= FSFE Newsletter October 2019 =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-201910.pt.html ]
This month, we focus our attention on digital restrictions and the
International Day against them. To this end, we launched our first
episode of the monthly Software Freedom Podcast, this time starring Cory
Doctorow talking about DRM. We have published our yearly report, summing
up our activities of the past 12 months and shining light on the
community we build our success on. As usual, you will also discover
upcoming events with the FSFE, including our Annual Community meeting,
as well as recordings and information from events we participated in.
== Software Freedom Podcast: 100% DRM-free ==
On October 12, on the International Day Against DRM [1], we launched our
first Episode of the FSFE's new Software Freedom Podcast [2] starring
Cory Doctorow - author and activist in favour of liberalising copyright
laws and extended usage of Creative Commons licenses. Doctorow's long
time advocacy makes him an interesting person to address different
issues included in Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). We discuss the
differences between books and e-books with DRM and see how DRM changes
our entire experience of reading and how that reverberates into our
relationship with books and readings. Further, we dive into the economic
and security aspects related to DRM and regulations of the so called
Internet of Things. Listen or download our first podcast [3] absolutely
DRM-free and explore with us some burning issues on digital restrictions
and freedoms. Also be aware that starting with this episode, we will
broadcast a monthly Software Freedom Podcast series [4] in which we
invite diverse people to speak with inspirational ideas related to
software freedom.
In addition, we used the International Day Against DRM again to explain
the dangers of DRM in relation to Free Software [5]: While Free Software
is software that puts users in control of their own devices, DRM in
contrast is technology that puts the user under the control of a third
party. These two goals are fundamentally incompatible. DRM contradicts
the FSFE's mission to empower people to control technology.
You can find further information about this topic on our campaign
website drm.info [6] and our printed leaflet [7].
== Software Freedom in Europe 2019 ==
"Software Freedom in Europe" [8] is our yearly report that gives you a
breakdown of the important things the FSFE has done and achieved during
the last 12 months. You will read about our ongoing work for router
freedom in Europe, about the first Parliament in Europe to join our
"Public Money? Public Code!" campaign, about our new version of REUSE
tools to help Free Software developers with easy license compliance and
about much more of our multi-faceted policy work - all together aiming
to create a world in which users are in control of technology!
Besides our policy work and projects, we also shine light on our
community and its members; because it is only through working together
that the FSFE is able to form a movement across Europe to build a
society based on users' and software freedom. To this end we also report
about the events that we organised and participated in, from policy
meetings to our web-a-thons.
Enjoy the read [9] and discover your personal favourite of the FSFE's
activities in 2019!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Join our community: https://fsfe.org/join/nl2019-10 [10]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
== Do not miss: upcoming events with the FSFE ==
As with every month, we are trying to spread the word and help
individuals and organisations understand what Free Software is and how
Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-
determination. If you are interested in seeing us in action and joining
our cause, keep in mind the following dates and locations in the coming
weeks:
- Between November 8 and 11, the FSFE programme manager Erik Albers will
attend the digital rights dedicated event Freedom Not Fear [11] where
he will lead a workshop on European campaigns regarding digital
sustainablity.
- Between November 15 and 16 the FSFE Community Meeting will unite
forces with the South Tyrol Free Software Conference (SFScon) [12] in
Bolzano, Italy. The FSFE will have its own track and you are kindly
invited to join the expert and community talks, as well as the social
activities. You can find detailed information about the agenda and
logistics on our wiki page [13]
== What have we done? Inside and Outside the FSFE ==
Since the last newsletter we have been active in promoting the Free
Software cause, by helping individuals and organisations have a better
understanding of what Free Software is and encouraging them to develop
and implement it in their lives. We want to share with you the events,
that we have photos, videos or other recordings of below:
- On October 3, the FSFE Rhein-Main Local Group participated at the
MouseOpener Day "Maustüröffner-Tag" [14] happening all over Germany.
At this annual event, local organizations and companies open their
doors to give kids insights into a broad range of topics. In
Frankfurt, the FSFE local group Rhein-Main [15] supported the local
Linux user group with organizing the event and giving kids the
opportunity to explore computers using Free Software. About 20 young
"hackers" joined the event and got to know LibreOffice, LeoCAD and
Scratch. To not forget their parents, there was an info corner to
explain Free Software to them.
- On October 4, the FSFE Policy Manager Alexander Sander was at the
"Open Source Lisbon" conference where he spoke [16] about our "Public
Money? Public Code" campaign and also was part of the discussion panel
on Free and Open Source Software as a business model [17].
- On October 6, the FSFE Local Group in Vienna, hosted an information
booth at the annual Animal Welfare Run. The booth enjoyed a great
share of attention, since it was a rather unexpected participation and
runners and their friends and families were curious to find out more
about Free Software. You can read more details about the event and the
booth on the blog of FSFE supporters Vienna [18].
- Just in time for the elections, the Swiss Freedomvote campaign [19]
was back again this year [20] - an initiative run and maintained with
the support by the Local FSFE Group in Zurich [21]. The aim of the
campaign is to give voters guidance about the candidates who are
running for election.
- The FSFE's General Assembly took place between October 11th and 13th
in Essen. One part of the meeting was the re-election [22] of the
FSFE's president Matthias Kirschner, vice-president Heiki Löhmus and
financial officer Patrick Ohnewein for another 2 years-term by its
members.
- Our initative “Public Money? Public Code!” attracted the attention of
the City Council of Kassel, Germany. They will discuss it as the
guiding principle for any new software purchases. The proposal [23]
will be discussed on November 27 by the Municipality's Financial
Committee, and final decisions on implementation are expected to be
made on December 9. To help implementing “Public Money? Public Code!”
in the city of Kassel , we kindly ask you to send an e-mail to the
members of the local Parliament and ask them to support this proposal.
Their contact details can be found on Kassel's municipality page [24]
under the "City Council fractions" section. If a member does not have
a clear contact details, you can call the Parliament and ask for it.
== Get Active ==
Beginning this month we broadcast our monthly Software Freedom Podcast.
Make sure you do not miss any by subscribing [25] with your podcast
player.
== Contribute to our newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, send them to
us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org [26]. We're looking
forward to hearing from you!
If you also want to support us and our work, join our community and
support us with a donation or a monthly contribution:
https://my.fsfe.org/support [27]
Thanks to our community, all the volunteers [28], supporters [29] and
donors [30] who make our work possible. And thanks to our translators
[31], who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.
Best Regards,
The FSFE
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Join our community: https://fsfe.org/join/nl2019-10 [32]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--
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.defectivebydesign.org/
2: https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-1.en.html
3: https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-1.en.html
4: https://fsfe.org/news/podcast.html
5: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191012-01.pt.html
6: https://drm.info/
7: https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#drm-leaflet
8: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html
9: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html
10: https://fsfe.org/join/nl2019-09
11: https://www.freedomnotfear.org/
12: https://www.sfscon.it/
13: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/FSFECommunityMeeting2019
14: https://www.wdrmaus.de/tuer_oeffner_tag/2019/
15: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/RheinMain
16: https://peertube.social/videos/watch/a9f8fb42-fa9f-4736-b6f0-55bf803d5acd
17: https://peertube.social/videos/watch/983582a4-c190-446c-b8ec-080b953e5cc3
18: https://blogs.fsfe.org/franz.gratzer/
19: https://ch19.freedomvote.ch/
20: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191007-01.en.html
21: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Zurich
22: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191014-01.en.html
23: https://wwwsvc1.stadt-kassel.de/sdnet4/sdnetrim/UGhVM0hpd2NXNFdFcExjZdVAqtD…
24: https://wwwsvc1.stadt-kassel.de/sdnet4/fraktionen
25: https://fsfe.org/news/podcast.html
26: https://fsfe.org/mailto:newsletter@fsfe.org
27: https://my.fsfe.org/support
28: https://fsfe.org/contribute
29: https://my.fsfe.org/support
30: https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus
31: https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators
32: https://fsfe.org/join/nl2019-09