[FSFE PR][EN] taz.die tageszeitung receives Document Freedom Germany Award

[Free Software Foundation Europe]

= taz.die tageszeitung receives Document Freedom Germany Award =

[Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130327-01.en.html ]

The German newspaper taz.die tageszeitung (TAZ) receives this year's Document
Freedom award. With this award, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and
the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) honour
organisations that make exemplary use of Open Standards.

The TAZ receives the Document Freedom award because it delivers its electronic
paper to its subscribers in a choice of open formats, and without digital
restrictions (DRM). "We are awarding the TAZ with the Document Freedom Award
for their longstanding commitment to Open Standards and continuos efforts in
offering their newspaper without restrictions" says Erik Albers, Fellowship
Coordinator Berlin.

TAZ subscribers can receive their paper in HTML, PDF, ePub, and even plain
text formats. HTML files form the basis of the World Wide Web. The Portable
Document Format (PDF) was published as a standard by the  International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2008. Adobe has granted anyone the
right to make and distribute PDF files without restrictions. Plain text files
(.txt) can easily be read or opened by any thousands of applications,
independent of any platform, product, or vendor.  "Plain text files have great
benefits for libraries," highlights Elisabeth Klein, a humanities scholar with
close connections to academic libraries in Germany. "They can offer easy
access to works using a lot of different devices. Users and researchers can
efficiently search and analyse them."

ePub is an Open Standard for electronic books. Rather than being bound to a
particular vendor, users can open files with the .epub extension with a wide
range of programs and devices. "We use Free and Open formats, because we don't
like to put our readers in a cage - even it it's made of gold. Only by using
Open Standards without DRM we are able to spread TAZ news media as widely as
possible" says Ralf Klever, Head of IT in the TAZ.

Stephan Uhlmann, FFII board member, adds: "We congratulate TAZ for their firm
stance on the usage of Open Standards. The TAZ has a history of covering
contemporary political movements very closely, which makes this an important
contribution to preserve this documentation in open and accessible document
formats for future generations."

Document Freedom Awards are given annually on Document Freedom Day - the
international day for Open Standards. Previous winners include 1&1 Internet
AG, tagesschau.de and Deutschland Radio.

Press pictures of the award ceremony: https://wiki.fsfe.org/DFD-2013-Berlin

== About Document Freedom Day ==

  Document Freedom Day (DFD) campaigns to celebrate information
  accessibility and introduce non-technical audiences to Open Standards.
  Open Standards are a basic condition for freedom and choice in
  software; ensuring the freedom to access data, and the freedom to
  build Free Software to read and write information. Started in 2008,
  the campaign last year had 54 events worldwide. It will happen on 27th
  March.

  http://documentfreedom.org


== 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.

  http://fsfe.org/