[for immediate release]
Free Software Foundation Europe
not fooling around on April Fool's Day:
Like last year's PDA, donated by xtops.de [2] the Free Software
Foundation Europe will be raffling off two HP notebooks [3][4] to all
active Fellows on 1 April this year. For two lucky Fellows, April
Fool's Day will be anything but foolish.
"This is a great start into the second year of our Fellowship,” says
Georg Greve, president of FSFE. "The Fellowship is essential to our
activities. It allows us to pursue activities like the Microsoft
antitrust case, or our work at the United Nations. These may seem far
away, but if we do not defend our freedoms also in these places, we
are bound to lose them everywhere."
"Very often we find obstacles like proprietary drivers, or hardware
for which the specifications are simply lacking. Hardware
incompatibility and lack of specification documents are the pressing
problems we face today," explains Werner Koch, FSFE's Head of Office.
"Commitment towards Free Software is becoming an increasingly
important factor for hardware sales: It is important for Free Software
customers to be taken seriously and have assurance that their hardware
will run Free Software," concludes Georg Greve. He finishes: "Right
now only very few hardware companies truly commit themselves to Free
Software. We hope that will change soon and thank HP for their
support."
To join the Fellowship of FSFE and maybe win one of the laptops, sign
up online at http://www.fsfe.org/join
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organisation 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
of 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 organisation of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
www.fsfeurope.org
[1] http://www.fsfe.org
[2] http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2005q2/000106.html
[3] HP Compaq nx6125 Notebook PC (PZ092UA) (some details may be different)
* Debian GNU/Linux preinstalled
* AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology
* Sleek industrial design starting at 5.99 lb/2.72 kg and 1.22-inch/31.0mm thin at front
* ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M Chipset
* 512-MB DDR SDRAM, upgradeable to 2048-MB maximum
* Up to 80-GB 5400 rpm hard drive
* Integrated ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 with up to 128-MB allocated system memory
* Optional Integrated 802.11a/b/g or 802.11b/g wireless LAN module
* Integrated Bluetooth® on select models
* 6-in-1 Media Reader
* NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Controller
* Touchpad with scroll zone
* Protected by three-year standard parts and labor warranty - certain restrictions and exclusions apply
To find out what keeps the digital society going please check our Free
Software press review today at http://www.fsfe.org/fellows/jj/pressreview
Join the Fellowship and protect your freedom! (http://www.fsfe.org)
Media Contact: Free Software Foundation <pr(a)gnu.org>
Phone: +1-617-542-5942
BOSTON - February 21, 2006 - The 2nd international GPLv3 conference
will take place on April 21st & 22nd in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The
international GPLv3 conferences are part of a year-long public
consultation process to update GNU General Public License ("the GPL")
which today protects the freedom of 100s of millions of software users
and is the most used Free Software license in the world.
The conference will take place during the 7th International Free
Software Forum, which takes place from April 19th to the 22nd.
Like the current GPL, version 3 will work to guarantee that all users
of software distributed under its terms have the freedom to examine,
share, and modify that software.
Version 2 of the GPL was released in 1991. It is now being updated to
account for changes in the legal and technical environment in which
software licenses operate, and to protect against new threats to the
freedoms of software users such as software patents and Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM).
The new version will also incorporate what has been learned over the
last 15 years about enforcing a single software license in varying
legal systems around the world, and with the 2nd international GPLv3
conference, the current draft of GPL version 3 will receive particular
scrutiny from lawyers and software users of Latin America. A main
goal of these conferences is to get input from free software users in
all parts of the world.
The main changes in the text are those which would make GPLv3
compatible with other Free Software licenses. That is to say that
programmers will be able to combine GPLv3-covered code with code
distributed under some other Free Software licenses which version 2
would have prohibited.
We invite you join us at FISL for the second round of presentations
and discussions, with both international and Latin American
perspectives.
Confirmed speakers include Richard Stallman, founder and president of
Free Software Foundation (FSF), who will introduce the new draft, and
Richard Fontana, lawyer at Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC), who
will provide legal interpretation. Expert panelists form across Latin
America will lead discussion on license internationalization, DRM,
software patents, and license compatibility.
The Conference's schedule and further information will be published
soon at http://gplv3.fsf.org/wiki/index.php/International_conferences
About the Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software - particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants - and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software. Their Web site,
located at www.fsf.org , is an important source of information about
GNU/Linux. Donations to support their work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Their headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press(a)gnu.org>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press
FSFE to Microsoft: stop complaining, and start complying!
"After several years of investigation, the original ruling in 2004, and
a European Court case lasting close to two years, we now have to conclude
that Microsoft never had any intention to comply with the antitrust
ruling," comments Georg Greve, president of the Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE). "We were forced to witness years of delays,
stalling and playing for more time during which Microsoft has made no
attempt to allow interoperability and competition with its
competitors, including Free Software such as Samba."
"It makes a very sad and worrysome statement about the quality and
reliability of software engineering at Microsoft if they indeed do not
have proper interface specifications and documentation for their
considerably complex and organic systems, as Microsoft have repeatedly
maintained," explains Jonas Öberg, vice-president of FSFE. "That
'hundreds of Microsoft employees and contractors' [1] were apparently
not able to produce this documentation in almost two years further
undermines the confidence in Microsoft's technological prowess."
"That Microsoft now questions the competency and integrity of a
Trustee they themselves helped appoint is outrageous. All the parties
involved in the case found the Trustee showed an intimate competence
and understanding," says Carlo Piana, the lawyer representing FSFE on
the case: "How do they now dare maintain that he is biased? Because he
is not willing to lie against all evidence? We support the Commission
all the way, and possibly beyond. And: If Microsoft wanted to know how
it could easily comply, they just had to ring Volker Lendecke, member
of the Samba Team, one of our technical experts, as we offered them"
"Microsoft has behaved as if they consider themselves above the law
and any decision by the European Commission. The aggressive stance
they now take towards a Commission that was unbelievably patient with
Microsoft further confirms that view," concludes Georg Greve. "Microsoft
strove very hard to be the first company to leave the European
Commission no choice but to impose daily fines for the first time in
European antitrust history. Microsoft deserves to be granted what they
worked for so vehemently and be brought to compliance the hard way."
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organisation 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
of 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 organisation of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
www.fsfeurope.org
[1] http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/feb06/02-15EUStatement.mspx
--
Joachim Jakobs <jj(a)office.fsfeurope.org
Media Relations - FSF Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
Tel: +49 700 - 373387673, Ext.: 4004
Mobile: +49-179-6919565
To find out what keeps the digital society going
please check our Free Software press review today at
https://www.fsfe.org/en/fellows/jj/pressreview
Join the Fellowship and protect your freedom! (http://www.fsfe.org)
FKF and FSFE teaming up: FKF official associate organisation of FSF Europe
14 February 2006
Madrid/Hamburg
The Free Knowledge Foundation / Fundación Conocimiento Libre (FKF) and
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) are proud to announce their new
official associate status, working together for the promotion and
protection of Free Software in Spain.
Following a decision at the last foundation board meeting of FKF to
co-operate more closely with FSF Europe, as well as a decision by the
members of the FSFE Team, both organisations are delighted to announce
their official co-operation. The FKF is the first associate organisation
of the FSFE in Spain, a country with a strong Free Software community.
"Our adversaries are usually multi-national groups, funded heavily by
multi-national companies. If we are to defend Free Software and all
that is related to it against their encroachments, then we need to be
equally present," explains Georg Greve, President of Free Software
Foundation Europe. "That is why FSFE started out as a multi-national
organisation from the outset, building teams across cultural and
language barriers to work together to further Free Software. We are very
happy to welcome another group to our large family."
"While we are focused on Free Knowledge, Free Software, Free Standards
and Intellectual Wealth dissemination, Free Software is at the centre
of our work, as the initiating and inspiring phenomenon of this new
way of understanding knowledge.", says Pablo Machón, President of
FKF. "The FSFE has always been an inspiration for our work. Becoming
an associated organisation of FSFE is, thus, a natural consequence of
sharing ideals, a long-term vocation, and working together towards
the same goal."
About the Free Knowledge Foundation (FKF)
The Free Knowledge Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in
Spain and focused on Free Knowledge, Free Software, Free Standards
and Intellectual Wealth dissemination. The FKF promotes the concept
of knowledge as being publicly and freely accessible for both usage
and contribution.
www.libre.org
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organisation 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
of 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 organisation of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
www.fsfeurope.org
Contact
FSF Europe:
Georg C. F. Greve <greve at fsfeurope.org>
phone: +49-40-23809080
fax: +49-40-23809081
FKF:
Pablo Machón <pablo at libre.org>
phone / fax: +34 91 8445346
--
Joachim Jakobs <jj(a)office.fsfeurope.org
Media Relations - FSF Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
Tel: +49 700 - 373387673, Ext.: 4004
Mobile: +49-179-6919565
To find out what keeps the digital society going
please check our Free Software press review today at
https://www.fsfe.org/en/fellows/jj/pressreview
Join the Fellowship and protect your freedom! (http://www.fsfe.org)
1. Fellowship meetings in Vienna and Berlin
2. Discussion about Free Software in Austrian schools started
3. First draft of GPLv3 presented
4. Microsoft still trying to avoid competition
1. Fellowship meetings in Vienna and Berlin
Matthias Kirschner organised the first Fellowship meeting in Berlin.
Bernhard Reiter, FSFE's coordinator for Germany, was there to inform
about FSFE's work. A good discussion evolved, and interest in more
regular meetings was clearly voiced.
In Vienna, Karin Kosina and Reinhard Müller had invited to the second
Austrian Fellowship meeting. There was a very good discussion about
Free Software in Austrian schools.
While it was decided to stick with bi-monthly meetings in Vienna,
Berlin might even see monthly meetings if enough volunteers are found
to help with the organisation. Upcoming Fellowship meetings will be
announced on the FSFE events page as usual:
http://www.fsfeurope.org/events/events.en.html
2. Discussion about Free Software in Austrian schools started
Most schools in Austria still use and teach mostly proprietary
software. While many schools show very good initiatives towards the
adaption of Free Software, there is still a long road ahead. The FSFE
has created a mailing list meant for general discussion about Free
Software in Education in Austria, without being focussed on a specific
project or type of school.
https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-at
3. First draft of GPLv3 presented
The MIT in Boston, USA, hosted the first international conference on
the GPLv3. Georg Greve, Stefano Maffulli and Ciaran O'Riordan
represented the FSFE on this event that marks the first milestone of
the way towards a new version of the world's most successful Free
Software license.
4. Microsoft still trying to avoid competition
In a press release, Microsoft announced licensing Windows Server
source code instead of specifications, claiming to thus meet the
requirements put before them by the European Commission. FSFE was once
again quick to explain how this announcement is a mere attempt to
distract from Microsofts non-compliance with the European Court order,
and a tactical ploy to endanger Free Software developers: after having
seen such Windows source code, a developer writing interoperable
software is potentially subject to copyright infringement lawsuits
brought about by Microsoft.
Several media, including the Wall Street Journal and the International
Herald Tribune, followed FSFE's explanations on this issue.
You can find a list of all FSF Europe newsletters on
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html