[FSFE PR][EN] FSFE Newsletter

Free Software Foundation Europe press at fsfeurope.org
Mon Mar 17 17:28:45 CET 2008


It has been an exceptional month.  The European Commission has fined
Microsoft an additional 899 million Euro for continuing to restrict
access to interoperability information prior to October 2007 and the
ISO Ballot Resolution Meeting in Geneva failed to address most of the
serious issues and ultimately ended up waving through the bulk of ECMA
responses without review.  Public awareness of issues relating to
software freedom have been raised dramatically.

Perhaps the key word for this month is precedent.  The EC anti-trust
fine is the first of its kind in Europe and draws a line regarding
fair access and good corporate behaviour in Europe.  The MS-OOXML
process has clearly demonstrated how international standardisation is
struggling to meet current needs. Fairness, access and lack of
restrictions have become central to debates around the evolution of
the digital sphere.  New precedents are being set which enshrine these
values, and where such precedents do not exist it is becoming clear
that they need to be created.  This is good news for Free Software and
it's good news for society at large.

						Shane, FSFE Zurich Office


1. Microsoft's so-called 'interoperability' pledge excludes primary competitors
2. FSFE calls on Microsoft to release interoperability information without restrictions
3. FSFE at FOSDEM in Brussels, Belgium
4. SELF conference in Sofia, Bulgaria
5. FSFE participates in a global day for document liberation
6. FSFE announces the first European Licensing and Legal Workshop
7. Jonas Öberg in Sofia, Bulgaria
8. FSFE Context Briefing on DIS-29500: Deprecated before use?
9. "Fairware" for the Protestant Church in Gemany
10. Late breakfast for Rhineland Fellows
11. RMS in Berlin

FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
12. Free Software in the public sector' training course in Zurich, Switzerland
13. Speech on Free Software licensing and the GPLv3 at OSiM USA
14. FSFE booth at OpenCamp in Rome, Italy
15. Introduction to Free Software licensing' training course in Zurich, Switzerland
16. Strategic implementation of Free Software


1. Microsoft's so-called 'interoperability' pledge excludes primary competitors

The Microsoft pledge to release interoperability information for
flagship products contained little actual news. The announcement
confirmed that Microsoft was planning to use its software patent
portfolio against interoperating products by requiring a patent
license for all commercial activity. This is consistent with its
previous attempts at allowing competition only where it provides no
actual challenge to its monopolies.

  http://fsfeurope.org/news/2008/news-20080222-01


2. FSFE calls on Microsoft to release interoperability information without restrictions

The European Commission has fined Microsoft 899 million Euro for
anti-competitive behaviour by continuing to restrict access to
interoperability information. "Microsoft is the last company that
actively promotes the use of software patents to restrict
interoperability. This kind of behaviour has no place in an Internet
society where all components should connect seamlessly regardless of
their origin," says Georg Greve, president of the Free Software
Foundation Europe.

  http://fsfeurope.org/news/2008/news-20080228-01


3. FSFE at FOSDEM in Brussels, Belgium

Like the years before, Free Software Foundation Europe had a booth at FOSDEM, 
one of the biggest Free Software conferences in Europe.  This year FSFE shared 
its booth with the Free Knowledge Foundation, a Spanish associate organisation
[1].  About fifteen team members and volunteers from FSFE helped out at the 
booth by answering questions and talked to interested people.  One of the big 
topics was Document Freedom Day, and everyone at the booth helped explain its
importance [2].

[1] http://www.libre.org/
[2] http://www.fsfe.org/en/fellows/michael_kallas/images/fosdem_2008/document_freedom_day_promoting_device_rear_view


4. SELF conference in Sofia, Bulgaria

Jonas Öberg, vice president of the FSFE, participated in a SELF
conference in Sofia, Bulgaria the 10th of February, where he gave a
talk about e-learning and Free Software. The talk was part of an event
that took place during a SELF board meeting in Sofia, and gathered
teachers and activists from the area.


5. FSFE participates in a global day for document liberation

The Document Freedom Day (DFD) is a global day for Document Liberation
with grassroots action for promotion of Free Document Formats and Open
Standards in general. The DFD was initiated and is supported by a
group of organisations and companies, including, but not limited to,
the Free Software Foundation Europe, ODF Alliance, OpenForum Europe,
IBM, Red Hat and Sun Microsystems, Inc. On 26 March 2008, the Document
Freedom Day will provide a global rallying point for Document
Liberation and Open Standards.

  http://fsfeurope.org/news/2008/news-20080220-01
  http://documentfreedom.org/


6. FSFE announces the first European Licensing and Legal Workshop

FSFE's Freedom Task Force announced the first European Licensing and
Legal Workshop for Free Software will be held on Friday the 11th of
April in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The event is targeted towards
large projects and medium to large enterprises wishing to discuss
their existing licence compliance processes. Parties attending are
expected to contribute to issues ranging from process development
through to optimising purchasing contract language for the benefit of
the European Free Software community.

  http://fsfeurope.org/news/2008/news-20080214-01


7. Jonas Öberg in Sofia, Bulgaria

Jonas Öberg, vice president of the FSFE, gave a talk on the 7th of
February in an event about ICT use in public administrations. His talk
was about how to do procurement of Free Software, using knowledge
gained from Sweden, and took place in Sofia, Bulgaria.


8. FSFE Context Briefing on DIS-29500: Deprecated before use?

When ECMA submitted MS-OOXML as ECMA-376 to ISO for fast-track
approval, several countries criticised overlap with the existing ISO
standard ISO/IEC 26300:2006, the Open Document Format (ODF). [...]
Considering that alleged preservation of idiosyncrasies is the stated
reason for the entire DIS-29500 ISO process, FSFE considers it
worthwhile to investigate this claim in greater depth.  The result of
this investigation is a compact context briefing.

  http://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-idiosyncrasies


9. "Fairware" for the Protestant Church in Gemany

For many years now the churches have supported fair trade.  Because of this the 
ethical principles of Free Software are a real match with the IT needs of 
churches.

A practical start to introducing Free Software was undertaken on the 23th of 
February. In an event of the Protestant Church in Verden (near Bremen, Germany),
the use of "Fairware", as they called Free Software, was discussed. Bernhard
Reiter gave a lecture on Free Software and answered several questions of the 
interested audience. The event was very successful. Thanks to Andreas Bergmann 
and Detlev Rakebrand who have organized the event and are promoting Free 
Software within their communities.


10. Late breakfast for Rhineland Fellows

At 2008-03-02 the second "late breakfast" of the Fellows at Rhineland took 
place in the Duesseldorf Office of FSFE.  There were twice as many people as 
at the first "late breakfast".  Upgrade problems, free geo data and IT 
security in enterprises were the topics discussed while enjoying coffee 
and breakfast .  There are now plans to make this a regular event.


11. RMS in Berlin

On his visit to Europe, Richard Stallman gave a speech on the history
and philosophy of Free Software in Berlin. The local Fellowship group
together with the newthinking-store put up a booth to inform the
visitors about ways to participate in the Free Software movement.
Around 200 people listened to Richard Stallman's speech, which was
concluded with a round of questions and the recitation of "The Free
Software Song"[1]. The Fellowship group really enjoyed the speech and
the fruitful discussions with the participants afterwards.

  http://www.gnu.org/music/free-software-song.html


FORTHCOMING EVENTS:


12. Free Software in the public sector' training course in Zurich, Switzerland

Shane Coughlan, FTF coordinator, will deliver a training course
examining how Free Software can be used in the public sector on Friday
the 7th of March. The course will be delivered between 13:00-16:00 at
the FSFE Zurich office. There is no cost to attend this course, but
due to limited space all those wishing to come should register their
interest beforehand through the FTF contact form.

  http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/form.html


13. Speech on Free Software licensing and the GPLv3 at OSiM USA

Shane Coughlan, FTF coordinator, will deliver a speech entitled
'Analysing Whether GPLv3 Has Improved Free Software Licensing' at OSiM
USA on Tuesday the 11th of March in San Francisco. The speech will
cover topics ranging from the creation of GPLv3 and its place in
licensing through to examining the place of GPLv3 in tomorrow's
market.


14. FSFE booth at OpenCamp in Rome, Italy

The FSFE will be present with a booth at the OpenCamp event
organized by the Sapienza Linux User Group in Rome on 15th March
(http://barcamp.org/OpenCamp). The booth will offer FSFE
merchandising, information about current activities and a meeting
point for all interested people and Fellows.


15. Introduction to Free Software licensing' training course in Zurich, Switzerland

Shane Coughlan, FTF coordinator, will deliver a training course to
introduce people to Free Software licensing concepts on Friday the
21st of March. The course will be delivered between 13:00-16:00 at the
FSFE Zurich office. There is no cost to attend this course, but due to
limited space all those wishing to come should register their interest
beforehand through the FTF contact form.

  http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/form.html


16. Strategic implementation of Free Software

On the 2nd of April FSFE and its Freedom Task Force (FTF) will give a
course on the Strategic implementation of Free Software in Business in
collaboration with the Internet Academy. The course will take place in
Stockholm, Sweden.  Those wishing to come should register their
interest beforehand through the FTF contact form.

  http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/form.html



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http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html

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