established GNU hacker with interest in security, who
in November received the Nordic Free Software Award. His contributions
to the Free Software world include such ubiquitous projects as GnuTLS
and Libssh2. In the interview, Stian and Simon talk about differences
between proprietary and Free Software in relation to security issues,
discuss encryption, DNS and different projects that Simon is involved
in, such as GnuTLS, GNU SASL and GSS. Read the interview at:
http://blogs.fsfe.org/fellowship-interviews/?p=98
4. FSFE welcomes Andreas Tolf Tolfsen as core team member and webmaster
deputy coordinator
After contributing to FSFE's web team for three years, Andreas Tolf
Tolfsen has taken on the role of webmaster deputy coordinator within
FSFE, becoming part of the European core team. Andreas is a Norwegian
Free Software activists with years of experience on web design and web
technologies. Together with Reinhard Muller, webmaster coordinator,
Rolf Camps, deputy coordinator, and the web team, Andreas' first big
challenge will be the restructuring of FSFE's website. At the same
time, he will work on the setting up of a Norwegian country
team. Welcome on board Andreas!
http://www.fsfe.org/about/team.htmlhttp://blogs.fsfe.org/fellowship-interviews/?p=79
5. November Fellowship grants
The Fellowship grants project we launched in November generated a
great response in the Free Software community. We received many
outstanding applications by activists coming from all over Europe:
choosing the first three people to receive the grants was not easy at
all. Finally, Alexjan Carraturo from Italy, Ferdinand Thommes from
Germany and Matija Šuklje from Slovenia stood out from the evaluation
process due to their lasting and diverse contributions to Free
Software. We welcome them in the Fellowship!
http://fellowship.fsfe.org/joinhttp://fellowship.fsfe.org/grant.en.html
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
6. FSFE welcomes greater user choice in browsers, warns that Free Software
is excluded from interoperability
FSFE congratulated the European Commission on pushing Microsoft to
give users greater choice between different browsers. The settlement
that the Commission reached on the Microsoft's browser case is an
improvement from the scenario that FSFE criticised this October.
In early 2010, Microsoft will provide the users of its operating
systems with a ballot screen that should make it easy for users to
chose between different web browsers. The screen will suggests various
browsers available on the market, Free Software ones included.
This settlement relates to only one of the two issues that Microsoft
currently faces with the EU Commission. FSFE also congratulates the
Commission for the decision to keep open the investigation on
Microsoft's refusal to let other products interoperate with its own
desktop programs. Microsoft has offered a voluntary commitment, but
FSFE warns that this will not be enough for real competition to
develop.
http://www.fsfe.org/news/2009/news-20091216-01.html
Relevant links:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1941http://www.fsfe.org/news/2009/news-20091008-01.htmlhttp://www.fsfe.org/news/2009/news-20091006-01.html
IT HAPPENED IN THE PAST
7. Samba team receives Microsoft's interoperability information
During December 2007, as a consequence of the drawn-out EU vs Microsft
antitrust case, the Samba team was finally able to receive Microsoft's
network interoperability information. The specifications were
requested with a one-time access fee of 10.000 EUR for full access to
crucial information. This event marked an important victory for
competition in the IT market. It was a great achievement for Free
Software, FSFE and the Samba team.
http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2008q1/000193.html
UPCOMING EVENTS
8. Election for Fellowship GA representative
During the whole month of February 2010 it will be possible to vote
for the second Fellowship representative in FSFE's General Assembly
(GA). Fellows will soon have the chance to declare their candidature
and to vote again for participation in FSFE's highest decision-making
body. We encourage you to run for the second seat!
http://www.fsfe.org/news/2009/news-20090601-01.htmlhttp://www.fsfe.org/news/2009/news-20090411-01.html
You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on
http://fsfe.org/news/newsletter.html
You can join the Fellowship or find how to support us on
http://fellowship.fsfe.org/joinhttp://fsfe.org/contribute/contribute.html
You can order our merchandise at
http://fsfe.org/order/order.html
Copyright 2009, Free Software Foundation Europe <pr(a)fsfeurope.org>.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in
any medium, provided this notice is preserved.