= New Snowden leak: Storing your data at Microsoft is negligent =
[Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130712-01.en.html ]
In an article published today, The Guardian[1] describes how Microsoft
is actively cooperating with the NSA. According to the article,
Microsoft is providing the NSA with broad access to the communications
of anyone using the company's services:
- Microsoft gives the NSA access to encrypted mails on Hotmail, Live.com
and Outlook.com, as well as web chat messages.
- Microsoft provides the NSA with easy access to its SkyDrive storage
service, which currently has 250 million users worldwide.
- Microsoft makes it possible for the NSA to monitor audio and video
calls on the Skype service which it acquired in 2011.
"This makes it clear that trusting Microsoft with your critical
company data is downright negligent," says Karsten Gerloff, President
of the Free Software Foundation Europe. "In both the public and the
private sector, those responsible for security and data protection
urgently need to take action to protect their organisations, customers
and clients."
While it is difficult or impossible to entirely escape surveillance,
there are ways to minimise the risk that sensitive data, such as
confidential product data or patient records, is intercepted by a third
party. Free Software solutions for groupware, office products and
operating systems are fully auditable, and often data security a
priority. End-to-end encryption with Free Software products such as
GnuPG[2] and off-the-record messaging (OTR)[3] protects data in transit.
Products providing secure audio, video and chat communications, such as
Jitsi[4], go a long way towards replacing Skype.
"We advise companies and all other organisations that wish to protect
their data to use Free Software solutions, to store data in-house
wherever possible, and to cooperate only with providers whom they
trust to protect their customers' data," says Gerloff. "Such providers
will often use strong encryption, and minimise the amount of data they
store. Using smaller providers instead of global IT companies makes it
somewhat less likely that customers' data will be caught in the NSA's
dragnet."
Users should actively take control of their data and communications. One
way to do so is to support the developers of Free Software encryption
technologies, so they can continue to provide these important products.
"Now is a good time to donate to the Free Software PGP implementation
GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG)[5]!", says Matthias Kirschner, FSFE's Head of
Public Awareness.
1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-use…
2. http://gnupg.org/
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging
4. https://jitsi.org/
5. http://g10code.com/gnupg-donation.html
== Press Contact ==
Karsten Gerloff, Free Software Foundation Europe President
<gerloff at fsfeurope.org> m +49 176 9690 4298
Linienstraße 141, 10115 Berlin, Germany
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= German Parliament elections: The parties' positions on Free Software =
[Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130703-01.en.html ]
Today, the Free Software Foundation Europe publishes its Free Software
related election questions for this fall's elections to the German
parliament, which will take place on September 22. All political parties
have responded to the questions, which cover issues like users' control
over their electronic devices, the release of publicly funded computer
programs as Free Software, and software patents.
>From the responses, it's clear that most parties now know more about
Free Software than they did in the past. Below is the translation --
done by FSFE's volunteers[1]-- of FSFE's summary and an evaluation of
the complete answers[2]. In addition, FSFE encourages Free Software
activists to use these questions as an inspiration for their own
questions to candidates on federal and local level.
1. http://fsfe.org/contribute/translators/translators.en.html
2. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/askyourcandidates/201309-germany-bundestagswahl.e…
First, something pleasant: SPD, the Greens, the Pirate party, the Linke
and the Free Voters want software where development was funded by the
public administration to be published under a free licence. The SPD
states that "publicly funded software should be available to the general
public as far as possible". The Greens demand the publication of such
programs as Free Software in their manifesto (see FSFE's overview on the
election and party manifestos in Germany[3] (German)). In their reply,
they justify this demand with benefits such as "bigger and more
sustainable innovation potentials, broadening of competence in handling
software, but also security-related advantages". They continually
criticise the migration away from Free Software in the Foreign Office.
The Pirates and the Left Party both advocate a general publication of
all software and content funded by the state. The FDP does not directly
address the question, but generally claims to "consider both proprietary
and Free software" in public procurement.
3. https://wiki.fsfe.org/WahlUndParteiprogrammeDeutschland
The CDU however points out "budget law restrictions" for the publication
and advancement of Free Software by the public administration. In their
answer, they refer to a paragraph in the Bundeshaushaltsordnung (BHO §
63 para. 2). The federal government however states the following in its
accompanying legal document to the migration guidelines (German)[4]:
This paragraph "does not constitute a limitation for the dissemination
of software" (p. 41) and "in the practically most important case, the
further development of GPL licences software, a public authority can
share its own development portions to private parties without levy of
licence fees" (p. 43). In contrast, these guidelines highlight a problem
in the gratis distribution to private parties for development of new
software or continuing development of non-copyleft software. It is worth
noting that in its past eight years in government, the CDU has not
improved the BHO law if they perceive it to be problematic. Furthermore,
the CDU/CSU state that in every single case, it should be checked "if
obvious modifications of the software would allow it to be used for
illegal purposes" and if this was the case, the software should not be
published.
4. http://www.cio.bund.de/DE/Architekturen-und-Standards/Migrationsleitfaden-u…
The refusal to release a GNU/Linux version of the ElsterFormular tax
software (German)[5] meets with a lack of understanding, regret and
criticism among the parties. The FDP points to the platform independence
of the upcoming version of Elsteronline, which will not need Java to
run. Still, they regret that the Elsterformular is not available in a
platform independent way. The Free Voters perceive the given platform
dependency as incomprehensible in view of system security. The tying to
a single operating system development company is unacceptable for the
SPD and they want to engage to "make according software available for
alternative operating systems as well". The Greens want to advocate the
possibility to use the ElsterFormular for users of Free operating
systems. The Left Party voices its criticsm: "The provision of the
Elster-Formular solely for Microsoft Windows and the refusal to release
the GNU-Linux and Mac OS X versions by the Bayerisches Landesamt für
Steuern (Bavarian tax administration), which is in charge of the
development, is not acceptable." The Pirates demand the publication of
the software – even if it was of bad quality – and its documentation
under a Free licence to allow others to further develop the software.
5. https://blogs.fsfe.org/mk/?p=1031
All parties agree that public authorities should demand all rights
(access to the source code, the right for further developments (also by
third parties), the right to distribute the software to others) when
contracting out software development. The FDP states: "This creates
independence from the producer, strategic reliability and freedom of
choice when selecting a service provider." SPD and the Greens mainly
justify their demands from an IT security point of view. According to
the Linke, the state "should ensure that it has discretion over how the
software will be distributed, and use this discretion in the common
interest". The CDU attaches "special importance to [...] the possibility
of further development of the software from the beginning" in the
future. The Pirates and the Greens point to the fact that governmental
usage rights are a necessary condition to publish software of the public
administration under a Free licence as demanded by the parties. The Free
Voters state that they will consider fines for officials and employees
who sign contracts without these usage rights.
Asked about the control over mobile devices, the parties mainly focus on
aspects of data protection. The SPD sees "challenges especially
regarding the right of informational self-determination". The Greens,
Linke, Pirates and SPD demand data protection-friendly technology as a
basic adjustment ("Data protection by technology"), while CDU/CSU, FDP
and the Free voters target a better education of citizens. However, the
parties do not answer the question about the rights the users should
have on the software on these devices – a question that for example is
asked by FSFE's FreeYourAndroid.org campaign[6].
6. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/android.en.html
On the subject"Secure Boot"[7] all parties are in agreement: the White
Paper of the federal government[8] contains important demands which they
want to support and implement. "With the implementation of Secure Boot
the owners of IT devices get limited in the possibility to entirely
control contents and applications", writes the Left Party. The FDP wants
to "assure that users can make an informed decision about their
devices", and the CDU wants to pursue this issue on national and
international level. In their detailed answer the Pirates write:
"Systems which prevent the user from installing specific software are
inacceptable on political and economical grounds. This inevitably leads
to promotion of oligopolies or monopolies in the software market. But
more important is the socio-political relevance of control over IT
systems [....]". The Greens doubt how the federal government will
implement the key issue paper "with the extensive ties to Microsoft
services" and SPD demands an "initiative on European level [...] to let
these targets not only be a political declaration of intention, but to
really stick to them."
7. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/generalpurposecomputing/secure-boot-analysis.en.h…
8. http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20121120-01.en.html
Except for CDU and Free voters, all parties explicitly support the
royalty-free licensing of standards. The Greens point to their demand in
the Enquete Kommission "Internet und Digitale Gesellschaft" (EIDG,
commission of inquiry in internet and digital society)[9] where they
want to place the public administration under an obligation to bring
forward interoperability and sustainability of their IT systems "to be
independent from interests of individual market participants at the
further development of the systems." Criticism of SAGA, the German
guideline for IT standards in federal government organisations, comes
from the Left Party and Pirates. The Left Party see in the
specifications without restrictions and licence fees no automatism for
increased implementation of Free Software. "On this, active political
will and proactive acting of federal government is required", so the
Linke. The Pirates criticise that ODF in SAGA is only a recommended
format what results to the fact "that non-free software and closed
formats can still be used in administrative practice." For this reason,
they consider SAGA to be merely a "paper tiger".
9. http://www.bundestag.de/internetenquete/
Unfortunately the CDU sees no problem in advertisement on public
administration's websites[10] for non-free software as long as such
adverts serve usability. The other parties reject this kind of
advertisements, and want to prevent them in future. The Greens refer in
their answer to their request "Advertisement for proprietary software on
websites of federal ministries and public administration" (printed
matter 17/8951) in which they picked up on this issue, and to the
following discussion of this subject in the IT planning council. The
Free Voters offered their help for solutions on municipal level.
10. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.en.html
FSFE's ongoing work against software patents shows effects: By now all
parties on federal level agree that patenting of software should be
limited effectively. To this they refer to the inter-fractional request
titled "Secure competition and dynamic of innovation in software sector
- limit patenting of computer programs effectively"[11].
11. http://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130612-01.en.html
The CDU/CSU is generally in favour of using "Serious Games", i.e.
learning games with the primary goal of imparting knowledge in an
entertaining way, in schools and universities and thinks about releasing
those games under a Free licence. The FDP wants to get more children
into programming and "ensure that newly acquired learning aids can be
used platform independently". The Free Voters want to promote Free
Software in the municipal sector. The Greens especially demand a
consistent procurement practice for software funded by the public
sector, continue to criticise regression like for example in the Foreign
Office[12] and want to serve as a good example by releasing their own
software ("betatext"). The Linke sees Free Software in the context of
common property economics and thinks about ways of funding Free Software
development, e.g. using parts of the broadcasting fees. The SPD wants to
primarily promote Free Software in the administration. In the commission
of enquiry on the internet and the digital society (EIDG) the party had
demanded that the state should "provide subsidies for usability analysis
and the improvement of user friendliness of selected projects".
12. http://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20110511-01.en.html
- More election interviews done by Free Software Foundation Europe
and publications about the last Bundestag election:
http://fsfe.org/campaigns/askyourcandidates/askyourcandidates.en.htmlhttp://fsfe.org/campaigns/btw09/btw09.en.html
- References to Free Software in election and party manifestos in
Germany (German):
http://wiki.fsfe.org/WahlUndParteiprogrammeDeutschland (German)
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= FSFE compliance workshop discovers GPL violation by FANTEC, Welte wins
in court =
[Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130626-01.en.html ]
The Regional Court of Hamburg [Landgericht Hamburg] found FANTEC GmbH
guilty of violating the GNU General Public License[1]in their media
player FANTEC 3DFHDL. In the case between Harald Welte versus FANTEC
GmbH the court decided that FANTEC has to pay a penalty fee plus
additional costs for the lawyers, and has to give out the exact
information about their chain of distribution of the FANTEC 3DFHDL Media
Player.
FANTEC was using the netfilter/iptables software (firewalling software
for GNU/Linux) in one of the FANTEC 3DFHDL firmwares offered online.
They distributed the firmware without complete corresponding source code
as required by the GNU General Public License, version 2 (GPLv2) that
governs the netfilter/iptables software. Attempts to resolve this issue
failed, after which Harald Welte, one of the copyright holders of
iptables, decided to go to court. The court decided that FANTEC acted
negligently: they would have had to ensure to distribute the software
under the conditions of the GPLv2. The court made explicit that it is
insufficient for FANTEC to rely on the assurance of license compliance
of their suppliers. FANTEC itself is required to ascertain that no
rights of third parties are violated.
"It is great to see that the court acknowledges the fact that vendors
themselves are responsible for checking their products for GNU GPL
compliance. Especially FANTEC, who already had earlier issues with GNU
GPL compliance, should have known better. This was just laziness,"
says Harald Welte, founder of gpl-violations.org[2]and plaintiff in
the case.
The GNU GPL violation was found at a "Hacking for Compliance workshop"
of the Free Software Foundation Europe in May 2012 in Berlin. Several
volunteers helped checking different devices for GNU GPL compliance.
Afterwards the results where forwarded to gpl-violations.org and their
lawyers, who followed up on it.
Although FANTEC denied at first, compliance engineers of FSFE and gpl-
violations.org were able to prove that the software iptables version
1.3.7 was on the device, even though FANTEC did not include the sources
for this program in the provided source code. Besides they showed that
the software was compiled on another date than the offered source code,
proving that the source code offered by FANTEC was outdated.
"Together with our volunteers we will continue to ensure that users
receive the freedom to use, study, share, and improve the software on
their products. These are the basic principles of the Free Software
community, and every company distributing the software has to comply
with the respective licenses. Companies obviously see the benefit in
building upon Free Software, and they should stick to these basic and
simple rules." says Matthias Kirschner, FSFE's German coordinator and
one of the organisers of the compliance workshop.
FSFE provides some easy steps[3]to follow to make your product GNU GPL
compliant.
1. http://www.ifross.org/sites/default/files/130618%20Urteil%20Fantec.pdf
2. http://gpl-violations.org
3. http://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/useful-tips-for-vendors.en.html
The court decision (DE) is available on the IFROSS site (PDF):
http://www.ifross.org/sites/default/files/130618%20Urteil%20Fantec.pdf
Other news related to GNU GPL violation cases:
- 2011-11-10: " Court rejects AVM´s claims opposing third party
modifications of GPL software".
https://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20111110-01.en.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
== EC tells public bodies to break free from lock-in==
[Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130625-02.en.html ]
In a Communication published today, the European Commission urges
public bodies to break free from vendor lock-in in their IT
systems. The Commission wants public bodies to rely on standards
rather than brand names and proprietary technology when they buy software.
In its Communication titled "Against lock-in" [1], the Commission
highlights that public bodies unnecessarily spend 1.1 billion Euro every
year because they do not allow more competition among their suppliers.
The Commission cites studies saying that 16% of public procurements make
reference to brand names. According to the Communication, costs for IT
contracts drop by 9% when public bodies manage to double the number of
companies bidding for those contracts.
"Public bodies waste more than a billion Euro every year on systems that
are black boxes to them, preventing Free Software companies from
offering their services. This needs to stop," says Karsten Gerloff,
president of the Free Software Foundation Europe. "Relying on Open
Standards [2] will mean that taxpayers' money is spent more efficiently,
and on more innovative solutions."
In a 2011 survey cited in the Communication, 50% of public bodies stated
that they lack the expertise to decide which standards they need to ask
for. The Commission intends to respond by providing guidance and
promoting best practices. It also says that it will use the same
approach to improve its own procurement practices, which FSFE had
criticised in the past [3].
"We look forward to seeing the European Commission lead the way, and
open its own desktop systems to competition from different suppliers",
says Gerloff.
While a number of European member states already have progressive
policies on standards-based procurement, these only have value if they
are actually implemented. FSFE looks forward to supporting the
Commission and public bodies everywhere in Europe in moving to
standards-based procurement practices.
1. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-602_en.htm?locale=en
2. https://fsfe.org/activities/os/def.en.html
3. https://fsfe.org/news/2010/news-20101207-01.en.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= As Microsoft repeal some Xbox restrictions, more apply to other products =
[Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130620-02.en.html ]
Faced with user protests, Microsoft has been forced to make the terms
for its latest Xbox gaming console look a little less restrictive [1].
However, the “new” terms which had caused such outrage were not in fact
new at all: they were similar to most other proprietary software
licences, including those covering other Microsoft software products and
on-line services.
Restrictions on selling, sharing and gift-giving appear, for example, in
the Windows 7 and Office 2013 licences. Similar restrictions will
continue to apply to the Xbox one in that "downloaded titles cannot be
shared or resold" [1]. Geographic restrictions can also apply to Office
2013, along a class action waiver. Gamers who were angered by the
invasive, inadequate and mandatory 24 hour check-in and Kinect
voice/motion sensor may be similarly angered by the clause demanding
“you must comply with any technical limitations in the software that
only allow you to use it in certain ways. You may not work around any
technical limitations in the software” in the Windows 7 licence.[2]
“Even after reversing course on some of the more egregious Xbox One
terms, Microsoft still leaves its users wearing digital handcuffs,”
says Karsten Gerloff, FSFE's president. “We encourage everyone to
choose Free Software instead, and break free of these restrictions.”
“While proprietary licenses restrict your freedom, Free Software
always guarantees that you can use the software for any purpose, to
study how it works, to share it with others, and modify it to your
needs” says Matthias Kirschner, FSFE's Head of Public Awareness.
“Users should not have to beg for these rights.”
*** FSFE's infographic about the Xbox restrictions is available on
https://fsfe.org/graphics/xbox-infographic.png - It is still unclear
what exactly the full license will or will not contain, for example,
mention of the Class Action Waiver has been removed, but no statement
has been made to repeal it. ***
1. http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update
2. http://download.microsoft.com/Documents/UseTerms/Windows_7%20Home%20Basic%2…
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= Open Letter to Prime Minister Erdoğan: Invest your $5b in digital
freedom =
[Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130620-01.en.html ]
In recent weeks, political events [1] in Istanbul have been the focus of
international media. Important discussions are taking place about
Turkey's government and her people. Several have lost their lives in the
process.
Days before the protests in Taksim Square erupted, President Erdoğan was
in America. On behalf of an ambitious education investment project
called FATIH [2], he toured Silicon Valley as the guest of America's
largest technology companies, each of whom are hoping to land a contract
for more than 10 million new tablet computers.
As the safety and freedom on the street of Turkey's activists is hotly
debated in the press, the safety and freedom of her children to learn
has understandably received much less attention. Whether it is publicly
discussed or not however, $5 billion will soon be spent on education,
and it's impact on the rights of the next generation of Turkey's
students will be immense.
FSFE's Education Team [3] is dedicated to empowering students via Free
Software. If you think that humans deserve rights over the technology
they use, you can add your name to our list of supporters [4] .
== The letter ==
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,
Recently you visited America [5] to discuss the acquisition of 10.6
million tablets from leading technology companies for students, on
behalf of Turkey's project FATIH [2].
We urge you to take alternative products into consideration, and
consider the impact of the software those tablets use.
Google, Apple, and Microsoft, who hosted you, all tie their tablets to
software which would prevent Turkish children from studying and
customising it. The companies you spoke to enforce strict proprietary
licensing which would ensure that schools could only lease their ability
to use applications, not own them or rights to them.
Free Software [6], contrastingly, protects students' rights to use,
study, share, and improve it. In an educational context these rights can
make the difference between consumers and creators. Without these
freedoms, the 17 million students affected by your plan cannot
experiment or develop the understanding necessary to lead digital
economies in future.
Software support and maintenance is expensive, and proprietary software
exacerbates these costs by restricting who can provide you with
services. By using Free Software, Turkish schools would lose their
dependency on a single vendor, and competition for service contracts
could be more local, and more competitive.
Finally, for better security of both schools and students, Free Software
makes its code available, providing evidence of how it functions. This
week's revelations surrounding British Government spying on Turkish
politicians [7] at the G20 summit highlight the importance of software
security and privacy. Educational computers should not provide
back-doors [8] for foreign Governments and companies.
Apple [9], Google [10] and Microsoft [11] all embrace Free Software
themselves, and use it internally. Making the step towards Free Software
tablets is important however, and several global manufacturers and
distributors offer Free Software devices for sale. Will the freedom of
Turkey's citizens be considered in your forthcoming decision to purchase
tablets?
Please send us your answer, and do not hesitate to contact us should you
have further questions about the contents of this letter.
Yours Sincerely,
Sam Tuke
The Free Software Foundation Europe e.V.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_protests_in_Turkey
2. http://fatihproject.com/
3. https://fsfe.org/activities/education/education.html
4. https://fsfe.org/support/support.html
5.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/13/05/20/country.seeks.bids.on.106.mil…
6. https://fsfe.org/about/basics/freesoftware.html
7.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/17/turkey-russia-g20-spying-gchq
8.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-14/u-s-agencies-said-to-swap-data-wit…
9.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/29/the-state-of-linux-how-even-apple-is-going…
10. https://developers.google.com/open-source/
11. http://msopentech.com/
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= German Parliament tells government to strictly limit patents on software =
[Permant Link https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130612-01.en.html ]
On Friday the 7th of June the German Parliament decided upon [1] a joint
motion to limit software patents [2] (see English translation by BIKT
[3]). The Parliament urges the German Government to take steps to limit
the granting of patents on computer programs. Software should
exclusively be covered by copyright, and the rights of the copyright
holders should not be devalued by third parties' software patents. The
only exception where patents should be allowed are computer programs
which replace a mechanical or electromagnetic component. In addition the
Parliament made clear that governmental actions related to patents must
never interfere with the legality of distributing Free Software.
"This is an important step to fix the software patent insanity. The
FSFE highly welcomes this decision. It's great to see that all of
Germany's major parties understand that software patents are a huge
problem and that they are acting accordingly," says Matthias
Kirschner, FSFE's coordinator for Germany.
Tens of thousands of software patents in Germany and Europe present
enormous cost and liability risks, especially for SMEs. Several German
SME associations welcomed the Parliament's decision. However they warn
against giving all the responsibility to Brussels, as the EU has been
consistently incapable of providing software developers with legal
certainty. "Germany now has to implement this decision in law, to send a
strong signal towards Brussels," says Johannes Sommer of BIKT, one of
the associations.
At an expert meeting in the Parliament on 13th May, in which FSFE also
participated, industry associations BIKT and BITMi proposed changes to
German copyright and patent law. These proposals would also affect
software patents which have already been granted. The first proposal is
to add a "protective shield" clause to German copyright law ,
introducing a blanket ban [4] on the enforcement of patent claims with
regard to software. The second proposal to be implemented in German
patent law makes sure that the effect of patent claims shall not extend
to works protected independently by copyright. Both proposals would
prevent that patents on software can be enforced against software
developers. The FSFE supports both proposals.
"Since the EU has decided to give away its power to make rules on
the unitary patent, this step towards limiting patents on software
is all the more important.", says Kirschner.
Background: The joint motion was introduced in German Parliament in
April. After a first hearing, the legal committee held an external
expert meeting on May 13th for which FSFE published a written statement
[5] and Matthias Kirschner's notes of his oral presentation [6]. During
the hearing, a substantial majority of the external experts supported
the join motion. After recommendations from the Parliament's Legal
Committee, backed up by the Committee for Economy and Technology, the
Committee of Education, Research, and Engineering Results Assessment, as
well as from the Committee for Culture and Media, the German Parliament
in plenary session has approved unanimously the joint motion on the 7th
June.
1. http://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2013/45033928_kw23_angenommen_…
2. http://dip.bundestag.de/btd/17/130/1713086.pdf
3. http://l.fsfe.org/bikt-swpat-en.pdf
4. http://l.fsfe.org/bikt-schutz
5. http://www.bundestag.de/bundestag/ausschuesse17/a06/anhoerungen/archiv/47_P…
6. http://wiki.fsfe.org/mk/BundestagAnhoerung2013SoftwarepatenteNotizen
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= FSFE Newsletter - May 2013 =
[Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-201305.en.html ]
Note: As Matthias Kirschner is on vacation, this edition of the monthly
Newsletter is written by Erik Albers. Enjoy!
== Document Freedom Day 2013 ==
Every year on the last wednesday of March, Document Freedom Day
(DFD)[1]takes place: the global day to raise awareness of Open
Standards, organised by the FSFE. It has been amazing to see year by
year how the message of freedom and Open Standards has continued to
spread around the world. This year, there were 59 events in 30
countries, and many first time participants, including Niger, Indonesia
and the United States.
1. http://www.documentfreedom.org/
Highlights from Document Freedom Day include more than a hundred press
articles[2]and blogs, Libre Office's publication of a new migration
guide[3], support from Lawrence Lessig[4], and a storm of social media
coverage and opening up discussions.
2. http://www.documentfreedom.org/press.en.html
3.
http://documentfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/tdf-migrationwhitepap…
4. http://www.documentfreedom.org/news/2013/news-20130315-01.en.html
But let's not forget: all these events were organised by local groups.
Among them were many FSFE Fellowship groups[5], a wide variety of other
Free Software community organisations, and teams of friends who care
about Open Standards. So, this is a big thank you to everybody who made
this year's DFD so successful! It is awesome to see how Free Software
and Open Standards connect people around the world. Read the extended
report online[6].
5. http://wiki.fsfe.org/FellowshipGroup?pk_campaign=enewsletter&pk_kwd=201305
6. http://www.documentfreedom.org/news/2013/news-20130419-01.en.html
== Free Software LegalLicensing Workshop ==
In early April, we held our annual Free Software LegalLicensing Workshop
in Amsterdam. More than 70 Free Software legal experts from the Legal
Network[7]came together for two days in order to share their knowledge
and discuss cutting-edge questions in the field.
7.
https://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/network.en.html?pk_campaign=enewsletter&pk_…
Topics discussed this year included recent court rulings, patent-related
developments, and transferring Free Software licensing ideas to
hardware. Stefano Zacchiroli, Debian's (now former) project leader,
delivered a keynote speech, describing the community perspective on
legal issues[8].
8. https://lwn.net/Articles/546411/
Several talks at the conference were covered by LWN, for example those
by Eben Moglen[9], Daniel German[10]and Anthonia Ghalamkarizadeh[11].
9. https://lwn.net/Articles/547379/
10. https://lwn.net/Articles/547400/
11. https://lwn.net/Articles/546678/
== FSFE welcomes Ceata as associate organisation ==
A new foundation from Romania and Moldova has joined FSFE's program of
associate organisations[12]. Ceata[13]has been promoting Free Software
and culture since 2008, and in February this year was officially
incorporated. The group, based in Bucharest with local chapters in Cluj
and Chișinău, organises conferences on Free Software, Free hardware,
and Free culture. Ceata also develops their own applications, translates
programs into Romanian, and participates in international campaigns.
Fundația Ceata and FSFE will now join forces[14]and work more
effectively on promoting software freedom in Romania and throughout
Europe.
12.
https://fsfe.org/associates/associates.en.html#id-funda%C8%9Bia-ceata?pk_ca…
13. http://ceata.org/
14.
https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130424-01.en.html?pk_campaign=enewsletter…
== Something completely different ==
- The German Parliament (the 'Bundestag') has voted on a joint motion
against software patents[15]. The resolution urges the German
government to take steps to limit the granting of patents on computer
programs. The Parliament's resolution reminds the government that,
under the EU's Computer Programs Directive, software is covered by
copyright, not patents. It calls on the government to finally put the
directive's "copyright approach" into practice, and make German law
more concrete in this regard. It also points out that the restrictions
which patents impose are incompatible with the most widely used Free
Software licenses.
- The winner of the election for FSFE's Fellowship GA[16]is Heiki
"Repentinus" Ojasild[17]. The election period for this year's
Fellowship GA seat ended on March 15, and proved exciting to the end.
Thanks to all Fellows who participated in the process and made this a
valuable experience for the Fellowship and for FSFE.
- Please welcome the latest Fellowship group, from Bari, South
Italy[18]! The way the group was formed was unprecedented in FSFE
history: As a former GNU/Linux user group, 15 people joined FSFE
simultaneously to create a new Fellowship group. According to the
members, they took this step in order to be more active on a political
level in future.
- The chancellor of the "Freie Universität Berlin" has asked all staff
to use exclusively 'Apple iTunes U' for the publication of University
materials, such as recordings of lectures. To access University
resources therefore, students now have to use Apple iTunes, which
excludes users of Free Software operating systems, and includes a
variety of anti-consumer measures to lock them in to the service. FSFE
has written to the chancellor explaining why University resources
should be available without software barriers (German)[19].
- As part of the Ask Your Candidates campaign[20], FSFE has sent out
'voting benchmarks' ("Wahlprüfsteine") for all three elections in
Germany, that will be in autumn this year. The aim is to obtain public
statements on Free Software policies and committments from parties
which are hoping to be elected. Some responses have already been
received and will be published soon.
- FSFE participated in the Chemnitzer Linuxtage conference[21]this
month. The FSFE booth received lots of attention, and many people
approached the team to ask about campaigns. Free Your Android proved
to be a hot topic, generating many questions and ideas. Reinhard
Müller, FSFE's Financial Officer, gave a talk entitled "Free
yourself: how to save the world in five easy steps", and Erik Albers,
Fellowship Deputy Coordinator, gave a presentation on Free Your
Android. Erik was in Freeing frenzy this month, and delivered the same
talk at Cebit in Hannover[22], Germany. The conference organisers
filmed and hosted a video of the talk[23], but unfortunately only in
Adobe Flash.
- From the planet aggregation[24]:
- Hugo explains why the HTML5[25] video[26] tag has been a
failure[27]and still is. He argues that we need to weigh in to the
political process which is shaping HTML5, and to fight the surrounding
Fear Uncertainty and Doubt[28]to keep the Internet a place where
everyone is free to express themselves - without having to ask for
permission or signing a restricted-patent-license.
- Mia Julia Eley encourages women that are interested in technology and
engineering[29]to apply for GNOME's Outreach Program for Women[30].
"Plenty of women out there have skills that could benefit the Free
Software movement and the barrier to entry should be clearly
understood" she states.
- Torsten Grote reports about the latest changes in CyanogenMod's
[http://www.cyanogenmod.org/] privacy policy. Before, they were
collecting anonymised data for statistical purposes including the
option for everyone to opt-out. Suddenly, this opt-out feature was
removed and a tracking feature was added that sends the collected data
to Google Analytics, too. After some days, the first decision was
reversed, that means you have the option to opt-out again. But, still,
if you agree that your data will be sent to CM, it will also be sent
to Google Analytics. Read all details on Torsten's Blog[31].
- Paul Boddie reflects about "The Academic Challenge: Ideas, Patents,
Openness and Knowledge" and argues why Universities should insist on
freedom of knowledge instead of just defending openness of knowledge.
Read why there should be no commercialisation of academia and no
monopolization of ideas[32].
- Did you already set up your Fellowship card? If not, you might be
interested in a'How To' which was made by Jens Lechtenbörger[33]to
support the already existing Fellowship How[34]to.
- Beside this, Jens Lechtenbörger also explains why, for privacy
reasons, Ubuntu users should not update to Ubuntu 12.10 or 13.04[35],
but instead stick with version 12.04 LTS.
- Finally, some fun: Henrik Sandklef shows how to use your calendar for
artistic purposes[36], in this case to illustrate the Fellowship
Plussy
15.
https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130422-01.en.html?pk_campaign=enewsletter…
16.
https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130319-01.en.html?pk_campaign=enewsletter…
17.
https://www.wiki.fsfe.org/Fellows/repentinus?pk_campaign=enewsletter&pk_kwd…
18. https://www.wiki.fsfe.org/groups/Bari?pk_campaign=enewsletter&pk_kwd=201305
19.
https://netzpolitik.org/2013/kein-open-education-aber-itunes-u-e-learning-s…
20.
https://fsfe.org/campaigns/askyourcandidates/askyourcandidates?pk_campaign=…
21. http://chemnitzer.linux-tage.de/2013/
22. http://www.cebit.com
23. http://www.techcast.com/events/cebit13/di-1600/?q=di-1600
24. http://planet.fsfe.org?pk_campaign=enewsletter&pk_kwd=201305
25.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/hugo/2013/04/a-small-lesson-about-patent-fud/?pk_camp…
26.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/hugo/2013/04/a-small-lesson-about-patent-fud/?pk_camp…
27.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/hugo/2013/04/a-small-lesson-about-patent-fud/?pk_camp…
28. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt
29.
https://blogs.fsfe.org/mia/2013/04/10/programming-oportunities-for-women/?p…
30. https://live.gnome.org/OutreachProgramForWomen
31.
https://blogs.fsfe.org/torsten.grote/2013/04/03/cyanogenmod-removes-trackin…
32. https://blogs.fsfe.org/pboddie/?p=134&pk_campaign=enewsletter&pk_kwd=201305
33.
https://blogs.fsfe.org/jens.lechtenboerger/2013/04/19/how-to-set-up-your-fe…
34.
https://wiki.fsfe.org/Card_howtos/Card_with_subkeys_using_backups?pk_campai…
35.
http://blogs.fsfe.org/jens.lechtenboerger/2013/04/19/ubuntu-search-still-br…
36. http://sandklef.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/fsfe-graphics-with-owncloud/
== Get active: oppose integration of DRM into HTML5 ==
FSFE, FSF and other prominent organisations defending digital freedom
have prepared a joint letter to the World Wide Web Consortium and its
member organisations urging them to reject the Encrypted Media
Extensions (EME) proposal[37]. This proposal aims at incorporating
support for Digital Restriction Management (DRM) into HTML5 and might
become a threat to Free Software users. P lease join us[38]in calling on
the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and its member organizations to
reject the Encrypted Media Extensions proposal (EME).
37.
https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130423-02.en.html?pk_campaign=enewsletter…
38. http://www.defectivebydesign.org/no-drm-in-html5
Thanks to all the Fellows and donors who enable our work,
Erik
--
Free Software Foundation Europe - http://fsfe.org
FSFE News - http://fsfe.org/news/news
Upcoming FSFE Events - http://fsfe.org/events/events
Fellowship Blog Aggregation - http://planet.fsfe.org
Free Software Discussions - http://fsfe.org/contact/community
= International Day Against DRM: fight deliberately crippled technology =
[Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130503-01.en.html ]
This Friday, May 3rd 2013, FSFE is joining the 8th international "Day
against DRM" campaign [1] in the call to end Digital Restrictions
Management (DRM). The fight against DRM has been gathering momentum in
the past weeks. Freedom activists rallied against DRM in HTML5,
stressing this technology's harmful effects on innovation and user's
freedom. On today's Day Against DRM, our sister organisation the Free
Software Foundation will deliver the petition signatures opposing DRM in
HTML5 to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in Boston.
You still have a few hours to take action: join FSFE, FSF and 25 other
organisations defending digital freedom by signing the petition against
DRM in HTML5 [2].
By accepting to implement DRM in HTML5, W3C would endanger
interoperability and open the door to the implementation of restrictive
technologies in the heart of the internet.
Device manufacturers and corporate copyrights holders have already been
massively infecting their products with user-hostile DRM. Tablets,
smartphones and other minicomputers are sold with numerous restrictions
embedded that cripple users freedom. The proposal at table in W3C goes
even further.
DRM creates damaged goods [3] that users cannot control or use freely.
It requires users to give-up control of their computers and restricts
access to digital data and media. Fight it: use today's international
Day against DRM to spread the word and make yourself heard!
[1] http://www.defectivebydesign.org/dayagainstdrm
[2] http://drm.info
[3] http://www.defectivebydesign.org/
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= Illegal procurement favouring Microsoft killed in Portuguese court =
[Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130429-01.en.html]
On April 27, the administrative court of Almada, Portugal, declared a
550, 000 Euro contract between Microsoft and the municipality of Almada
to be illegal. The technical specifications of the competition launched
by the municipality prevented any company other than Microsoft and their
partners to submit a proposal.
This ruling is especially significant as it clarifies that a widely used
procurement procedure is illegal. The procedure specified the name of
Microsoft products instead of their general functional and technical
requirements.
Unfair tendering practices in Portugal have been repeatedly denounced by
FSFE's Associate Organisation ANSOL [1] and the Portuguese association
ESOP [2], who brought the case to court. They violate fundamental rules
of fair competition and systematically exclude companies that provide
services based on Free Software.
FSFE welcome the court's decision, and calls on other European national
courts to continue to systematically annul similarly discriminatory
contracts.
[1] https://ansol.org/
[2] http://www.esop.pt/
== More information ==
- The court's decision
https://fsfe.org/documents/court-act-portugal.pdf
- ESOP's press release about the ruling
http://www.esop.pt/court-annuls-public-tender-for-microsoft-
software-in-the-municipality-of-almada/
- Discriminatory practices continue to plague IT public procurement
across Europe (Open Forum Europe)
http://www.openforumeurope.org/openprocurement
- FSFE's Contribution to the European Commission consultation on the
modernisation of European Union public procurement policy
https://fsfe.org/activities/policy/eu/20110418.ProcurementConsultation.FSFE…
- FSFE's work to improve procurement in Finland
http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20120619-01.en.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the
information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of
Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and copy.
Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free
Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by
supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
