CAMPAIGN CALLS UPON BONO to take a stand against the digital restrictions
found in new technology and music.
----June 30, 2006
The direct action campaign DefectiveByDesign.org, today called for all
technologists to sign the petition calling upon Bono the lead singer of U2,
to take a stand against Digital Restrictions Management (DRM)
<http://defectivebydesign.org/petition/bonopetition>. The campaign aims to
collect 10,000 signatures, at which point they will seek an audience with
Bono, and discuss with him the threats posed by DRM.
The group has focused on Bono because of his social activism and leadership
in the music industry. Bono and the band U2 have helped encourage the media
companies to distribute music online. U2's endorsement of the iPod has led
to a huge financial windfall for Apple's iTunes. The problem is, all Apple's
iTunes music is distributed with DRM handcuffs. The campaign is asking Bono
to take a lead in encourage the removal of these handcuffs.
"Apple once proclaimed - Rip, Mix, and Burn - but when the Majors offered
them an exclusive deal to distribute their music files, they quickly stepped
into line and imposed DRM on their customers." said DefectiveByDesign
campaign manager Gregory Heller "Apple are now embarrassed by their once
famous marketing slogan, as they try to make excuses for these digital
restrictions."
DefectiveByDesign describes DRM as a simply a scheme by the Big Media
corporations to control consumers and keep artists locked into unfair
contracts - reports say many artists receive as little as 7 cents, for each
99 cent iTunes track downloaded. The petition asks Bono to come out in
support of technology free of restrictions, and in doing so expose the myth
that musicians demand locks on technology and culture.
This petition is the forth in a series of direct actions that
DefectiveByDesign.org have taken. They have already targeted Microsoft and
Apple's DRM schemes, and published the telephone numbers of the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) executives, encouraging hundreds of
consumer complaints against the trade organization.
----30----
About Defective By Design
DefectiveByDesign.org is a broad-based, anti-DRM campaign run by the Free
Software Foundation, that is targeting Big Media, unhelpful manufacturers
and DRM distributors. It aims to make all manufacturers wary about bringing
their DRM-enabled products to market. The campaign aims to identify
"defective" products for the consumer. Users are being asked to stand up in
defense of their existing freedoms and to take action by joining at
DefectiveByDesign.org
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://fsf.org/join They are headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press(a)gnu.org>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press
GPLv3 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE DETAILS ONLINE
BARCELONA, CATALONIA - SPAIN, JUNE 22nd & 23rd
Marking the half-way point of the year-long public consultation process for
redrafting Free Software's cornerstone licence, the third international GPLv3
conference will host experts from Europe and from around the world.
The venue, in the heart of the city, is the Centre de Cultura Contemporània
de Barcelona (CCCB). There, during the two days of this event, there will
be presentations from experts including Richard Stallman, president of FSF,
Eben Moglen, chairman of Software Freedom Law Center, Georg Greve, president
of FSF Europe and Harald Welte, founder of gpl-violations.org.
By far the most widely used Free Software licence, the GNU General Public
License (aka, "the GPL") ensures that everyone who receives GPL'd software is
able to use it as they wish, to modify to fit their needs, and to distribute
modified or unmodified copies.
"People sometimes have the feeling that GNU GPL has been around forever, and
they would not be entirely wrong. Published in 1991, the GNU GPL has proven
to be exceptionally successful throughout the past fifteen years," says
Greve. "With such an exceptional success, one will change as little as
possible. But there are changes in the legal and technical environment, as
well as the position of Free Software and its community, that made some
changes advisable. The process to update the licence is aiming at a global
GPLv3 drafting team, and everyone is invited to participate: Joining the
conferences is one of the best ways of doing so."
Harald Welte emphasises the threat caused by Digital Restriction Management
(DRM) to Free Software: "It has always been clear that using DRM to restrict
users is in conflict with the spirit of the GPL. As a copyright holder of
some GPL'd software, I have already successfully enforced this out of court
with GPL version two. The new DRM language proposed for GPLv3 is more solid
and will make this enforcement easier. When enforcement is easy, people are
less likely to violate the licence in the first place, so the Free Software
can continue to focus on software development rather than policing licence
violations."
All presentations will be made in English, with the only exception of one
which will be in Spanish. Translation to Spanish will be provided for the
entire conference, and translation to English will be provided for the
Spanish talk.
There is no fee for the conference, but registration is required to
guarantee a place. Attendees are asked to email
oriordan(a)fsfeurope.org
with "GPLv3 registration" in the subject of the email.
The Conference's schedule and further information will be published
soon at http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/europe-gplv3-conference
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
--
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. FSFE at Linuxtag in Wiesbaden (Germany)
2. Free Software workshop at Academy of German Army
3. FSFE at several events in Milan (Italy)
4. GPLv3 at SANE and UKUUG evening talks
5. Georg Greve at HGKZ university in Zürich (Switzerland)
6. Karsten Gerloff at eIFL workshop in Kiev (Ukraine)
7. FSFE General Assembly in Manchester
8. Linuxwochen in Vienna (Austria)
1. FSFE at Linuxtag in Wiesbaden (Germany)
As in previous years, Linuxtag was an opportunity for FSFE members and
Fellows to meet people from FSF Latin America and the
Free Software Initiative Japan and share the FSFE booth with them.
Karsten Gerloff gave a speech about the Access to Knowledge movement
(A2K) and its backgrounds. Ciarán O'Riordan, Georg Greve (FSFE), and
Federico Heinz (FSFLA) gave speeches about various aspects of the GPLv3.
As usual, Volker Dormeyer did an excellent job organising the booth and
the accommodation.
2. Free Software workshop at Academy of German Army
Free Software is penetrating an increasing amount of governmental
areas. As part of a meeting to assess the strategic future of Free
Software in the German Army, Georg Greve was invited by the Academy of
German Army to speak on Free Software and the political and strategic
issues that software raises for all sovereign governmental tasks, for
which Free Software provides the strongest answers today.
3. FSFE at several events in Milan (Italy)
The Italian team of the FSFE took part in some Milan-based events this
month. At the "Linux World Summit", Stefano Maffulli and Cristian
Rigamonti ran the Free Software Foundation Europe booth and participated
in a panel discussion dedicated to the Italian Free Software
communities. Cristian Rigamonti then held a talk about Free Software at
the "Gira e Respira" event, and an online talk on oilproject.org about
GPLv3. All the events benefitted from the support of the Italian
Fellows.
4. GPLv3 at SANE and UKUUG evening talks
Twice last month Georg Greve explained the reasons and overall changes
to the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3, and introduced the
audience to the GPLv3 update process. The first conference was the 5th
System Administration and Network Engineering (SANE) Conference in
Delft, in the Netherlands. The second speech took place as a UKUUG
evening talk at the University Conference Center in Manchester, UK.
5. Georg Greve at HGKZ university in Zürich (Switzerland)
On request of the School of Art and Design at the University of
Applied Sciences and Arts Zurich (HGKZ), FSFE president Georg Greve
spoke to art and design students about the role that software takes in
the digital society, and what Free Software means for society.
6. Karsten Gerloff at eIFL workshop in Kiev (Ukraine)
Libraries are currently struggling with ever-tighter copyright
restrictions that make it harder for them to serve their purpose of
collecting and disseminating knowledge. An important countermeasure is
for librarians to educate themselves about copyright, and about
advocating their interests.
At a workshop in Kiev, Ukraine (May 26-27), Karsten Gerloff gave talks
about Free Software and sharing knowledge, as well as about the WIPO
Development Agenda and a Treaty on Access to Knowledge. The audience
consisted of librarians from the former Soviet Union, Mongolia, the
Middle East and South-East Asia.
7. FSFE General Assembly in Manchester
The FSFE held its General Assembly on 27 May 2006 in Manchester, UK.
The members of the General Assembly spent the weekend reviewing the
past year and engaging in lively and constructive discussions about
future tasks and priorities.
8. Linuxwochen in Vienna (Austria)
FSFE was present at Austria's largest Free Software event, the
Linuxwochen in Vienna. On all three days of the event, members of the
FSFE, Fellows, and volunteers were available at the booth to inform
about the work of the FSFE and about the Fellowship.
On the first day, Karin Kosina gave a speech titled "Free Software for
free people" in which she introduced the Free Software Foundation
Europe. On the last day, David Ayers and Karin Kosina did a presentation
of the GPLv3 which was very well received, and the following panel
discussion turned out to be very constructive.
You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html