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German Parliament receives Upcycling Android Open Letter
by press＠fsfe.org 15 Nov '23

15 Nov '23

= German Parliament receives Upcycling Android Open Letter = [ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20231115-01.fi.html ] On 14 November, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) handed over the Open Letter “The right to install any software on any device" to Tabea Rößner, Chair of the Digital Affairs Committee at the German Bundestag. The letter aims to enable a more sustainable use of electronic products and devices in the European Union. To achieve this goal, the Open Letter [1] sets out four key demands: 1. Users have the right to freely choose operating systems and software running on their devices 2. Users have the right to freely choose between service providers to connect their devices with 3. Devices are interoperable and compatible with open standards 4. Source code of drivers, tools, and interfaces are published under a free license Signed by more than 3000 individuals and by 147 organisations, the Open Letter to European Union legislators was presented on 14 November to the Chair of the Digital Affairs Committee (Ausschuss für Digitales) at the German Bundestag, by a delegation from the FSFE. Tabea Rößner, Chair of the Digital Committee, commented when receiving the open letter:"So many devices end up on the scrapyard after just two or three years. But the devices are still in good condition and could be made to last with new software. We could bring them back to life, especially with Free Software. It would be a real sustainability effect if we had the right to install any software on any device. That's why this initiative is absolutely worth supporting.” Rößner announced that she would hand over the Open Letter to Steffi Lemke, Germany's Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection. "The Open Letter is part of our Upcycling Android campaign, which we started to raise awareness about how Free Software can help to improve the sustainability of our digital devices. In addition to the Open Letter, the initiative has held workshops, developed policy recommendations, and received a lot of public attention, promoting the right of every user to install any software on any device. Moreover, upcycling our devices is an important step in rethinking our short-term, linear consumption of electronic devices in favour of a circular economy”, explains Johannes Näder, FSFE Senior Policy Project Manager. == About Upcycling Android == Launched in November 2021, under the name “Upcycling Android" [2], this FSFE initiative has also helped people to flash their phones with Free Software operating systems. This not only promotes the right of any user to install any software on any device, but also enables a more sustainable use of electronic products. Even after the project has officially ended, the Upcycling Android material can be freely used by others who want to continue promoting the use of Free Software while overcoming software obsolescence. 1: https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/openletter.fi.html 2: https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/index.fi.html == 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 understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We enhance 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. https://fsfe.org

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Interoperable Europe Act: an ambition that turned out to be watered-down
by press＠fsfe.org 13 Nov '23

13 Nov '23

= Interoperable Europe Act: an ambition that turned out to be watered-down = [ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20231113-01.fi.html ] Decision makers are meeting to agree on the final text of the Interoperable Europe Act (IEA). There is a concerning wording related to giving priority to Free Software when implementing interoperable solutions and confusing criteria to do so. Overall, what could have been a very ambitious initiative turned out to be another regulation with ambiguous and problematic wording. The FSFE has received exclusive access to the the final agreement of the IEA [1] which will be agreed on tonight, on 13 November. We welcome that there is a clear definition of Free Software licenses, as well as the intention to monitor the development of Free Software interoperable solutions in the public sector. There is, nonetheless, an especially concerning wording in the text when it comes to the sharing and reusing of interoperability solutions (Art4(5a)). The draft text suggests that public administrations should prioritise Free Software when deciding on the implementation of interoperability solutions. However, the way the final text looks is problematic for two reasons: The wording /"solutions that do not carry restrictive licensing terms, such as open source solutions"/ implies that there are other solutions that do not carry restrictive licensing terms apart from open source licenses. If so, which ones would those be? This is indeed not clear in the text and this leads to legal uncertainty. Since this specific wording can become extremely misleading, it is particularly important to highlight this problematic loophole. To serve as an example, we have the well-known fact that FRAND licensing terms - that in theory stand for "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory" terms - in practice are incompatible with most of Free Software [2]. In the past, we have already criticised the stance of the Commission on such licensing and we have also pointed out that in fact FRAND licences cannot be considered fair, reasonable nor non-discriminatory. Furthermore, the European Commission has watered down the already ambiguous wording of this article by limiting the situations in which public administrations shall prioritise Free Software interoperable solutions by adding the following criteria: /"when equivalent in functionalities, total cost, user-centricity, cybersecurity or other relevant objective criteria"./ This wording undermines a regulation that aims to make the sharing and reuse of solutions a more common practice among public administrations. By adding this criteria to allow public administrations to actually refuse to use Free Software solutions, the Commission is going in the opposite direction of the "Free Software first" approach [3] that this legislation needs. Wording as /"other relevant objective criteria"/ brings back, once again, the constant problematic tendency of the Commission to limit Free Software and its adoption by adding ambiguous and unclear wording. It also shows a lack of ambition which could have led it to become a real game changer. By adopting this position, the European Commission is also falling short of its own ambitions, already defined in documents such as the Open Source Strategy [4] and the ’Decision on the open source licensing and reuse of Commission software’. Therefore, it is deeply concerning that the European Commission is now pushing back by turning on the opposite direction. Last but not least, unfortunately, the chance for other stakeholders to be part of the governance structure, specifically on the Board, has been removed from the final text, being currently only up to the Chair to decide if an expert can join the Board as an observer. That is why the role of the Free Software community is crucial to monitor the implementation of the IEA, while highlighting the importance of Free Software for achieving interoperability in the European digital public services. 1: https://download.fsfe.org/documents/version-trilogue131123-1.pdf 2: https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/standards/why-frand-is-bad-for-free-software.… 3: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-02.fi.html 4: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20201023-01.fi.html == 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 understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We enhance 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. https://fsfe.org

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Frank Karlitschek receives the European SFS Award at SFSCON23
by press＠fsfe.org 10 Nov '23

10 Nov '23

= Frank Karlitschek receives the European SFS Award at SFSCON23 = [ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20231110-01.fi.html ] The founder of Nextcloud received the European SFS Award at SFSCON. This recognition which was presented for the first time jointly by the Linux User Group Bolzano and the Free Software Foundation Europe, went to /"a tireless advocate of digital freedom as universal right"/. /"He is not only a talented technologist, but also a tireless advocate of digital freedom as a universal right"/. With these words, the European SFS Award was presented to Nextcloud founder Frank Karlitschek today, 10 November, at SFSCON 2023. This is the first time that the well-established SFS Award has been extended to the European level, a joint collaboration with the initiators of this recognition, the Linux User Group BZ (LUGBZ) and the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). More than two decades ago, Frank Karlitschek founded the community website KDE-Look.org, then GNOME-look.org and finally openDesktop.org to improve Free Software. In 2010, with the ownCloud project, the Stuttgart-based Free Software developer laid the foundation for a platform that allows people to store their data securely and independently. This led to the launch of Nextcloud in 2016. Today, Nextcloud is a Free Software collaboration tool used by millions worldwide /"and which some of the biggest technology companies around the world fear as a competitor"/, as Matthias Kirschner, FSFE president, pointed out during the Award ceremony. Kirschner further noted that /“even in situations where he could have personally or with his company benefited financially, he decided to follow his principles and ensure that there is a fair level playing field for others in our community as well"/. /He[Karlitschek] followed his ideals and his strong believe that users should have the rights to use, understand, share, and improve their software—and created a comprehensive, user-friendly and secure collaboration platform/, added Rafael Barbieri, LUGBZ member. In his thank you speech, Karlitschek said he can just accept the award in the name for the Nextcloud community, the ones that really deserve this recognition. == The European SFS Award == The first SFS Award was presented to Hugo Leiter in 2004 at the SFSCON South Tyrol Free Software Conference for the implementation of Libre Office in all municipalities of South Tyrol. Twenty years later, at the start of the SFSCON at the NOI Techpark, the award was presented for the first time on a European level. The Free Software Foundation Europe teamed up with the initiator of the award, LUGBZ, to jointly honour Free Software developers who have made outstanding contributions to the dissemination and promotion of Free Software in Europe. == 2023 Laudatio == *Rafael*: It’s an honour for me (on behalf of the Board of Linux User Group Bozen-Bolzano-Bulsan) to present the first European SFS Award, continuing a twenty year old tradition, since the first SFS Award was assigned in 2004 to Hugo Leiter, for introducing Libre Office in all municipalities of South Tyrol. Traditionally the AWARD has always been given to someone who greatly contributed to the culture of Free Software in South Tyrol, and this tradition will continue, but as SFSCON this year we extended the narrative to the essential European level. LUGBZ, promoting digital sustainability in South Tyrol, joined forces with an important European association active in the sphere of Free Software, namely the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). Let me introduce the president: Matthias Kirchner. *Matthias*: Thank you Raphael! As the FSFE we have now participated many years at the SFSCON, and saw how the LUGBZ was awarding great Free Software contributors from Italy – so we were happy when we have been approached to join forces and award European Free Software contributors together with the LUGBZ. *Raphael*: As in previous years, we received many nominations for potential winners. It was not easy for us to choose a winner, since many of the suggested candidates made enormous contribution to Free Software. *Matthias*: The deciding factor for us this year was to choose a European who lives the values of software freedom, a person who has dedicated decades of work to software freedom and brought it to the next level, a true visionary and pioneer of software freedom. *Raphael*: In 2001, over two decades ago, he started KDE-Look.org, later GNOME-look.org, as well as openDesktop.org to improve Free Software, and supported many initiatives in our field, including serving as Vice President of KDE e.V. In 2010 at Akademy he laid the foundations for a platform that enabled millions of people to store their data securely and self-determined on servers. He promoted Open Standards, and inspired people to join the movement for software freedom. With the development of a remote collaboration tool for teams, which is developed under the freedom protecting GNU AGPL license, he followed his ideals and his strong believe that users should have the rights to use, understand, share, and improve their software – and created a comprehensive, user-friendly and secure collaboration platform. *Matthias*: His tireless commitment to software freedom has resulted in a Free Software product which some of the biggest technology companies around the world fear as a competitor. Even in situations where he could have personally or with his company benefited financially, he decided to follow his principles and ensure that there is a fair level playing field for others in our community as well. *Raphael*: He is not only a gifted technologist, but also a champion of the idea of digital freedom as a universal right. With his work he lives the ideals of transparency, privacy, and individual control over digital information, but he also laid the foundation for a diverse and engaged community. *Matthias*: His dedication, his vision, and his strong principles enriched and inspired many in our community. We are deeply grateful for his contributions and look forward to a future he helps shape. For these reasons, we hereby award Frank Karlitschek, the founder of Nextcloud, the European SFS Award 2023. == 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 understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We enhance 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. https://fsfe.org

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Find out our YH4F second edition winners!
by press＠fsfe.org 17 Oct '23

17 Oct '23

= Find out our YH4F second edition winners! = [ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20231017-01.fi.html ] A real-time plotter for microcontrollers; a classroom quiz platform; a radio tool; a device that provides bags to pick up your dog's poo; a game engine to help non-programmers develop their ideas; and a program to search for a file on your computer by its hash. These are the six projects that won the 2023 edition of Youth Hacking 4 Freedom. If you are into coding, whatever your level is, you want to meet other Europeans teenagers, you want to develop a project, and you want to win a cash prize, Youth Hacking 4 Freedom [1] is for you! This coding contest for young Europeans, organized by the Free Software Foundation Europe, has just closed its second edition with the Award Ceremony weekend in Brussels where the six winners had the chance to present their projects in front of their families, jury members, and after this weekend, new friends. The winners' journey began almost a year ago, when they signed up to take part in the 2023 edition, which kicked off with six months of coding. The goal? To present a Free Software project that they had developed or improved. During this time, they met online regularly and received advice not only from experts but also from their peers. Afterwars a broad group of technology experts, the YH4F jury [2], got to evaluate the project. After a tough judging process due to the high quality of the projects submitted, the six winners, who will receive cash prizes ranging from €4,096 to €1,024 each, are the following: 1. *Ultimate Hacker Award:* Davide Rorato for ArduPlot 2. *Elite Hacker Award:* Marlon Wolf for ClassQuiz 3. *Awesome Award:* Simon Sommer for OpenRadio 4. *Best Maker Award:* Oriol Villegas Martin for DogBag4City 5. *Best Freedom Project Award:* Marius Angermann for Artix Engine 6. *Best Power User Tool Award:* Matthias Kaak for hashfindutils "Like last year, we were really impressed by the projects submitted, and even more so considering that we had a lot of submissions from really young teenagers. The jury had a hard time evaluating the projects, which not only includes considering if the idea can be useful for the community but also how the process was and its code quality. After this successful edition, and a really joyful weekend with the winners, their families and the jury, we cannot wait to announce the new edition soon", stated Alexander Sander, FSFE policy consultant and YH4F project manager. Check out 2022 YH4F projects [3], winners [4] and a video about the 2022 Award Ceremony weekend [5]. == 2023 Youth Hacking 4 Freedom winners’ projects == === Get a good understanding of your data with this plotter displaying it in different graphs === “I participated in the first edition and I didn’t win, so this year I tried again” Davide, Ultimate Hacker Award winner ArduPlot [6] is a real-time plotter for microcontrollers that uses a custom protocol to send data to be displayed in different graphs. Normally it acts as a traditional serial console, but when a specially formatted packet is received, it is parsed and converted into different visualisations, such as heat maps or line graphs. This allows the microcontroller to choose how best to display the data it has access to. It can also specify whether or not the data should be aggregated into the same graph, giving the user more flexibility. === An interactive quiz platforms for the classroom === “I wanted to create a privacy friendly version of Kahoot! so students do not get tracked while using it, which I think it is really important!" Marlon, Elite Hacker winner ClassQuiz [7] serves as an alternative to Kahoot!, offering an interactive quiz platform for educators and presenters to create and host quizzes. Participants can compete by answering questions on their own devices, similar to the Kahoot! experience, while maintaining their privacy, which is especially important for an application intended to be used at schools. === Listen to any radio stream from around the world! Clock alarm included ;) === "This is my first big project that I have worked on alone. I had never done anything like this before and it was also a good opportunity to meet people and see other people's ideas! Simon, Awesome Hacker winner OpenRadio [8] is a Desktop app combining Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), internet radio and alarm into one single app. It is written in Python and Gtk3 is used for the GUI. The code is licensed under GPL-3. Unfortunately it can’t bring you breakfast in the morning. === Get a free bag for your dog’s poo, exactly when you need it! === "My IT teacher told me about this contests and as I had an idea I went ahead! As a participant, you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain” Oriol, Best Maker winner DogBag4City [9] is an intelligent device that provides dog owners with small bags to collect their dogs' excrements. The user has a key that releases a bag at no cost to the user. No more “I forgot my bag excuse!” === Make your game idea a reality without coding! === "My father found out about the contest by reading news on the internet and encouraged me to participate. I wanted to understand how a game engine works, so I decided to try to start one myself. Marius, Best Freedom Project winner Artix Engine [10] is a user- friendly 2D game engine written in Python, designed to empower non- programmers in bringing their game ideas to life. Through a visual programming system, it enables users to visually define game logic. === Need to find a file? Do it using its hash! === I thought it could be fun for me to participate so I submitted a project Matthias, Best Power User Tool winner hashfindutils [11] is a program to efficiently search on your computer for a file whose hash you somehow already know. It helps you for example, to know if you have already downloaded a file or to find out duplicate and delete duplicated ones. == 2023 Youth Hacking 4 Freedom: the competition == The second award edition started in January 2023 with almost 70 registered young people from all over Europe who spent six months working on their own projects. Throughout the process, they had the opportunity to discuss their progress and solve their doubts in a monthly online meeting with experts and their peers. They also had a dedicated Youth Hacking 4 Freedom Matrix room where they could share progress, problems and success and also the FSFE team was available to answer their questions. Once the projects had been submitted, the jury, made up of a wide range of experts in different technical areas, evaluated the projects. They did this first in an individual round and then, after choosing the final projects, through an online interview with the participants, who had to present their projects and answer the experts’ questions. Finally, the six winners came to Brussels for the award ceremony, where they and one of their relatives enjoyed an invited weekend, which was possible thanks to the financial support of our donor Reinhard Wiesemann, full of activities and fun with the other winners and jury members, culminating in the award ceremony where the names of the winners were announced and the winners had the opportunity to present their projects. == YH4F 2024 == If you want to join YH4F 2024 edition you can already sign up by registering here [12]. The coding period is expected to be from 01.01.2024 to 30.06.2024. Details for the next edition will be shared soon. == Sponsorship 2024 == We are looking for Sponsors for our YH4F 2024 edition. We will share information on sponsorship levels soon. Meanwhile, you can check out our media kit [13] If you are interested you, please send an email to contact(a)fsfe.org with “YH4F sponsorship” in the subject. 1: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/index.fi.html 2: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/jury.fi.html 3: https://fsfe.org/tags/tagged-yh4f-project.fi.html 4: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221004-01.fi.html 5: https://media.fsfe.org/w/wWUP7M5fJg2FcvG2Fv12sN 6: https://github.com/Dave879/MicroPlot 7: https://github.com/mawoka-myblock/ClassQuiz/ 8: https://gitlab.com/1337Misom/OpenRadio 9: https://sites.google.com/iessitges.cat/oriolvillegasmartin/ 10: https://www.github.com/MariusAngermann08/Artix-Engine 11: https://codeberg.org/zvavybir/hashfindutils 12: https://survey.fsfe.org/index.php/658534 13: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/media.fi.html == 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 understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We enhance 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. https://fsfe.org

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[FSFE] 40 years of Software Freedom! The GNU project turns forty!
by Press FSFE 19 Sep '23

19 Sep '23

Hello, For four decades the Free Software community has been working to empower users to control technology and to help our society understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination. On 27 September, the Free Software community will celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the announcement of the GNU Project. In Europe, the GNU Project is celebrating this day with a hacker meeting in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, which will be attended by the President of the Free Software Foundation Europe, Matthias Kirschner, among others. GNU is an operating system made entirely of Free Software to enable people to use, understand, adapt, and share software. Usually combined with the Linux kernel, GNU forms the backbone of the Internet and now powers millions of servers, desktops, and embedded computing devices. In addition to its technical advances, GNU pioneered the concept of "copyleft", best exemplified by the GNU General Public License (GPL). GNU markedthe start of the software freedom movement. Today it is a global and broad movement whose participants range from small local enterprises to large global companies, civil society organisations, and thousands of professionals working towards a world where the four freedoms are guaranteed: users are free to use software and adapt it to their needs, and are able to understand and share it. These rights support other fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and privacy. This movement provides important safeguards for democracy. Free Software contributes to the interaction and participation of interested stakeholders and our society in general, empowering people to use software to create solutions to their problems, contributing to the creation of trustworthy systems, enabling technology that serves us rather than technology that controls us. At FSFE, we have prepared a Press ReleaseKit for this milestone, consisting of: * A Press Releasewith background information full of links where you can find more information about this topic. * Quotes from relevant members of the Free Software community (if you need to contact them, let us know so we can give you their contact details. They are already aware of thisand have agreed to it). * Information about why Free Software is essential to a democratic society. You can find the Press ReleaseKit here: https://download.fsfe.org/GNU40/ Best regards, *Ana Galán press(a)fsfe.org <mailto:press@fsfe.org>** +49 157 92 34 72 12* == 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 understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We enhance 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. https://fsfe.org

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The Netherlands: Important points for the election
by press＠fsfe.org 06 Sep '23

06 Sep '23

= The Netherlands: Important points for the election = [ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230906-01.fi.html ] The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is committed to empower users to control technolgy to digital civil rights, transparency and control over technology. It does this by promoting Free Software (also known as Open Source Software). In addition, Free Software promotes innovation and prevents vendor lock-in. Digital sovereignty is only possible with Free Software. Our society is becoming increasingly digital, so it is crucial that public values are also safeguarded in the digital domain. The upcoming elections and term of office are an opportunity to take important steps on current themes such as *artificial intelligence (AI)* and *digital commons*. FSFE asks parties to work on the following action points: - Strengthen the 'open, unless' policy that requires government to choose Free Software by default This is crucial for transparency and digital sovereignty, so embed this policy in legislation. Support governments in selecting and developing Free Software with a central expertise center. Identify government tasks where control and explainability is necessary and ensure this by applying the principle of ‘Public Money? Public Code!’ [1]. - Encourage wise reuse of software by investing in *digital commons* to make sure others can benefit from the improvements. Support the adaptation and development of these joint Free Software solutions with knowledge and financial resources. Use the European knowledge network and the space of European digitization funds for this. - Improve the oversight and transparency of *algorithms* in government use. The further filling of the national *algorithm register* is a first step in this respect. In addition, increase transparency by publishing the *training data* and *source code* of those algorithms under a Free license, as we have argued before [2]. - Pupils and parents should not be forced to use proprietry software that often even spies on them. Place additional requirements on IT solutions for *knowledge and educational institutions* to help them maintain sovereignty in a digital world. Support institutions in the use of Free Software to prevent vendor-lock in and to promote independent digital skills. - Stop wasting energy and strategically important raw materials by *extending the life of electronics*. Make sure that the end of support does not mean the end of the service life. To this end, empower consumers and businesses to *repair* hardware and replace software with Free Software that they control themselves. This call has been supported by the signatories of our open letter 'The universal right to install any software on any device' [3]. The FSFE is happy to elaborate on these points. 1: https://fsfe.org/activities/publiccode/publiccode.fi.html 2: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220330-01.fi.html 3: https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/openletter.html%20 == 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 understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We enhance 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. https://fsfe.org

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Halftime for the German government: Thank you for the fine words, now let the deeds speak!
by press＠fsfe.org 29 Aug '23

29 Aug '23

= Halftime for the German government: Thank you for the fine words, now let the deeds speak! = [ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230829-01.fi.html ] The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), together with an alliance of civil society and the Free Software industry, calls on the German government to implement a sustainable digital policy and to provide the necessary funds in the federal budget now. FSFE draws a negative mid-term balance for the digital policy of the German government. Together with 20 actors from civil society and the Free Software industry, the FSFE demands: The Federal Government and the coalition parties in the Bundestag must now urgently implement their digital policy promises from the coalition agreement. They must provide sufficient funding for this in the 2024 budget. Civil society must also be more closely involved in the decision-making process. It is high time to put Germany on a sustainable, inclusive digital policy course. The government must not squander its last chance to do so in this parliamentary term. Two years ago, the German government launched a good and widely praised digital policy programme, promising a change of course and a more successful, sustainable and inclusive digitisation. Unfortunately, halfway through the legislative period, this change of course is still a long way off. So far, the government has launched only a few projects and is planning to make painful cuts in next year's budget. This threatens to lead to a failure of digital policy at the end of the legislative period, and to long-term damage to society and the economy. === FSFE calls for Free Software in German administrations === Halfway through its term in office, the German government has failed to live up to its promise in the coalition agreement to prioritise Free Software (also known as Open Source) and open standards in the digitisation of the administration. Isolated steps in the right direction, such as the establishment of the Centre for Digital Sovereignty (ZenDiS), are to be thwarted in the 2024 budget. Public procurement law has not been modernised to facilitate the tendering and procurement of Free Software. There are still no public statistics on the procurement of Free Software by administrations. Instead, the federal government continues to rely largely on proprietary software. More than three billion euros of budget funds are earmarked for the proprietary “Oracle cloud”, while the already too small funds for digital sovereignty of currently 48 million euros are to be cut by almost half in the new budget. At the same time, the government seems to regard Free Software as expendable in ensuring digital sovereignty. The proprietary Federal Client (Bundesclient) developed on the government’s behalf by the ITZ Bund is in blatant contradiction to the government's declared goal of strengthening Free Software and thus true digital sovereignty. Johannes Näder, FSFE’s Senior Policy Project Manager, explains: "The German government must stand by its promises in the coalition agreement and decide that Free Software will be procured and developed as a priority for the administration in the future. The principle 'Public Money? Public Code!' must become the guiding principle of German digital policy: Publicly financed software developed for the public sector must be Free Software. This is the only way the government can achieve a sustainable, innovative digitisation of Germany that benefits everyone and empowers citizens to control technology.". Under the slogan "Public Money? Public Code!", the Free Software Foundation Europe has long been calling for the sustainable digitisation of the German administration through the use of Free Software. The fact that the corresponding plans from the coalition agreement have not yet been implemented has recently also been criticised within the government parties. "Within the next two years, important steps need to be taken to digitise the German administration. The German Government has only two years left to fulfil the promises made in the coalition agreement. Digital sovereignty can only be guaranteed through Free Software. The government must therefore modernise public procurement law in line with ‘Public Money? Public Code!’ and finally publish statistics on the share of Free Software in development and procurement in the administration. Last but not least, a fully-fledged Free Software working environment should be made available to public authorities in a timely manner. For this to succeed, the budget for digital sovereignty must be increased and consistently used for Free Software," demands Johannes Näder. === Free Software and "Public Money"? === Free Software gives everyone the right to use, study, share, and improve applications for any purpose. These freedoms ensure that similar applications do not have to be programmed from scratch every time and, thanks to transparent processes, others do not have to reinvent the wheel. In large projects, expertise and costs can be shared and applications paid for by the general public are available to all. This promotes innovation and saves taxpayers money in the medium to long term. Dependencies on vendors are minimised and security issues can be fixed more easily. The Free Software Foundation Europe, together with over 200 organisations and administrations, is therefore calling for “Public Money? Public Code!” - If it is public money, it should be public code as well. More information on the initiative is available on the “Public Money? Public Code!” website [1]. === A broad alliance === The following organisations from civil society and the Free Software industry published press releases on 29.08.2023 with their respective analyses and digital policy demands to the German government: - AWO Bundesverband - betterplace lab - Bits & Bäume [2] - FifF - BUND - Germanwatch [3] - Wikimedia Deutschland - Chao Computer Club e.V. [4] - Deutscher Naturschutzring - Institut für Ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung - D64 Zentrum für Digitalen Fortschritt [5] - DAASI International - Do-FOSS - Free Software Foundation Europe - future_s - Innovationsverbund Öffentliche Gesundheit e.V. [6] - Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland - Open Source Business Alliance [7] - #cnetz - German Unix User Group - Gesellschaft für Informatik - VITAKO - Rat für Digitale Ökologie 1: https://publiccode.eu/ 2: https://bits-und-baeume.org/pressemitteilung-halbzeit-fuer-die-ampel/ 3: https://www.germanwatch.org/de/89123 4: https://www.ccc.de/de/updates/2023/updates/2023/halbzeit 5: https://d-64.org/ampel-halbzeit 6: https://www.inoeg.de/veroeffentlichungen.html 7: https://osb-alliance.de/featured/offener-brief-halbzeit-fuer-die-ampel-dank… == 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 understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We enhance 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. https://fsfe.org

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[Save the date] Free Software community celebrates 40 years of software freedom on Sept 27
by Press FSFE 23 Aug '23

23 Aug '23

Hello, This coming 27 September, the Free Software (also known as Open Source) community celebrates the 40th anniversaryof the GNU operating system. This marks the beginning of the Free Software movement and its demand for the freedom of users to use, understand, adapt and share software. These rights help to support other fundamental freedoms such as freedom of speech, press and privacy. In recent decades, we have seen how technology is increasingly shaping our lives; software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives. It is important that this technology empowers us rather than restricts us. To celebrate this day and these four decades of the movement for software freedom, the Free Software Foundation Europe is preparing a media kit for European journalists with basic information about the Free Software community and the importance of this day. The media kit will be in English and we expect to send it to you in early September. If you have any special requests, please let us know. Best regards, Ana Galán -- Ana Galan - Senior Project Manager Communications Free Software Foundation Europe Schönhauser Allee 6/7, 10119 Berlin, Germany | t:+49 157 92 34 72 12 Registered at Amtsgericht Hamburg, VR 17030 |(fsfe.org/support)

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Cyber Resilience Act & Free Software: Parliament waters down its own position
by press＠fsfe.org 19 Jul '23

19 Jul '23

= Cyber Resilience Act & Free Software: Parliament waters down its own position = [ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230719-01.fi.html ] The European Parliament today voted on its position on the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). While the position improves on the Commission's exemption to protect Free Software, it fails to introduce a proper protection . We call on the institutions to put the burden of liability only on those who significantly financially benefit from the market, while protecting developers and non-profit work. The Commission’s proposal to exclude Free Software “outside the course of a commercial activity” would fail to address a large part of software that will not be covered but is deployed. At the same time, smaller and non-profit projects would be harmed as they would have to bear major costs. Therefore we have already proposed a solution that will lead to more security while safeguarding Free Software: 1. Liability should be shifted to those *deploying* Free Software instead of those *developing* Free Software and 2. Those who significantly financially benefit from this deployment should make sure the software becomes CE-compliant While the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO), a committee for opinion in CRA, backed our demand and voted for the protection of Free Software developers in the Cyber Resilience Act, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) introduced less far reaching protections with today's vote. Regular corporate donations or contributions by corporate employees to a project could turn non-profit work into a “commercial activity”, and thus lead to liability. /Alexander Sander, FSFE Senior Policy Consultant explains:/ "With today's vote, the EU Parliament has watered down its own position. Placing the burden of liability on small or non-profit entities that rely on regular donations would harm the Free Software and thus society and business alike. Due to the lack of funding and resources to go through the proposed procedures to become CE compliant, some of these projects might have to stop completely. We call on the institutions to find a compromise that safeguards the Free Software ecosystem while shifting liability to those who significantly financially benefit from the deployment” /./ Interinstitutional negotiations will start start soon and should be concluded this year if possible. You can read more here [1]. 1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-01.fi.html == 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 understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We enhance 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. https://fsfe.org

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EU Parliament intends to widen participation in the Interoperable Europe Board
by press＠fsfe.org 19 Jul '23

19 Jul '23

= EU Parliament intends to widen participation in the Interoperable Europe Board = [ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230719-02.fi.html ] Today the EU Parliament’s Committee responsible for the Interoperable Europe Act has adopted its final position. It is a step forward towards a more inclusive Interoperable Europe Board while it introduces clearer indicators and statistics to monitor the progress of the Act. This position must now be upheld during the upcoming trialogue. Today the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) has voted on its final text of the Interoperable Europe Act which is an improvement of the Commission proposal. The EU Parliament has introduced the possibility for relevant stakeholders to participate with observer status in the Interoperable Europe Board meetings and activities, including within those, the Free Software community. Furthermore, the EU Parliament has also followed our demand [1] suggesting the introduction of clearer objectives and statistics, that will allow to evaluate and properly measure the progress of the activities that will fall under this Act. Especially, when it comes to monitoring the use and uptake of Free Software solutions among public administrations. “The inclusion of relevant stakeholders and experts, such as the Free Software community, in the Interoperable Europe Board must be part of the final text of the Interoperable Europe Act. Likewise, proper monitoring and evaluation procedures need to be set up to improve and adapt the interoperability of Europe in the long run. We, therefore, call upon the EU Parliament, especially the rapporteur Ivars Ijabs, to safeguard its position during the upcoming trialogue and to not allow any backwards step”, /mentions Lina Ceballos, FSFE Policy Project Manager./ The ITRE Committee has also voted with a large majority to enter the inter-institutional negotiations. This means that the European Parliament must now defend its position and anchor it to the final text which will be negotiated together with the Council and Commission in the coming weeks. This is of high importance bearing in mind that the latest compromise text of the Council is hindering the inclusion of relevant stakeholders [2] in the governance structure of this Act. 1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-02.fi.html 2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230623-01.fi.html == 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 understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We enhance 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. https://fsfe.org

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