[FSFE PR][EN] FSFE Newsletter

[Free Software Foundation Europe]

January has been a month full of activity both on the grassroots community 
level and in broad topics like Free Software legal infrastructure.  The local 
Fellowship groups in Berlin and Duesseldorf are very active, and Duesseldorf's 
Fellowship is planning to expand to nearby cities in the coming months.  
Meanwhile, FSFE and gpl-violations.org have been deepening their partnership 
to ensure fair use of Free Software licences in the European area.

This is a great time to get more involved with FSFE and the Fellowship, 
especially if you are interested in fostering local activities for like-minded 
Free Software enthusiasts or new members of our community.  You can find
tips on getting active here: http://fsfeurope.org/contribute.  

						Shane, FSFE Zurich office


1. GPL-violations.org and FSFE's Freedom Task Force plan future interaction
2. NLnet continues to support FSFE's Freedom Task Force
3. Berlin Fellowship meeting and talk
4. Duesseldorf Fellowship meeting and planning future events
5. FSFE meeting in Göteborg, Sweden
6. SELF Open Documentary Contest

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

7. Richard Stallman Speech about Free Software Philosophy and History in Berlin, 2008-02-18
8. Preparation for FOSDEM, Brussels, 2008-02-23 and 2008-02-24
9. "Standards and the Future of the Internet" Conference, Geneva, 2008-02-26
10. Secure shell speech at Duesseldorf Fellowship, Duesseldorf, 2008-02-27


1. GPL-violations.org and FSFE's Freedom Task Force plan future interaction

On the 31st of January representatives from gpl-violations.org and FSFE's FTF 
met in Berlin to discuss the future of licence compliance in the European area.
Harald Welte and Armijn Hemel discussed the perspective of the successful 
gpl-violations.org project, while Shane Coughlan represented FSFE.  Dr. Till 
Jaeger attended one of the sessions and brought his considerable legal knowledge
to the conversation.  GPL-violations.org and FSFE's FTF have agreed to work 
closely together to ensure fair use, understanding and responsibility in the 
use of Free Software licences.

  http://laforge.gnumonks.org/weblog/2008/02/02/#20080202-gplviolations-meeting


2. NLnet continues to support FSFE's Freedom Task Force

The initial phase of the FTF was possible thanks to support by the Netherlands 
based philantropic organisation NLnet foundation.  Today the FTF's legal and 
technical networks cover sixteen European countries, have over seventy members 
and include contacts from the USA, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan. 
The FTF delivers training courses in Switzerland in cooperation with Digicomp, 
in Sweden with Internet Academy and in The Netherlands with ATComputing. Now, 
after just over twelve months of continual growth, NLnet is providing a second 
round of financial support to this innovative legal project.

  http://fsfeurope.org/news/2008/news-20080118-01.en.html


3. Berlin Fellowship meeting and talk

The Berlin Fellowship Group met at the Newthinking Store as usual and featured 
a talk from Hannes Hauswedell about the free BSD operating systems.  Discussion 
centred around BSD variants as alternative Free operating systems, description 
of the various BSD variants and the policies that the BSD projects have 
regarding Free Software adoption. 

If you would like to join in the fun, please note that the Berlin Fellowship 
meets every second Thursday in the month at the Newthinking Store, 
Tucholskystr. 48 in 10117 Berlin. 


4. Duesseldorf Fellowship meeting and planning future events

The Duesseldorf Fellowship met as usual and discussed future plans. This 
included a highly interesting and constructive discussion about having a booth 
at the Labour's Day 1. May at Duesseldorf. The Fellowship will share their 
booth with other organisations.  Chaosdorf e.V. (the local CCC group, 
http://www.chaosdorf.de) may attend.  The Fellowship also planned meetings 
in other cities like Cologne and Roermond/NL to intensify the contact to other 
Fellows.
 
  Get in contact with the Duesseldorf Fellowship: rk at office.fsfeurope.org


5. FSFE meeting in Göteborg, Sweden

The Swedish team of the FSFE organised a small meeting for those
interested in the FSFE activities on the 28th of january. Some of the
issues discussed focused around publishing the videos recorded during
FSCONS in december, and generally around video editing and mastering.


6. SELF Open Documentary Contest

The SELF (Science, Education and Learning in Freedom) project has
announced a SELF Open Documentary Contest where individuals and
companies are invited to "create a documentary about the creation of
free knowledge and education in the digital era". The contest runs
until the end of may 2008, and the winners will be presented during a
SELF conference in Spain in july 2008.

    http://www.selfproject.eu/contest



FORTHCOMING EVENTS


7. Richard Stallman Speech about Free Software Philosophy and History in Berlin, 2008-02-18

On Monday 18. February at 19:00 Richard M. Stallman, founder of the GNU project
and the FSF, will give a speech at the mediacentre - Atrium, Johannisstrasse 20,
in 10117 Berlin-Mitte. He will talk about the history and philosophy of Free 
Software. The Berlin Fellowship group will have a small booth there and inform 
visitors about the local groupd and FSFE's work in Germany and Europe. Admission
starts at 18:30. The entrance fee is 5 EUR.


8. Preparation for FOSDEM, Brussels, 2008-02-23 and 2008-02-24

Many in FSFE are getting ready for FSFE's 7th trip to FOSDEM.  Like previous
years, FSFE has been given a large stall just inside the main entrance.
FOSDEM is one of the year's two largest Free Software events where FSFE's
members, friends, and employees can meet each other and the free software
community.  It's also an opportunity to buy t-shirts and other FSFE
material, and to join the Fellowship of FSFE - which we launched at FOSDEM
2005.

If you're at the event or nearby, drop in an say hi!  FOSDEM is very much a
community focussed event, with no entrance fee, but you can donate if you
like.

  http://fosdem.org/2008/


9. "Standards and the Future of the Internet" Conference, Geneva, 2008-02-26

Shane Coughlan, the coordinator of FSFE's Freedom Task Force, will host a 
breakout session discussing licensing issues at the "Standards and the Future 
of the Internet" Conference being held in Geneva, Switzerland, during the 26th 
and 27th of February. The conference will be hosted at the International 
Conference Centre and confirmed speakers include Vint Cerf, Carlo Piana, 
Thomas Vinje and Jeremy Allison.


10. Secure shell speech at Duesseldorf Fellowship, Duesseldorf, 2008-02-27

Patrick Haehnel will hold a talk at the Duesseldorf Fellowship on the 27th of 
February.  The title of his speech is "Forget the Swiss Army Knife! - Secure 
Shell - tips'n'tricks." 


You can find a full list of forthcoming events here:
http://fsfeurope.org/events/events.html

You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters here:
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html

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