= EU Parliament intends to widen participation in the Interoperable Europe Board =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230719-02.en.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.en.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230623-01.en.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
= IEA: EU Parliament advances in stengthenting the role of Free Software, yet needs more to improve =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230629-02.en.html ]
The two EP Committees for opinion, IMCO and LIBE, have today adopted
their texts on the Interoperable Europe Act. While both recognise the
importance of Free Software for this regulation, the inclusion of the
Free Software community in the Board remains uncertain. The wording on
proper monitoring and evaluation goes in the right direction.
The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and
the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) have
today adopted by a large majority their opinions on the Interoperable
Europe Act.
The IMCO Committee, following some of our demands [1] has highlighted
the need for public bodies and institutions to prioritise the use of
Free Software in order to support the creation of reusable solutions.
Furthermore, it has also recognised our demand for clearer objectives
and indicators to measure its achievement. Moreover, it has included
measures to report and monitor the number of Free Software solutions
developed and adopted by the public sector within the scope of the
Regulation.
Unfortunately, no amendments to include more stakeholders in the
Interoperable Europe Board were adopted, apart from the proposal to
include the European Parliament as an observer. Therefore it is now up
to the lead Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) to take
further steps forward in the direction of enriching the Board.
On the other hand, the LIBE Committee has briefly included the wording
to encourage Free Software solutions when it comes to enhancing
transparency in the processing of personal data within the scope of this
regulation. However, this wording still needs to be improved by more
firmly prioritising the use of Free Software for such purpose.
/Lina Ceballos, FSFE Project Manager states:/ “We welcome that the
European Parliament has taken notice of some of our demands, especially
when it comes to proper monitoring and evaluation. However, there is yet
the need to include more stakeholders in the governance. Thus we urge
decision makers to recognise the role that the Free Software community
could play in the Interoperable Board" /./ In the coming weeks, the
Committee on Industry, Research and Energiy (ITRE) will agree on its
text, which will most likely be voted in plenary after the summer break,
and then enter into the inter-institutional negotiations. We call upon
the decision makers to not only anchor the progress that IMCO and LIBE
have achieved with its opinion but also to undertake the actions needed
for a more inclusive governance approach by including the Free Software
community as part of the Interoperable Europe Board. This is also true
for the Council, that wants to exclude relevant stakeholders from
contributing to an Interoperable Europe [2].
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-02.en.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230623-01.en.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
= Cyber Resilience Act: First committee backs FSFE demand to protect Free Software =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230629-01.en.html ]
The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) today
launched a landmark decision to protect Free Software developers in the
Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).
The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) today
launched a landmark decision to protect Free Software developers in the
Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). In September last year, the EU Commission
presented the CRA. The 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. Furthermore, smaller
and non-profit projects would be harmed as they would have to bear major
costs. We, therefore, proposed a solution [1] that will lead to more
security while safeguarding the Free Software ecosystem:
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
/Alexander Sander, FSFE Senior Policy Consultant explains:/ "The
Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, a committee for
opinion in CRA, has backed our demand and voted for the protection of
Free Software developers in the Cyber Resilience Act. We are
particularly delighted with the transfer of those protections into an
article and the precise description of how Free Software should be
protected in the future. The lead committee is now called upon to follow
this vote" /./ Shortly, the leading committee, Committee on Industry,
Research and Energy (ITRE), will define its position and submit it to
the plenary for a vote. After that, the trialogue with Parliament,
Council and Commission will begin in order to reach a final agreement.
At the same time, similar rules are being negotiated in the Product
Liability Directive (PLD). Here, too, FSFE is calling for the protection
of developers of Free Software [2]. We thank all those organisations and
individuals contributing to this position and making sure to safeguard
Free Software in those files.
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-01.en.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-01.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
= EU: Majority for AI Act – and safeguards for Free Software =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230614-01.en.html ]
The European Parliament today voted in favour of the AI Act with 499
votes in favour, 28 against, and 93 abstentions. Free Software is given
safeguards, these rules must now be defended in the trilogue and
transferred to the Cyber Resilience Act and the Product Liability
Directive.
With a large majority, the plenary of the EU Parliament today confirmed
the compromises [1] of the lead committees from May. The AI Act contains
a far-reaching exemption from this regulation for non-profit
organisations as well as small Free Software projects up to the size of
micro-enterprises. The position of the EU Parliament must now be
defended in the upcoming trilogue, in which the final text will be
negotiated together with the Council and the Commission.
/"With today's decision, the EU Parliament has demonstrated how Free
Software can be regulated in a meaningful way. Developers must be
protected, but at the same time those who significantly benefit on the
market with the use of Free Software must also be responsible. This
principle must now also be anchored in the Cyber Resilience Act and the
Product Liability Directive", explains Alexander Sander, Senior Policy
Consultant of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)/
More information on the negotiations on the Cyber Resilience Act and the
Product Liability Directive can be found here [2].
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230511-01.en.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-01.en.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
= Interoperable Europe Act: Committee of the Regions fails to substantially promote Free Software =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230524-01.en.html ]
The Committee of the Regions approved its opinion on the Interoperable
Europe Act. The EU representative body has failed to recognise the
importance that Free Software has for interoperability and thus for
digitalisation and innovation. This underlines the relevance of Free
Software Community's participation in the planned Interoperable Board.
With the EU's objective of establishing a legal framework on
interoperability through the Interoperable Europe Act, today the
Committee of the Regions has adopted its opinion in plenary. While the
opinion has feebly mentioned the role of Free Software in achieving
cross-border interoperability and avoiding vendor lock-in in its policy
recommendations, the Committee of the Regions has failed in
substantially improving the original text and bringing up more solid and
necessary measures. It lacks to introduce a “Free Software first”
approach and the involvement of stakeholders in the Interoperable Europe
Board, an intended body that shall decide on upcoming steps arising from
this legislation.
/““It is incomprehensible that the institution who has the
responsibility to bring up the demands of thousands of local and
regional administrations fails in featuring the importance of Free
Software for interoperability. Hence, this decision only reaffirms the
importance of the involvement of stakeholder, who have actual
competence, in this decision making processes . We, therefore, urge the
European Parliament to include the Free Software community in the
Interoperable Europe Board to guarantee sustainability and innovation in
digitalisation. Furthermore a 'Free Software first' approach still needs
to be introduced", explains Lina Ceballos, FSFE Policy Project Manager./
The role that Free Software plays in the digitalisation of local and
regional administrations has shown to be of the great importance,
especially during the corona pandemic. Among other, it strengthens
digital sovereignty allowing administrations to have control over the
software they are using, while it enables that public funds are spent in
the most efficient way. For these reasons, over the last years the FSFE
has been demanding with its 'Public Money? Public Code!' initiative [1]
that publicly financed software should be made publicly available under
a Free Software licence. It is now up to the European Parliament to
ensure interoperability is introduced by a “Free Software first”
approach while including the Free Software community on the path to
digitalise European public administrations. First Amendments in this
direction have been introduced already, however, the position has to be
further improved. Further read [2].
1: https://publiccode.eu/
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-02.en.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
= European citizens demand Router Freedom =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230515-01.en.html ]
A pan-European survey, run by the Free Software Foundation Europe, has
collected information from more than 1600 end-users and highlighted
several obstacles to Router Freedom, such as lack of freedom of choice,
provider lock-in and promotion of equipment running exclusively
proprietary software.
More than a thousand consumers from across Europe have shared their
experience of the commercial practices of Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) in the most comprehensive end-user survey regarding freedom of
terminal equipment to date [1], resulting in a call for Router Freedom.
The responses from end-users all over Europe demonstrate how network
operators still hamper consumer freedom of choice, exercise lock-in over
internet equipment and promote proprietary devices, negatively affecting
consumer welfare, security, privacy and data protection.
Router Freedom is the right that customers of any internet service
provider have to be able to choose and use a private modem and router
instead of equipment provided by the ISP. Freedom of choice for routers
and modems has been regulated in the EU since 2015 (Net Neutrality
Regulation) but national implementation has led to fragmentation of the
digital markets, negatively impacting end-users’ rights. The survey
demonstrated that Router Freedom is not only a technical issue, but also
a policy demand [2]. More than 90% of the survey participants agreed
that freedom of terminal equipment is key for net neutrality and open
internet, security and data protection, fair competition and digital
sustainability.
/“The outcome of this survey serves as key insight for policy makers
regulating Router Freedom and consumer organisations protecting and
promoting the rights of end-users. Critically important are the reported
practices that could be considered infringements against Router Freedom.
Limitation to freedom of choice, ISP’s lock-in, provision of proprietary
devices, security issues and unlawful practices are some of the threats
reported against end-users”, states Lucas Lasota, FSFE’s senior project
manager./
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230515-02.en.html
2: https://download.fsfe.org/routers/rf-survey-report-2023.pdf
== 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
= EU Parliament wants to protect Free Software in AI regulation =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230511-01.en.html ]
Today the European Parliament's responsible committees voted by a large
majority to protect Free Software in the AI regulation. The plenary is
called upon to uphold the idea. Likewise, this principle must be
anchored in the ongoing Cyber Resilience Act and Product Liability
Directive and their upcoming votes.
The two lead committees for the AI legislation, the Committee on
Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and the Committee on
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), today voted by a large
majority in favour of protecting Free Software in this legislation. Non-
profit organisations and small Free Software projects up to the size of
micro-enterprises, are largely to be exempted from this regulation.
/Alexander Sander, FSFE's Senior Policy Consultant, explains: "Instead
of putting the responsibility on the Free Software developers, it should
be put on the companies that profit from it on the market. Smaller
organisations and non-profit activities, for example by foundations,
must be excluded. With this vote, the Members of the European Parliament
are thus recognising the reality of Free Software development and trying
to protect it. The principle of transferring responsibility and
liability to those who profit on the market instead of focusing on
developers must also be anchored in the Cyber Resilience Act and the
Product Liability Directive. This is the only way to not only protect
Free Software and its contributors but also consumers and customers"./
The final vote on the AI Act is expected in the coming weeks, after
which the trilogue with Parliament, Council and Commission on the final
text will take place. With regard to the Cyber Resilience Act and the
Product Liability Directive, the EU Parliament is currently discussing
the recently submitted amendments. Further information [1].
1: https://fsfe.org/news-20230323-01.en.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
Hello,
The registration for the second edition of 'Youth Hacking 4 Freedom',
the coding competition for young Europeans is still open!
After the success of the first edition, the Free Software Foundation
Europe is launching the second round of this contest that offers young
Europeans the opportunity to develop their own Free Software project,
meet like-minded peers and win up to 4,000 euros.
YH4F in a nutshell:
* Participants must be 14-18 years old and should register at YH4F
website: https://yh4f.org
* The registration is open until the 31st of December 2022.
* Six winners will be awarded with cash prizes and a trip to Brussels.
* The competition takes place online while the Award Ceremony will be
held in Brussels.
* The coding period starts on the 1st of January and ends on the 30th
of June.
More information about YH4F:
- Press Release for the second round of YH4F:
https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221104-01.html
- YH4F website:
https://yh4f.org
- Documentation about last edition with quotes from the participants:
https://media.fsfe.org/w/wWUP7M5fJg2FcvG2Fv12sN
- The first edition winners were from: Greece, Spain, Poland, Cyprus and
Ukraine. Information about that edition's winners and their projects:
https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221004-01.html
- Interview with participants from the first round:
https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221104-02.html
If you need more information, photos or would like to arrange an
interview with the organisers, please do not hesitate to contact:
Ana Galan - Senior Project Manager Communications
anaghz(a)fsfe.org // +49 157 92 34 72 12
Available in Signal and Matrix
Best regards,
---------
Press FSFE
Hello,
we want to apologize for our last emails with the subject 'Status of
TEDective'. As you may have noticed, these mails were not intended for
external contacts and we apologise for any inconvenience caused by this
Of course, if you want to know more about our TEDective app you can find
more information here: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221026-01.html
and we are always willing to answer your questions.
Please accept our apologise for this mistake.
Best regards,
--------
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)
Hi Jheengut,
On Sun, 2022-12-18 at 17:15 +0400, Jheengut Pritvi wrote:
> I read about this software some days ago. It seems a very interesting
> initiative.
Thanks, we hope it will be useful to anybody who wants to explore what
public administrations spend their money on
> Is this software portable to other public procurement systems or tied
> to the EU system only.
In its first iteration, yes! TEDective will work with data from Tenders
Electronic Daily. Once the TED data is cleanly and reproducibly
transformed to the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS), there is ample
opportunity to also ingest OCDS data from other systems. Also the frontend
that we'll build for exploration will work on OCDS data so it's likely it
can be put to use to analyse different OCDS datasets.
I hope this answers your question.
> Probably the only hacker employed by the Government of Mauritius.
If you feel like hacking on TEDective (I will do some onboarding towards
the end of January), don't hesitate to contact us at tedective(a)fsfe.org or
create an account for our Git instance here: https://fsfe.org/register/linus
Many thanks and all the best,
Linus
--
Linus Sehn >>> System Hacker @ Free Software Foundation Europe
matrix: @linus:fsfe.org | git@fsfe: https://git.fsfe.org/linus
Become a supporter of software freedom > https://fsfe.org/join