Hello everybody,
in one of our last fundraising e-mails we included the following:
> "Moreover, our new application prototype ‘TEDective’ enables anyone to
> analyse publicly available tender data in an automated way and thereby
> keep an eye on public procurement practices. ‘TEDective’ was awarded first
> prize in the category ‘Transparency in public procurement’ at the 6th EU
> Datathon."
As the maintainer of TEDective, I just want to quickly qualify this. The
project is currently in an early alpha stage and is not yet usable for the
broader public. I hope to dedicate more time to it starting in January.
Our goal is to deliver a testable beta version of TEDective in Q1.
Until then, we are also looking for data science and public procurement
enthusiasts that want to join the effort. If you know any, don't hesitate
to point them our way at tedective(a)fsfe.org
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
= EU Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles falls short of its ambitions =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221206-01.en.html ]
Member states, the European Parliament, and the Commission have reached
a consensus on the Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles.
Although it aims to serve as a reference point for the digital
transformation of Europe, it instead descends into murky waters, causing
ambiguity. Its wording is unclear and it overlooks existing good
proposals.
Whereas the EU institutions claim that digital sovereignty and openness
are crucial for the digital transformation of Europe, the declaration
lacks clear definition of such values. The text of the declaration makes
reference to promoting interoperability, open technologies and
standards. However, it is not clear what exactly the signatory
institutions mean with such wording. By contrast, the European
Parliament proposal had a clear reference to Free Software as a way to
ensure transparency in the use of algorithms and artificial
intelligence, as well as the importance of Open Standards.
Unfortunately, this wording failed to be upheld during the inter-
institutional negotiations, and the final text ended up being rather
unclear.
/“In a fast-pace digitalised society, the importance of such declaration
of digital rights is crucial. This text will serve as a benchmark for
decision makers in the journey of shaping our digital sphere. It is
problematic for our software freedom that such declaration lacks clear
definitions and that solid existing frameworks are not being taken into
consideration”,/ explains Lina Ceballos, FSFE Policy Project Manager.
It is also not clear if the declaration is consistent with existing
frameworks. According to its text, it is built upon previous initiatives
such as the Berlin and Tallinn [1] declarations. These aforementioned
frameworks already refer to Free Software when it comes to digital
sovereignty and interoperability, while they also require more use of
Free Software, and strengthening the requirement for its use. However,
when it comes to interoperability, Free Software is not explicitly
mentioned in the Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles.
Last but not least, /“the declaration misses to name reusability of
software and hardware through Free Software licenses as an important
step towards a more sustainable digital society. Having said this, the
current negotiations about the Ecodesign Directive will have to do it
right where the declaration falls short”/ says Erik Albers, FSFE's
Digital Sustainability Program Manager.
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2017/news-20170710-01.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
= The coding contest Youth Hacking 4 Freedom launches its second edition =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221104-01.en.html ]
The registration for the second edition of “Youth Hacking 4 Freedom ",
the FSFE’s hacking competition for teenagers from all over Europe, has
started. This contest offers young people aged between 14 and 18 the
opportunity to challenge themselves, meet like-minded people and win
cash prizes.
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), a European charity that
empowers users to control technology, is launching the second edition of
its coding competition ‘Youth Hacking 4 Freedom' (YH4F). Registration is
open [1] until 31 December, after which the six-month coding phase will
start and last until the end of June 2023.
YH4F [2] aims to inspire the younger generation by giving them the
chance to hack on a software project in a fair and fun way while meeting
other young developers from all around Europe. The winners will receive
a cash prize and a two-day trip to Brussels with other hackers for the
award ceremony.
The first edition of the competition was a huge success with wide
participation and well-coded winning projects. Over a hundred people
coming from 25 different countries registered for the competition and,
after a five-month coding phase, 35 projects were submitted. The six
winning projects [3] offer sign language transcription [4] , a smart
table robot [5], a personal assistant [6], a music tutorial [7], a file
sharing program [8], and a homework manager [9]. All programs are
licensed under Free Software licenses, which grants everybody the right
to use, understand, share, and improve them.
“Taking part in this competition was personally a big step as before it
I have never ever programmed something and I did not have knowledge to
do so. During the project I learned a lot more about programming
concepts, how can I implement the modules and generally the programming
language Python", explains Ekaterina, one of the winners of the first
edition of the YH4F competition.
To join the second edition of the YH4F competition, participants must be
between 14 and 18 years old and live in a European country. The YH4F
competition includes an online kick-off event in which the FSFE team
will present the competition and answer questions about it. Participants
may bring all their imagination to the competition as any type of
software can be coded as long as it is Free Software. Therefore, the
software project can be a stand-alone program written from scratch, or a
modification and combination of existing programs. Everything is
welcome! Moreover, the participants will have the chance to follow each
other’s work and exchange ideas.
After six months of coding, from the beginning of January until the end
of June, the participants will submit their projects to be evaluated by
an independent experts jury [10].
- In brief: Participants must be *14-18 years* old and should register
at yh4f.org [11]
- Registration will be open until *31 December 2022*
- The coding period will be from *1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023*.
- Six winners will be awarded *cash prizes* (4096€, 2048€, and 1024€)
and a trip to Brussels.
- The competition will take place online. The Award Ceremony will be in
Brussels.
The YH4F is made possible thanks to the kind financial support of
Reinhard Wiesemann, Linuxhotel, and Vielrespektzentrum.
At the website yh4f.org [12] you can find all related information, such
as the process, the eligibility criteria, and FAQs [13]. You can also
use the illustrations in our dedicated media package when sharing the
news of the competition.
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The 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, improve, and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press, and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encouraging people to use and develop Free Software, and
providing resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
1: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/index.en.html
2: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/index.en.html
3: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221004-01.en.html
4: https://edugit.org/Piperakis/SignTrack
5: https://github.com/puuiixx/SmartTableAssistant
6: https://github.com/aspinwall-ui/aspinwall
7: https://edugit.org/ateraeva/musiccompanion%20
8: https://github.com/marchellodev/sharik
9: https://edugit.org/HGEpro/LibreHomework
10: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/jury.en.html
11: https://yh4f.org
12: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/index.en.html
13: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/faq.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
= FSFE wins the transparency challenge of the EU Datathon 2022 =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221026-01.en.html ]
The sixth edition of EU Datathon [1], the EU’s open data competition,
came to a close last week with the awards ceremony. The Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) won the first prize in the challenge
‘transparency in public procurement’ with a program that helps analyse
how public administrations in the European Union spend their money.
At the EU Datathon finals, that took place in Brussels as part of the
European Year of Youth [2], TEDective, the project submitted by the
FSFE, ended up winning one of the four proposed challenges, that Europe
is currently facing: the achievement of transparency in public
procurement.
Using open data this Free Software program empowers citizens by making
EU tendering data accesible to everyone who wants to consult and use it.
For example, it will allow a journalist to find out how much money the
government spends on Microsoft licenses and products, but also to
compare that spending with other regions in similar cases or even in
comparison with other countries.
“Although it might seem boring at first sight, TED data reveals crucial
information about the economic activity of business and state
organisations alike. As, there was no Free Software solution making this
data accessible to non-experts, this is what we’re trying to do with
TEDective”, explains Linus Sehn, system administrator at FSFE and one of
the members of the TEDective team. This first prize, which comes with a
cash reward of 25,000 euros, willl contribute to raise awareness to the
need of making tendering data accesible and easy to analyze.
=== Available for using, understanding sharing and improving ===
Developed with the help of Michael Weimann [3], and released as a REUSE-
compliant [4] project under a Free Software (also known as Open Source)
license, TEDective improves access to the data published by Tenders
Electronic Daily [5] (TED), fullfilling all of the following
requirements with regards to the provision of TED data: it is available
without costs for commercial as well as non-commercial use; it is up-to-
date (updates at least on a monthly basis), cleaned and both buyers and
suppliers are adequately deduplicated; and it can be downloaded in bulk,
making it available as Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) to allow
interoperability. Besides, it will be designed, maintained and monitored
transparently and in close co-operation with all relevant stakeholders
and user groups.
Sustainably providing long-term access to European tendering data in a
way that fulfils these requirements could enable numerous applications
that are of interest to civil society, business, the press, and beyond
which could greatly enhance the transparency of business activity in
Europe. There are a range of interesting questions that can be answered
with this data if it was available in a well-documented and easy-to-
understand format that is interoperable with tendering data published
elsewhere.
If you want to find out more about TEDective, feel free to check out the
git repository software [6]. The team is also looking for data experts,
who want to help, so if you are interested, please contact the team by
emailing tedective(a)fsfe.org [7].
=== The EU Datathon 2022 ===
Empowering young people in the job market, reducing greenhouse
emissions, and bringing European cultural heritage closer to citizens:
these were some of the ambitions put forward by the 12 finalist teams of
this year’s EU Datathon, [8] The teams were shortlisted from an initial
156 entries from 38 countries, the highest participation in the
competition’s history, and competed in four categories, all highly
relevant to the challenges Europe faces today: the European Green Deal,
transparency in public procurement, EU public procurement opportunities
for young people, and a Europe fit for the digital age.
Prior to the finals, the finalists had the opportunity to present their
ideas for apps built on EU open data in a series of videos [9] while, on
the final day, they pitched their polished apps to the jury of 14 open
data experts and the online audience. In his opening speech,
Commissioner Johannes Hahn praised the teams’ innovative approaches
underlining that “There is also a strong positive impact on
accountability, transparency, participation, inclusion and democracy,
supporting core European values” while Ms Hilde Hardeman, Director
General of the Publications Office of the EU, highlighted that “The
European Union is well aware of the immense opportunities data offer. We
are truly determined to make the most out of these, for our citizens,
economies, societies”.
The EU Datathon competition is organised annually by the Publications
Office of the European Union, [10] in support of the European Strategy
for Data [11]. [12] The 2022 edition had the active support of over 20
partners, representing open data stakeholders from both inside and
outside the EU institutions.
1: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eudatathon
2: https://youth.europa.eu/year-of-youth_en
3: https://weimann.digital/
4: https://reuse.software/
5: https://ted.europa.eu/TED/browse/browseByMap.do
6: https://git.fsfe.org/fsfe-system-hackers/tedective
7: https://fsfe.org/mailto:tedective@fsfe.org
8: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eudatathon
9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYiuDfq64-Y&list=PLT5rARDev_rnik8jF6E8k5AjN…
10: https://op.europa.eu/
11: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/strategy-data
12: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/strategy-data
== 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 Parliament votes for Free Software in AI resolution – This position must now be included in the AI regulation =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220503-01.en.html ]
Today the European Parliament passed a resolution on Artificial
Intelligence (AI) with a huge majority of 495 votes in favor, 34 against
and 102 abstentions. There are many references to the advantages of Free
Software included in the text - the FSFE now urges the Parliament to
transfer its own position into the AI regulation.
The resolution states that in public procurement Free Software should be
mandated, where appropriate, with the goal to encourage cross border
collaboration. The parliament also highlights the importance of Free
Software as a way to enhance investments and boost innovation in AI
technologies in the EU.
/"We welcome the assessment and the demands of the European Parliament.
With this resolution, the Parliament recognises the importance and
relevance of Free Software for AI." explains Lina Ceballos, FSFE Project
Manager./ The FSFE demands with its "Public Money? Public Code!"
Initiative that publicly financed software made publicly available under
a Free Software licence. It is also important to rely on Free Software
in AI as it helps to foster innovation, boosts local economy, ensures
transparency and thus helps to protect fundamental rights.
/“We ask Members of the European Parliament to take into account their
position they voted on today and make sure this important position on
Free Software and AI will be also included in regulation.” demands
Alexander Sander, FSFE Policy Consultant./ In the upcoming weeks the
European Parliament will get closer to its position on the AI
regulation, until end of May members can table amendments to the
commission text from which the position of the Parliament is formed. The
FSFE recently shared a dedicated document for decision-makers [1], with
elaborated arguments on the use of Free Software in AI technologies,
which highlights the benefits that Free Software can offer to this
crucial regulation.
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220330-01.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
= EU Ecodesign: 38 organisations demand the right to access and to reuse hardware =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220427-01.en.html ]
The FSFE publishes an open letter, co-signed by 38 organisations and
companies, to ask EU legislators for the right to install any software
on any device, including full access to hardware. These rights support
reusability and longevity of our devices. The alliance is composed of
entities from environmental, economic, and technological sectors.
The European Union is about to redefine the ecodesign criteria for
products in several legislative proposals, including the Sustainable
Product Initiative, the Circular Electronics Initiative, and the Right
to Repair. These proposals aim at extending the usage time of hardware
and facilitating circular use of electronic devices. The current
regulations date from 2009 and do not include any criteria regarding the
design and licensing of software as an important factor for the
sustainability of electronic products. Software directly influences how
long consumers can keep using their devices.
Nowadays, users who want to keep using their devices for a longer time,
or to reuse their hardware in a creative way, face a wide range of
software barriers: from obsolescence to an unexpected end-of-support,
from spare part serialization to locked boot loaders. In practice, these
artificial restrictions on using and reusing hardware are ultimately
imposed by software. Neither consumers nor professional third-party
services can overcome them, often simply due to the obscurity of
proprietary software licensing models. Free Software licensing solves
many of these issues and in this way becomes crucial for an eco-friendly
design and the sustainability of hardware; this is the core message of
an Open Letter published today by the Free Software Foundation Europe
and co-signed by 37 European organisations and companies [1].
Among the initial signees are large repair unions as the European Right
to Repair Campaign, the Round Table Repair, and the Netzwerk Reparatur
Initiative - together representing hundreds of initiatives and
associations of the European repair sector. Together with iFixit,
Fairphone, Germanwatch, Open Source Business Alliance, Wikimedie DE,
Digitalcourage, European Digital Rights Initiative, and more, they build
an alliance of 38 organisations, that ask European legislators for a
more sustainable digital economy by giving users the right to freely
choose operating systems, software, and services. The letter divides
this right into four core demands:
=== Universal right to install any software on any device ===
Users must have the universal right to install and develop any operating
system and software they want on any device. Legal, technical, or other
obstacles to reusing these devices for any purpose must not be allowed.
=== Free choice of online service providers ===
Using certain hardware must not dictate which online services to use.
The obligation to connect online services via Open Standards must
empower users to choose services from diverse manufacturers, including
self-hosted services or those hosted by any third party.
=== Interoperable and compatible devices ===
Using certain hardware must not dictate which other hardware to buy in
order to keep those devices connected. Manufacturers must provide any
data necessary to run a device in Open Standards format, allowing
interoperability of devices. Artificial incompatibility of devices must
not be allowed.
=== Publication of source code of drivers, tools, and interfaces ===
Manufacturers must enable users to repurpose, replace, or repair any
part of a device. This is only possible if users can access and reuse
the source code of all necessary drivers, tools, and interfaces to run
the device and its components. This means that the source code of tools,
drivers, and interfaces of every piece of hardware within a device must
be published under a Free Software licence.
The FSFE and 38 European organisations and companies stress the above
demands as necessary for sustainable use and reuse of our hardware.
Empowering users with the right to freely choose operating systems,
software, and services will allow them to use and reuse their devices
for a longer period.
The initial signatories of the open letter include civil society
organisations from the environmental, economic, and technological
sectors. Several companies support these demands as well, showing that a
more sustainable digital society and economic growth are not
contradictions. The list of these initial signees in alphabetical order
is:
1. /e/ Foundation
2. Associação Nacional para o Software Livre (ANSOL)
3. European Open Source Business Association (APELL)
4. Back Market
5. Barcelona Free Software Group
6. Citizen D
7. Deutscher Naturschutzring
8. Digitalcourage
9. Digitale Gesellschaft CH
10. Document Foundation
11. Environmental Coalition on Standards
12. Epicenter.works
13. European Digital Rights (EDRi)
14. Elektronisk Forpost Norge
15. European Right to Repair Campaign (repair.eu)
16. Fairphone
17. Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche
Verantwortung e.V. (FifF)
18. Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)
19. Germanwatch
20. Greek Open Technologies Alliance (GFOSS)
21. Heinlein Support
22. iFixit
23. KDE
24. Mailbox.org
25. Mouvement Ecologique
26. Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU)
27. Netzwerk Reparatur Initiativen
28. Nextcloud
29. Nitrokey
30. Norwegian Unix User Group
31. Oekozenter Pafendall
32. Open Kowledge Foundation DE
33. OPNTEC
34. Open Source Business Alliance (OSBA)
35. Runder Tisch Reparatur
36. Shift
37. Vrijschrift
38. Wikimedia DE
1: https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/openletter.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
= Anchor Free Software in the 2022 German Federal Budget! =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220328-01.en.html ]
The traffic light coalition must anchor its goals for the digitisation
of Germany, based on Free Software, as set out in the coalition
agreement in the 2022 federal budget. Otherwise, there is a risk of
cementing dependencies on individual vendors and losing sovereignty and
innovative power.
Together with other associations and organisations such as the Open
Source Business Alliance and the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany, the
Free Software Foundation Europe calls for, the Free Software Foundation
Europe (FSFE) demands to include digital sovereignty in the 2022 federal
budget and implement already announced initiatives for software freedom.
In an open letter, the signatories address the government groups in the
Bundestag and demand that the goals for the digitalisation of Germany,
based on Free Software, as set out in the coalition agreement, also be
anchored in the 2022 federal budget.
/"The right goal in the coalition agreement to advance digitisation
through the use of Free Software must also be reflected in the
government's concrete actions. Otherwise, there is a risk of cementing
dependencies on individual vendors and losing sovereignty and innovative
power. Digitisation that focuses on independence, sustainability, crisis
resistance and economic success can only be achieved through the
implementation of Free Software. The traffic light coalition is called
upon to provide necessary funds in the federal budget to prevent
digitalisation from failing," explains Alexander Sander, Policy
Consultant at FSFE./ Free Software gives everyone the right to use,
study, share and improve applications for any purpose. These freedoms
ensure that similar applications do not have to be programmed from
scratch every time and, thanks to transparent processes, others do not
have to reinvent the wheel. In large projects, expertise and costs can
be shared and applications paid for by the general public are available
to all. This promotes innovation and saves tax payers money in the
medium to long term. Dependencies on vendors are minimised and security
issues can be fixed more easily. The Free Software Foundation Europe,
together with over 200 organisations, is therefore calling for "Public
Money? Public Code!" - If it is public money, it should be public code
as well. More information on the initiative: https://publiccode.eu/ [1]
The open letter "Consider digital sovereignty in the 2022 federal
budget" can be found here [2].
1: https://publiccode.eu/
2: https://download.fsfe.org/policy/letters/20220328-German-Budget-and-Free-So…
== 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
= Germany: 100 days of coalition agreement - hardly one day for Free Software =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220315-01.en.html ]
At the end of the week, the new German government will have been in
office for 100 days. The coalition agreement contains ambitious
statements on the use of Free Software (also known as Open Source), but
so far nothing has been implemented. On the contrary: dependencies are
to be further cemented.
Just 100 days ago, the new government set out to finally drive forward
the digitisation of Germany. Fortunately the use of Free Software is to
play a major role. The FSFE has been demanding for a long time: "Public
Money? Public Code!" - an implementation of the principle finally seems
tangible.
Free Software gives everyone the right to use, study, share, and improve
applications for any purpose. These freedoms mean that similar
applications do not have to be programmed from scratch every time, and
thanks to transparent processes, others do not have to reinvent the
wheel. For large projects expertise and costs can be shared, and
applications paid for by the public are available to all. This promotes
innovation and saves money in the medium to long term. Dependencies on
vendors is minimised and security issues can be fixed more easily.
/Alexander Sander, the FSFE's Policy Consultant, explains: "Although the
benefits of Free Software are obvious and are also recognised in the
coalition treaty, the new government has so far only been conspicuous by
inactivity and cementing the status quo. Instead of finally providing a
'Free Software cloud' for administrations, the new government will again
rely on costly proprietary applications. This is incomprehensible to
us."/ SAP and Arvato, for example, want to offer Microsoft products to
German administrations and the new government is open to this. The cloud
strategy based on "open interfaces as well as strict security and
transparency requirements", which was still mentioned in the coalition
treaty, is thus moving further and further away.
Apart from a vague announcement by Franziska Brantner, State Secretary
in the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, "to promote
open source technologies from 2022 onwards" nothing happened so far. It
remains unclear what budget is available for this activity, how these
technologies will be identified and promoted, and how stakeholders will
be integrated into the process, especially civil society.
The Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, who is supposed to push the
topic of digitisation for administrations, has so far remained reserved,
as has the chancellor. Although "much more speed" is to be made, how
this is to happen in concrete terms remains nebulous and Free Software
has not played a role so far.
== 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
Digital Markets Act: Device Neutrality finally becomes a reality
https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211215-01.html
After many iterations and amendments, the European Parliament adopted
the Digital Markets Act by 642 votes in favour, 8 votes against, and 46
abstentions. With this vote the principle of Device Neutrality is
introduced. At the same time, the Parliament missed the chance to
introduce strong requirements for interoperability based on Open Standards.
"We strongly believe the digital markets will benefit by facilitating
access to Free Software in devices. Device Neutrality translates in the
DMA as stricter consent rules for pre-installed apps, safeguards against
vendor lock-in, and real-time data portability. Interoperability of
services was also introduced, but not with the requirement to be based
on Open Standards. This is a lost chance to leverage competition with
accessible and non-discriminatory technical specifications. Open
Standards are an important element for innovation by allowing market
actors to innovate on top of technical specification standards and build
their own services.", says Lucas Lasota, the FSFE's Deputy Legal
Coordinator.
The FSFE has urged EU legislators to safeguard Device Neutrality in the
DMA. We regret the voting has not contemplated setting Open Standards as
default to define interoperability. However, getting Device Neutrality
in the legislation is the first step. The right for end-users to use
their own device and operating system is an important factor to
guarantee access of Free Software operating systems to dominant
platforms. As a daily reality for many users this option enlarges the
audience for Free Software adoption.
The FSFE has been working for two decades empowering people to control
technology in their devices. We will closely follow the implementation
of the law and continue to conduct activities and initiatives to
safeguard end-users' interests.
== 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
= Digital Markets Act - Device Neutrality must be consolidated in the legislation =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211213-01.en.html ]
On December 15, the Digital Markets Act, the EU's comprehensive
regulatory package for internet platforms, will go through plenary
voting at the European Parliament. The FSFE calls for consolidating
Device Neutrality to enable fair and non-discriminatory use of Free
Software in digital devices.
The European Union is about to introduce a major overhaul of Internet
legislation with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) [1]. After successful
committee voting on 22 November, the European Parliament will conduct
plenary voting on 15 December. The FSFE advocates Device Neutrality [2]
as a fundamental step to achieve a contestable, open, and competitive
digital market in the EU and urges the European Parliament to secure
this principle in the final voting.
== Device Neutrality - fostering Free Sofware in an end-user centric digital market ==
The DMA focuses on "gatekeepers", understood as very large tech
companies that have control over large parts of digital services, such
as search engines, social networking services, messaging services,
operating systems, and online intermediation services. While digital
devices are a ubiquitous reality in all aspects of life, our control
over the hardware and software running on them is increasingly being
limited. Device Neutrality is the policy concept that users should have
the right of non-discrimination of the services and software they use,
based on platform control by hardware vendors, manufacturers, and
service providers. The goal is to enable users to bypass gatekeepers and
enable a fair and non-discriminatory use of Free Software in devices.
Freedom in the information society needs your financial contribution.
Become a supporter now [3] After many iterations and amendments, the
DMA's final text submitted to the plenary voting incorporates the
following Device Neutrality principles, which the FSFE urges the
European Parliament to consolidate in the plenary voting:
- *Strict end-user consent for pre-installed apps*. The DMA must impose
on gatekeepers the obligation to allow their customers to uninstall
any pre-installed software applications they provide on their services
or with their hardware. This means more restrictive rules for pre-
installed apps, providing users the same access privileges for both
pre-installed and alternative apps, and the possibility to uninstall
pre-loaded apps.
- *No vendor lock-in*. The DMA should enable side-loading of apps in
dominant operating systems, so consumers can install any compatible
software on their devices. The DMA should require gatekeepers to
permit third-party app stores and code repositories that compete with
their own. The law must prohibit gatekeepers limiting the ability of
end-users to switch between and subscribe to different software
applications and services. This will prevent gatekeepers from locking
users into specific service providers.
- *Interoperability of services based on* Open Standards [4]. It is
urgent for the DMA to require gatekeepers to provide access and
interoperability to hardware and software features accessed or
controlled via the gatekeeper's operating system. That means that the
operating system's functionalities and available APIs should be
transparent and available to apps in a non-discriminatory way.
Interoperability should be defined by Open Standards.
- *Real-time data portability*. The DMA should require gatekeepers to
provide real-time data portability for devices, so that consumers can
switch from one device to another - including operating systems - as
smoothly as possible.
Discuss this [5]
1: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/OJQ-9-2021-12-15_EN.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211122-01.en.html
3: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-2021121…
4: https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/standards/index.en.html
5: https://community.fsfe.org/t/780
== 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