[FSFE PR][EN] FSFE to make legal consolidation tool available in 10 languages

[Free Software Foundation Europe]

FSFE to make legal consolidation tool available in 10 languages

2008-09-26, Zurich - Shane Coughlan, FSFE

The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) announced today that it plans
to make the Fiduciary License Agreement (FLA) available ten languages.
The selected languages are English, German, French, Italian, Swedish,
Serbian, Polish, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese.

The FLA assists projects with re-licensing and license enforcement by
consolidating copyright into a single organization, and is effective in
jurisdictions based on both civil law and common law. It also transfers
a full set of rights back to the author, ensuring that both parties
maintain the maximum freedom possible. The translation of the FLA will
help provide the benefits of copyright consolidation to local projects
across Europe.

The FLA is available as part of FSFE's Fiduciary Programme.  It can also
be customised for use by other organisations, and was recently adopted
by KDE e.V., the non-profit organisation representing the KDE Project in
legal and financial matters.

"This translation project contributes to a growing collection of
management tools for Free Software," says Shane Coughlan, the
coordinator of FSFE's legal project.  "In the last two years such tools
have increased in importance and enjoy a broad spectrum of
non-commercial and commercial support.  Projects are making plans for
the long-term development of their code and we want to assist with that.
 Our current translation work is being partially supported by Google
through a generous donation made earlier in the year.  I hope that
in the future other commercial users of Free Software will support
similar initiatives so we can continue building a strong foundation for
sustainable development."

More information on the FLA can be found at
http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/fla
You can download a PDF copy of the FLA here:
http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/FLA.en.pdf

About the Free Software Foundation Europe:
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the
information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of
Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and
copy.Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free
Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by
supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE.

FSFE's homepage can be found at http://www.fsfeurope.org
You can contact us via email: FTF @ fsfeurope.org

   You can reach the FSFE switchboard from:
    Belgium:     +32 2 747 03 57
    Germany:     +49 700 373 38 76 73
    Sweden:      +46 31 7802160
    Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66
    UK:          +44 29 200 08 17 7

   Press contact: Shane Coughlan, FTF Coordinator,  FSFE extension: 408

   Further information: http://www.fsfeurope.org