1. FSFE engages with irregularities in the ISO voting process
2. FTF informal legal network now covers sixteen European countries
3. Two days of Free Software in Chile
4. The Fellowship site now supports multiple languages
5. First distributed Fellowship meeting
6. FSFE German Team at FrOSCon
7. Fellows of the Rhein/Ruhr area holding monthly talks
8. Building the Fellowship in Kaiserslautern, Heidelberg, Darmstadt and Karlsruhe
9. FSFE supports demonstration "liberty instead of fear", September 22nd
10. Speeches about SELF, Open Standards and Free Software in Argentina
11. Free Software and Free Documentation licence consultations
1. FSFE engages with irregularities in the ISO voting process
FSFE has been deeply involved in the ISO voting process on Microsoft's
Office OpenXML proposal, and has uncovered serious irregularities in
various national standardisation body's handling of the matter. These
irregularities have included committee stacking, conflicts of interest,
concerns raised by parties being ignored, and lack of due consideration
to legal issues like Microsoft's vague 'Open Specification Promise.'
FSFE president Georg Greve was interviewed by ZDnet regarding the
international voting process. In Switzerland, FSFE and the Swiss
Internet User Group (SIUG) lodged formal objections to the process
with the national standardisation body, which were later published
by Groklaw:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39288959,00.htmhttp://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2007081708383138
2. FTF informal legal network now covers sixteen European countries
FSFE's Freedom Task Force now has connections with lawyers in Austria,
Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Germany,
Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the UK. The network also
includes legal researchers in Ireland, Serbia and Sweden and legal
contacts in Taiwan, Singapore, Canada, the USA and Australia. As
always, the FTF offers licence consultancy and education, fiduciary
services and licence enforcement for individuals, projects and
businesses. Please help us to continue spreading the word about this
Free Software infrastructure project:
http://www.fsfeurope.org/ftf
email: ftf(a)fsfeurope.org
3. Two days of Free Software in Chile
On invitation of the Chilean educational ministry and in coordination
with our sister organisation FSFLA and GNU Chile, FSFE president Georg
Greve spoke at the Universidad Mayor and an event of the educational
ministry in Santiago, as well as the library of the national congress
in Valparaiso. Georg Greve also discussed strategic and practical Free
Software issues with the vice-minister of education and economic impact
of Free Software with the minister of economics.
4. The Fellowship site now supports multiple languages
Thanks to the contributions of Fellow Alejandro Serrano and Ivan Čukić,
with support from other fellowship hackers, fsfe.org now supports
adding content in other languages besides English. For the moment
Italian, Spanish and German are supported, but more will come. Most
of the work has gone into modifying the standard UI provided by eZ
Publish and put all the files in a svn repository. Expect more
changes and additions in functions during the next weeks.
http://www.fsfe.org
5. First distributed Fellowship meeting
While the monthly Fellowship meetings in Vienna have become a jour
fixe in the calendar of many Austrian Fellows, the August meeting was
special: for the first time, a Fellowship meeting took place in two
locations at the same time. The net.culture.labs in Vienna and Dornbirn
hosted this event, both connected via videoconferencing over a
broadband internet line sponsored by Telekom Austria.
http://www.fsfe.org/en/fellows/meetings/austria/20070814
6. FSFE German Team at FrOSCon
Thanks to the organisational skills of Michael Kesper, members of the
FSFE German Team attended FrOSCon (St. Augustin/Germany) on the 25th
and 26th of August. Myriam Schweingruber delivered a talk about
"Women in IT - View points and possible explanations", and Michael
Kesper discussed interaction with other projects. FSFE maintained a
booth at the entrance to the fair where ad hoc talks were held and
FSFE and Fellowship merchandise was available.
http://www.froscon.de/
7. Fellows of the Rhein/Ruhr area holding monthly talks
The Fellows of the Rhein/Ruhr area have monthly public meetings with
talks on the last Wednesday of each month in Duesseldorf. In August,
Fellow Dr. jur. Michael Stehmann spoke about the new Par.202c in the
German criminal code which bans possessing, using, publishing and
distributing so-called "hacker tools". As Michael stated, this
regulations are very poorly formulated, practically useless in their
attention, and might be used as a pressure instrument against innocent
people. 202c tries to define pure ownership of broadly defined network
analysis tools as the preparation for crime.
email: rheinland(a)lists.fsfe.org
8. Building the Fellowship in Kaiserslautern, Heidelberg, Darmstadt and Karlsruhe
As you know FSFE tries to keep in contact with its Fellows and attract
additional ones. One aspect of this work sees Joachim Jakobs meeting
with LUGs and other local FS-related groups in between Kaiserslautern
and Heidelberg, Darmstadt and Karlsruhe. Last Friday he met with the
LUG Landau. Landau is just a small town but nevertheless about a dozen
people attended. If you are interested in helping JJ organise a local
Fellowship in this area please contact him directly.
email: jj(a)fsfe.org
9. FSFE supports demonstration "liberty instead of fear", September 22nd
"Civil rights groups are calling on citizens to join in a protest march
against excessive surveillance by businesses and governments. On 22
September 2007 concerned citizens will take to the streets with the
slogan "Liberty instead of fear - Stop the surveillance mania!". Groups
will initially meet at Pariser Platz (Brandenburger Tor), Berlin, at
2.30 pm. The German Chapter of FSFE decided to join this demonstration
and asks everybody for participation.
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/125/116/lang,en/
10. Speeches about SELF, Open Standards and Free Software in Argentina
Before the SELF board meeting in Cordoba, Argentina, to prepare for the
launch of the first version of the SELF platform, FSFE's Georg Greve
and Jonas Oberg spoke at the Septimas Jornadas Regionales de Software
Libre, giving talks about SELF, Open Standards, the problems of
MS-OOXML and the political importance of Free Software:
http://selfproject.eu
11. Free Software and Free Documentation licence consultations
The public consultations continue for the GNU Free Documentation
License, the GNU Affero General Public License, and the new GNU
Simpler Free Documentation License. We advise you to take a look
as soon as possible if you might have a comment about these free
documentation licences or the "Affero" version of the GPL which
additionally deals with software used over public networks:
http://gplv3.fsf.org/doclic-dd1-guide.htmlhttp://gplv3.fsf.org/agplv3-dd2-guide.html
Meanwhile, FSFE has been providing ongoing advice about GPLv3 since
it's mid-summer launch. The lack of controversial news is welcomed as
a sign that broad compromised was indeed reached and no obvious
mistakes were made.
You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html
Copyright (C) FSFE. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire
article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.
Hi,
I'd like to call on your attention the campaign from
http://www.access-info.org
The campaign is related to a treaty which is being drafted by the Council of
Europe, which would impose obligations on signatory states to release
information to physical and juridical persons upon request, in a mode
similar to the Freedom of Information requests already existing in some
national legislations. The campaign is attempting to make the treaty codify
strong standards of transparency for signing members.
Although it is not an issue that directly concerns Free Software and the
FSFE, I would think that it is in FSFE's interest to improve the level of
government transparency, both due to reasons of principle and practical
advantages for Free Software.
My apologies if this information is redundant or off-topic.
--David.
---AV & Spam Filtering by M+Guardian - Risk Free Email (TM)---
Maybe Microsoft can be a good candidate ???
>From Groklaw:
Microsoft Memo to Partners in Sweden Surfaces: Vote Yes for OOXML
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070829070630660
Sweden's SIS Declares OOXML Vote Invalid - Will Change Vote from Yes to Abstain
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070830155109351
bye
---
Stefano Spinucci
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Erik Wesselius <erik(a)corporateeurope.org>
Date: Sep 3, 2007 1:00 PM
Subject: 'Worst EU Lobbying' Awards 2007 -- Call for Nominations --
Nominierungen gesucht -- Invitation pour des Nominations
To: list(a)eulobbyaward.org
Deutsche Fassung
Version française
Dear all,
We would like to invite all participants of last year's 'Worst EU
Lobbying' Awards to join the search for this year's worst lobbying in
Brussels. You can submit your candidates until September 15, online
voting will start in mid October. Please find the call for nominations
below. We look forward to your participation!
The organisers
Corporate Europe Observatory, www.corporateeurope.org
Friends of the Earth, www.foeeurope.org
LobbyControl, www.lobbycontrol.de
Spinwatch, www.spinwatch.org
________________________________
'Worst EU Lobbying' Awards 2007 -- Call for Nominations
Entering their third edition, the 'Worst EU Lobbying' Awards 2007 are
now open for nominations.
This year you can nominate for two categories:
The 'Worst EU Lobbying' Award for the lobbyist, company or lobby group
that in 2007 has employed the most deceptive, misleading, or otherwise
problematic lobbying tactics in their attempts to influence EU
decision-making.
And the special 'Worst EU Greenwash' Award for the company whose
advertising, PR and lobbying lingo is most at odds with the real
environmental impacts of their core business activities.
It's up to you who will be eligible for these two awards! Until 15
September 2007 you can submit your nominations on
http://www.worstlobby.eu/.
>From the nominations, two shortlists of five nominees will be
selected, followed by an on-line vote from 15 October to 24 November.
The award winners in both categories will be presented during a
festive awards ceremony in Brussels on 4 December 2007.
For more information and the nomination form, check out
http://www.worstlobby.eu/.
Please help us to create further attention for the awards. Banners for
websites can be found here:
http://www.worstlobby.eu/2007/promo_en.
Thanks!
************** Deutsche Fassung ************
Back to top of message
Hallo allerseits,
Wir möchten alle Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer der 'Worst EU
Lobbying' Awards 2006 einladen, sich an der Suche nach dem übelsten
Lobbying in 2007 zu beteiligen. Bis zum 15. September können Sie
Nominierungen einreichen, Mitte Oktober startet die
Internet-Abstimmung. Den Nominierungsaufruf finden Sie unten. Wir
freuen uns auf Ihre Beteiligung!
Die Organisatoren
Corporate Europe Observatory, www.corporateeurope.org
Friends of the Earth, www.foeeurope.org
LobbyControl, www.lobbycontrol.de
Spinwatch, www.spinwatch.org
________________________________
Nominierungen gesucht für die 'Worst EU Lobbying' Awards 2007!
Die Suche nach den schlimmsten Formen von Lobbyismus und Greenwash in
der Europäischen Union im Jahr 2007 hat begonnen. Für die dritte
Ausgabe der 'Worst EU Lobbying' Awards können ab sofort Nominierungen
eingereicht werden.
Dieses Jahr können Kandidaten für zwei Kategorien vorgeschlagen werden:
Der 'Worst EU Lobbying' Award wird an Lobbyisten, Unternehmen oder
Interessenverbände vergeben, die 2007 manipulative, irreführende oder
andere problematische Taktiken in ihrer Lobbyarbeit in Brüssel
verwendeten.
Außerdem wird ein zusätzlicher Preis in der Kategorie 'Worst EU
Greenwash' vergeben. Damit werden Unternehmen ausgezeichnet, deren
Werbung, PR- und Lobbyrhetorik im Widerspruch zu den wahren
Umweltschädigungen ihres Kerngeschäfts steht.
Machen Sie mit! Es liegt bei Ihnen, wer für die Preise vorgeschlagen
wird. Nominierungen können bis 15. September unter
http://www.worstlobby.eu abgegeben werden.
Aus den Nominierungen wählen die Organisatoren in jeder Kategorie die
fünf „Top-Kandidaten". Diese werden von 15. Oktober bis zum 24.
November im Internet zur Wahl gestellt. Die Preisträger werden in
einer Feier am 4. Dezember in Brüssel bekannt gegeben.
Weitere Informationen und das Nominierungsformular finden Sie unter
http://www.worstlobby.eu
Helfen Sie uns die Aktion weiter bekannt zu machen! Banner für
Webseiten finden Sie hier: http://www.worstlobby.eu/2007/promo_de.
Herzlichen Dank!
************** Version française ************
Back to top of message
Chers tous,
Nous souhaitons inviter tous les participants du Prix du Pire Lobbying
de l'UE 2007 à contribuer aux nominations 2007 relatives aux pires
exemples de lobbying et d'écoblanchiment d'entreprise au sein de
l'Union Européenne. Vous pouvez soumettre vos candidats à ces deux
prix jusqu'au 15 septembre. L'élection en ligne débutera mi-octobre.
Veuillez trouver ci-dessous l'appel pour les nominations. Nous nous
réjouissons déjà de votre participation!
Les organisateurs,
Corporate Europe Observatory, www.corporateeurope.org
Friends of the Earth, www.foeeurope.org
LobbyControl, www.lobbycontrol.de
Spinwatch, www.spinwatch.org
________________________________
Prix 2007 du Pire Lobbying et du Pire Ecoblanchiment de l'UE --
Invitation pour des Nominations
Les candidatures pour les prix 2007 du Pire Lobbying et du Pire
Ecoblanchiment de l'UE sont désormais ouvertes!
Vous pouvez nominer des candidats dans deux catégories:
Le Prix du Pire Lobbying de l'UE sera décerné au lobbyiste, à
l'entreprise ou au lobby qui, en 2007, aura employé les méthodes les
plus trompeuses, les plus douteuses ou les plus équivoques dans ses
efforts pour influencer les politiques de l'UE.
Le Prix du Pire Ecoblanchiment sera décerné à l'entreprise dont les
publicités, les opérations de relations publiques et les arguments de
lobbying seront le plus en décalage avec les impacts environnementaux
réels de ses principales activités commerciales. Vous pouvez déposer
vos nominations jusqu'au 15 septembre.
Pour chacune des deux catégories, les organisateurs sélectionneront
cinq nominés parmi toutes les nominations qui leur seront parvenues.
Les listes pour chacune des catégories seront annoncées le 15 octobre
2007, quand les votes en ligne débuteront. Clôture du vote: 24
novembre 2007.
Informations supplémentaires et formulaire de nomination disponibles
sur http://www.worstlobby.eu.
Aidez-nous à faire la promotion du Prix du Pire Lobbying de l'UE 2007
en plaçant une bannière sur votre site web ou votre blog.
Merci beaucoup!
This might be of interest to someone...
A person wanting us to promote "open source" on a short notice, with a
website asking to fill out a form to get registered to vote for this stuff.
Guillaume Yziquel a écrit :
> Xavier Heymans a écrit :
>> Dear Mrs, Mr,
>>
>> I received an automatic reply suggesting to send you this email.
>>
>> Thanks for your help,
>>
>> Xavier Heymans
>
> Dear Xavier Heymans,
>
> your message has made it to office(a)fsfeurope.org. I am the assistant of
> Georg Greve, president of the Free Software Foundation Europe.
>
> I am not in a position to answer your request for now. I simply wish to
> point out a few informations:
>
> We have an office in Brussels, for our Brussels representative, Ciáran
> o'Riordan <oriordan(a)fsfeurope.org>. But our organisation is essentially
> based in Zürich, Switzerland, and in Göteborg, Sweden.
>
> If Misters Greve and o'Riordan fail to answer you in a timely manner,
> you can also try to contact Mister Jonas Öberg, vice-president of the FSFE.
>
> Please be aware that the recent turmoil around the ISO process about the
> MS OOXML file format is taking much of our energy these days. Please
> bear on us, and feel free to contact me back if you're impatient. I'll
> do my best to get you in contact with the relevant persons.
>
> I've got a few questions below however:
>
>> -----
>> Xavier Heymans, CEO
>> Zea Partners
>> Avenue Maeterlinck 18
>> 1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
>> Phone : +32-(0)10 45 99 02
>> Mobile : +32-(0)478 516 777
>> www.zeapartners.org
>>
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>>> From: Xavier Heymans <xavier(a)zeapartners.org>
>>> Date: Thu 30 Aug 2007 12:20:13 GMT+02:00
>>> To: ciaran(a)fsfe.org, greve(a)fsfeurope.org
>>> Cc: Nicolas Bossut <nicolas(a)zeapartners.org>
>>> Subject: Help - Voting open source into e-govemernment
>>>
>>> Dear M. Riordan and Greeve,
>>>
>>> I’m contacting you to evaluate if it would be possible to get support
>>> from the FSF Europe to promote the article below and doing so, having
>>> an open source project winning an Award at the EU e-Gov awards
>>> organized by the EU Commission.
>>>
>>> PloneGov, a project in which Zea Partners (non-profit) is involved,
>>> has all the chances to win the award. As far as we know, PloneGov is
>>> the only truly open source and international project that was selected
>>> among the 53 finalists. The project results of a close collaboration
>>> between the public sectors and an open source community.
>
> You are using the expression "open source". This term covers a lot of
> different licences. Could you please detail the licence under which the
> sotware is distributed.
>
> I also wish to make clear that we do not endorse the use of the
> expression "open source", because of the confusion it can create: some
> interpretations of "open source" are not fully compatible for the 4
> freedoms typically applicable to Free Software.
>
> We therefore do attach importance to PloneGov's licensing terms. Could
> you provide that to us?
>
>>> Developing open source in the public sector is strategic for the
>>> future of OS in Europe, for the impact in term of OS adoption but also
>>> for the political support.
>
> Apart from the "OS" wording, we do endorse this vision.
>
>>> For example, Philippe Busquin is supporting
>>> PloneGov (mayor of Seneffe, member of PloneGov), former EU
>>> Commissioner for Research and member of the European Parliament
>>> (member of the Committee of Industry, Research and Energy).
>>> www.zeapartners.org/events/may07/plone-egov-workshop
>>>
>>> I would also be interested to have a contact with you to evaluate
>>> possibilities of collaboration to promote OS at European level. I
>>> understand that your offices are based in Brussels, I'm also based in
>>> Belgium.
>
> You can perhaps contact Ciáran o'Riordan, as he's our Bruxelles lobbying
> representative. He's however fairly busy, but the name and title of
> Philippe Busquin might therefore ring a bell for him.
>
>>> Don’t hesitate to call me if you have any question.
>>>
>>> With my best regards,
>>>
>>> Xavier Heymans
>>>
>>> ========================================================
>>> Last days of a unique opportunity to vote Open Source into eGovernment
>>> ========================================================
>>> Your vote for the “Most innovative good practice” award is a unique
>>> opportunity to reach politicians and decision makers. Winning this
>>> award will highlight the maturity achieved by the Open Source
>>> collaborative model as a pragmatic way to tackle IT challenges in
>>> society. You may vote until Friday, September 7th.
>>>
>>> www.zeapartners.org/articles/vote-egov007
>>>
>>>
>>> -----
>>> Xavier Heymans, CEO
>>> Zea Partners
>>> Avenue Maeterlinck 18
>>> 1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
>>> Phone : +32-(0)10 45 99 02
>>> Mobile : +32-(0)478 516 777
>>> www.zeapartners.org
>
--
Guillaume Yziquel, Assistant of Georg Greve, president of
yziquel(a)fsfeurope.org the Free Software Foundation Europe.
greve-assist(a)fsfeurope.org http://www.fsfeurope.org/
i recently stumbled upon a piece of software [1] a wikipedia article [2]
tells the following about:
> The actual code of Core Force is not publicly available; however, due
> to its Apache license 2.0
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_license>, the software is
> completely free for commercial or noncommercial use and can be freely
> reverse engineered <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_engineering>,
> disassembled <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disassembly> or decompiled
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompiler>.
(core force is described as "free software" throughout the article)
as far as i know (or read [3]), the apache license is a non-viral free
software license, which allows using code in a proprietary application.
now it seems the core force team has done so (it is based on another
piece of free software) and decided to stick to the apache license. as i
understand the license, it does not require the author (core force) to
release the source code, it just gives permission to users to
re-distribute it ("in Source or Object form"), although the source is
not provided by the author, so the users would be allowed to
re-distribute the source /if they received it/.
all together, it seems to me that corelabs are not strictly violating
the license, they are just using it unusually, but if this was possible,
the usual assumption "it is released under a Free license, so it has to
be Free software" would not hold.
what am i wrong about?
chrysn
ps: i have not modified the wp article yet as of awaiting the outcome of
this thread, but describing core force as Free software is definitely
wrong (contradicting the preconditions of freedom #1)
[1] http://force.coresecurity.com/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_force#License
[3] http://www.apache.org/foundation/licence-FAQ#WhatDoesItMEAN
http://www.noss123.com
Equitable Charge
A fixed equitable charge confers a right on the secured party to look to a
particular asset in the event of the debtor's default, which is enforceable
by either power of sale or appointment of a receiver. It is probably the
most common form of security taken over assets.
An equitable charge is also a non-possessory form of security, and the
beneficiary of the charge (the *chargee*) does not need to retain possession
of the charged property.
Where security equivalent to a charge is given by a natural person (as
opposed to a corporate entity) it is usually expressed to be a bill of sale,
and is regulated under applicable bills of sale legislation. Difficulties
with the Bills of Sale Acts in Ireland, England and Wales have made it
virtually impossible for individuals to create floating charges.
Floating Charge
*Main article: Floating charge*
Floating charges are similar in effect to fixed equitable charges once they
crystallise (usually upon the commencement of liquidation proceedings
against the chargor), but prior to that they "float" and do not attach to
any of the chargor's assets, and the chargor remains free to deal with or
dispose of them.
1. Mythbusting MS-OOXML
2. First Swedish Fellowship meeting held in Gothenburg
3. Free Software on Exit festival 2007, Novi Sad, Serbia
4. Freedom in the hills: the Bergtagung
5. GNU GPL licence confirmed once again in a court of law
6. Submit Free Software projects to the Trophées du Libre
7. Ongoing work of spreading GNU GPLv3 understanding
8. Tell a friend about the Fellowship, share this newsletter
1. Mythbusting MS-OOXML
Microsoft has been busy trying to spin the debate on its proprietary
office format Microsoft Office OpenXML in ways to suggest that it was
open, accessible, good for archival and enrolled the help of several of
its partners to make it seem like there was no danger of lock-in. FSFE
has engaged in mythbusting the archival myth, the conversion myth and
the myth of openness and accessibility in the past month(s).
The links below provide a solid initial reference for you to explain
why MS-OOXML should be avoided by companies and especially governments.
http://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-questions-for-mshttp://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-converter-hoaxhttp://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-questions
2. First Swedish Fellowship meeting held in Gothenburg
The first Swedish Fellowship meeting was held at ITUniversitetet in
Gothenburg on the 4th of July. FSFE representatives presented the
Fellowship, GPLv3, SELF, EU and Richard Stallman's activities in
Sweden for 2007. Many of the participants wanted to engage more in
FSFE activities, and it was agreed that it would be useful to have a
public mailing list for communication. Immediate future plans are to
run a workshop in Gothenburg with a focus on GPLv3.
3. Free Software in Exit Festival 2007, Novi Sad, Serbia
Members of the Serbian team participated in a public event related to
Free Software and Open Standards at the Exit 2007 music festival in
Novi Sad. Ivan Jelić participated in the "Free and Open" discussion on
MyExit stage, the MyExit social network gathering. He spoke about the
four freedoms and the social impact of Free Software, with
participation from representatives of other active organizations
related to Free Software and the regional representative of Red Hat.
A day after MyExit stage performance, Ivan Čukić delivered a speech
on the Agora stage, a place dedicated for Serbian and regional NGO
sector. Ivan introduced the basic principles of Free Software to the
audience, speaking about Free Software Network Serbia, FSFE and
current projects and activities.
http://www.fsfe.org/en/fellows/attitude/escape_to_freedom/free_software_on_…
4. Freedom in the hills: the Bergtagung
Between the 20st to the 22nd of July 2007 FSFE Fellows Ramon Cahenzli
and Alex Antener organised an event called Bergtagung in the Swiss
alps. In a small village called Siat, hackers, media artists and geeks
met for hiking, drinking beer, discussing conspiracies and grilling
in a beautiful landscape. This is the second time this event has taken
place, with a third planed for next summer. For more information
check the website:
http://bergtagung.org
5. GNU GPL licence confirmed once again in a court of law
The terms of the GNU GPL licence have been confirmed as binding once
again, with a German court ruling that VoIP company Skype was failing
to uphold its obligations as a distributor. Skype had been selling a
Free Software-based telephone without meeting the terms of the GNU GPL
licence. Harald Welte of gpl-violations.org, the Freedom Task Force's
partner project, was the plaintiff in the case. Shane Coughlan, FTF
coordinator, pointed out in a press release that this case showed
the important of adhering to the terms of the GNU GPL, and stressed
that companies cannot ignore their obligations. The FTF offers
personal assistance for businesses using Free Software.
http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2007q3/000182.htmlhttp://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2007q3/000180.html
6. Submit Free Software projects to the Trophées du Libre
FSFE President Georg Greve has been invited to preside over the jury
of the fourth Trophées du Libre, an award for the most innovative and
promising Free Software projects from numerous countries. This
important event promotes emerging technologies, thus encouraging
greater adoption, and has a clear focus on the professional promotion
of Free Software. If you feel that your favourite projects have not
yet achieved the fame they deserve, now is the time to spread the word
and to get them involved!
http://www.tropheesdulibre.org/IMG/pdf/Trophees_du_libre_EN.pdfhttp://www.tropheesdulibre.org/-Inscrivez-votre-projet-.html?lang=enhttp://www.cetril.org/
7. Ongoing work of spreading GNU GPLv3 understanding
Since the publication of GPLv3 a month ago, FSFE has been replying to
questions from free software projects and legal experts. Questions
range from how projects can migrate from other licences to GPLv3, to
how specific clauses of GPLv3 work and how they benefit the free
software community. Some work has also been required to rebut
misleading articles, but the number of such articles has been
pleasantly low.
http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/
8. Tell a friend about the Fellowship, share this newsletter
You can help FSFE and the Fellowship by making sure more people know
about the Fellowship. Please consider spreading the word at your local
user groups and with your friends in the technology world. Don't
forget to let them know about our Fellowship crypto card! Maybe a
good way to start is by sharing a copy of this newsletter with people
who might be interested.
http://fsfe.org/en/abouthttps://fsfe.org/en/fsfeuser/registerhttps://fsfe.org/en/card
You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html
Copyright (C) FSFE. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire
article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.
Today the BBC made it official -- they have been corrupted by Microsoft.
With today's launch of the iPlayer, the BBC Trust has failed in its most
basic of duties and handed over to Microsoft sole control of the on-line
distribution of BBC programming. From today, you will need to own a
Microsoft operating system to view BBC programming on the web. This is
akin to saying you must own a Sony TV set to watch BBC TV. And you must
accept the Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) that the iPlayer
imposes. You simply cannot be allowed to be in control of your computer
according to the BBC.
http://defectivebydesign.org/blog/BBCcorrupted
Coming? Sign up below.
London: http://www.defectivebydesign.org/BBCSignUp
Manchester: http://www.defectivebydesign.org/BBCSignUpManchester
Also, if you can digg, that'd be great! :)
matt
FYI.
Please help spread the word.
Thanks,
Georg
[ http://www.fsfe.org/fellows/greve/freedom_bits/submit_your_free_software_pr… ]
Submit your Free Software projects for the Trophees du Libre
Monday 30 July 2007
[1] Cetril, the "Centre Europeen de Transfert et de Recherche en
Informatique Libre" is once again organising the [2] Trophees du
Libre, an award for Free Software projects in various categories,
focussed on unknown and innovative projects. The web page is now [3]
open for registration and you can download the [4] PDF leaflet
here. Deadline for registrations is 1 October 2007.
Having participated as part of the jury last year, I can say that this
event has left me with a very positive impression: A clear focus on
Free Software, professional organisation where the finalists' present
themselves in the afternoon to the responsible parts of the jury, and
a very nice award ceremony.
Prizes for the 2007 awards include financial support for the projects
from EUR 500 to EUR 3000, laptops, books, and other goodies. The idea
of the award is to give new, young and hitherto unknown projects a
chance of support, recognition and visibility. So don't hesitate and
submit your project today.
1. http://www.cetril.org/
2. http://www.tropheesdulibre.org/?lang=en
3. http://www.tropheesdulibre.org/-Inscrivez-votre-projet-.html?lang=en
4. http://www.tropheesdulibre.org/IMG/pdf/Trophees_du_libre_EN.pdf
--
Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org>
Free Software Foundation Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
Join the Fellowship and protect your freedom! (http://www.fsfe.org)
What everyone should know about DRM (http://DRM.info)