Boston, Massachusetts, USA---Wednesday, March 7th 2007---The Free Software Foundation announced details for its annual associate member and activist meeting to be held at MIT, Cambridge, MA, on Saturday, March 24th, 2007.
Keynote speakers Richard Stallman (FSF president) and Eben Moglen (FSF director and legal counsel) will each address the "Year of the Upgrade" theme, looking at what issues will demand the free software movement's attention after the new version of the GNU General Public License (GPLv3) is released.
This year's meeting will have the ceremony for the FSF's annual free software awards, where winners of the "Award for the Advancement of Free Software" and the "Award for Projects of Social Benefit" will be announced and recognized. Previous winners have included community luminaries like Andrew Tridgell, Theo de Raadt and Alan Cox and the community project Wikipedia.
The meeting will also feature practical discussion among FSF members and its board of directors about ways to increase free software adoption and strengthen the free software movement. Staff members will discuss current FSF campaigns and projects, eliciting feedback and input to shape plans for the coming year.
Peter Brown, FSF executive director said, "The FSF has had a busy year revising the GNU General Public License and campaigning successfully against Digital Restrictions Management. We see 2007 as a year of opportunity to significantly increase free software adoption, and our annual meeting will help us develop our priorities for the year ahead".
Now in its fifth year, this annual gathering has become a sounding board for activities of the Foundation, and a place to develop ideas with the free software community. As part of an interactive "Members Forum" session, Benjamin "Mako" Hill, activist and researcher at MIT's Media Lab, will speak about the impact of free software philosophy on copyright and culture in a presentation called "Defining Free Culture".
The full schedule of speakers and details for registration and attendees is published at http://www.fsf.org/associate/meetings/2007.
About the Free Software Foundation:
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software - particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants - and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software. Their web site, located at www.fsf.org, is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support their work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org. Their headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
Media Contact: John Sullivan Free Software Foundation pr@gnu.org Phone: +1-617-542-5942
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