[FSFE PR][EN] FSFE convinces 1125 public administrations to remove proprietary software advertisements

Tue Oct 13 06:39:30 UTC 2015

Today we finally ended the PDFreaders campaign. Thanks to all of you who
helped to make this campaign a success!!!

Best Regards,
Matthias

* press at fsfeurope.org <press at fsfeurope.org> [2015-10-13 07:54:16 +0200]:

>  = FSFE convinces 1125 public administrations to remove proprietary software advertisements =
> 
> [ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20151013-01.en.html ]
> 
> After six years of activity, the PDFreaders campaign[1] is coming to a
> close this month as one of our most successful campaigns.
> 
> The campaign began in 2009 with the intent of removing advertisements
> for proprietary PDF reader software from public institutions' websites.
> To start it all off, volunteers submitted 2104 "bugs", or instances of
> proprietary PDF software being directly promoted by public authorities,
> and the FSFE listed[2] them online. Since then, hundreds of Free
> Software activists took action by writing to the relevant public
> institutions and calling for changes to their websites. We received a
> lot of positive feedback from the institutions thanking us for our
> letters, and to date, 1125 out of the 2104 websites (53%) edited their
> websites by removing links to proprietary PDF readers, or adding links
> to Free Software PDF readers.
> 
> In addition to writing letters, FSFE also collected signatures for a
> petition calling for an end to advertisement for proprietary software
> products on government websites[3]. 90 organizations, 63 businesses, and
> 2731 individuals signed this petition.
> 
> Furthermore, we were able to push for change at both national and
> international levels.
> 
> - In Germany, national parties[4] gave statements in favor of free PDF
>   readers and the German Government itself has recommended the usage of
>   our text snippet in their migration guide[5]. FSFE's coordinator for
>   Germany, Max Mehl, covers it[6] in more detail on his blog.
> 
> - In the EU: the European Parliament directly asked[7] the European
>   Commission what were the reasons for advertising a specific software
>   and which steps were taken to solve this problem.
> 
> - In 2011 one of our pdfreaders.org coordinators, Hannes Hauswedell, was
>   in contact with Google[8], asking them to release the PDF reader
>   included in their Chrome browser as Free Software. Finally, in May
>   2014, the pdfium sources were published openly[9], and while FSFE's
>   enquiry might not have been the only reason they were released, it
>   marks an important change for the widespread adoption of Free Software
>   PDF readers.
> 
>     "This success would not have been possible without the help and hard
>     work from our volunteers and the support from our donors. *Thank
>     you!* While many public and private web-sites still promote
>     proprietary readers, the level of awareness has changed
>     significantly during our campaign and now it should be much easier
>     for you to approach the remaining web-site administrators. Also most
>     internet users today already use Free Software when they open a PDF
>     file in their browser -- a huge difference from 2009!" says Hannes
>     Hauswedell who started the campaign. "Of course work still remains
>     and we invite you to keep on reminding (public) administrators to
>     use Open Standards and not recommend proprietary software. And with
>     your support, we too, will continue to fight for a web that respects
>     its users' privacy and freedom!"
> 
> To get involved[10] you can use our sample letter[11] to send to the
> relevant public administration, or you can write one of your own. Just
> make sure to include where to find a list of Free Software PDF
> readers[12] that could replace the link from their website.
> 
> A special thanks again to the activists, volunteers, and donors who
> helped make this campaign a success!
> 
>   1. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.en.html
>   2. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/buglist.en.html
>   3. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/petition.en.html
>   4. http://gruen-digital.de/2012/03/document-freedom-day-kleine-anfrage-zur-werbung-fuer-adobe-reader-eingereicht/
>   5. http://www.cio.bund.de/Web/DE/Architekturen-und-Standards/Migrationsleitfaden-und-Migrationshilfen/migrationsleitfaden_node.html
>   6. http://blog.mehl.mx/2015/german-government-wants-authorities-to-advertise-pdfreaders/
>   7. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/parliamentary-questions-eu.en.html
>   8. http://blogs.fsfe.org/polina/2015/09/10/free-pdf-reader-for-the-web-browser/
>   9. https://twitter.com/nasko/status/469595752734269440
>  10. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/follow-up.en.html
>  11. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/letter.en.html
>  12. http://pdfreaders.org
> 
> 
>   == 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 to understand how Free
>   Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
>   It enhances 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.
> 
>   http://fsfe.org/
> 
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-- 
Matthias Kirschner - President - Free Software Foundation Europe
Schönhauser Allee 6/7, 10119 Berlin, Germany - t +49-30-27595290
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