= Cyber Resilience Act & Free Software: Parliament waters down its own position =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230719-01.nl.html ]
The European Parliament today voted on its position on the Cyber
Resilience Act (CRA). While the position improves on the Commission's
exemption to protect Free Software, it fails to introduce a proper
protection . We call on the institutions to put the burden of liability
only on those who significantly financially benefit from the market,
while protecting developers and non-profit work.
The Commission’s proposal to exclude Free Software “outside the course
of a commercial activity” would fail to address a large part of software
that will not be covered but is deployed. At the same time, smaller and
non-profit projects would be harmed as they would have to bear major
costs.
Therefore we have already proposed a solution that will lead to more
security while safeguarding Free Software:
1. Liability should be shifted to those *deploying* Free Software
instead of those *developing* Free Software and
2. Those who significantly financially benefit from this deployment
should make sure the software becomes CE-compliant
While the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO), a
committee for opinion in CRA, backed our demand and voted for the
protection of Free Software developers in the Cyber Resilience Act, the
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) introduced less far
reaching protections with today's vote. Regular corporate donations or
contributions by corporate employees to a project could turn non-profit
work into a “commercial activity”, and thus lead to liability.
/Alexander Sander, FSFE Senior Policy Consultant explains:/ "With
today's vote, the EU Parliament has watered down its own position.
Placing the burden of liability on small or non-profit entities that
rely on regular donations would harm the Free Software and thus society
and business alike. Due to the lack of funding and resources to go
through the proposed procedures to become CE compliant, some of these
projects might have to stop completely. We call on the institutions to
find a compromise that safeguards the Free Software ecosystem while
shifting liability to those who significantly financially benefit from
the deployment” /./ Interinstitutional negotiations will start start
soon and should be concluded this year if possible. You can read more
here [1].
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-01.nl.html
== Over de Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is een goed doel dat gebruikers in staat
stelt om technologie te controleren. Software is sterk verweven met
alle aspecten van onze levens. Het is belangrijk dat deze technologie
ons tot iets in staat stelt in plaats van ons te beperken. Vrije
Software geeft iedereen het recht om software te gebruiken, te
begrijpen, aan te passen en te delen. Deze rechten helpen het
ondersteunen van andere fundamentele vrijheden zoals de vrijheid van
meningsuiting, pers en privacy.
De FSFE helpt individuen en organisaties begrijpen hoe Vrije Software
bijdraagt aan vrijheid, transparantie en zelfbeschikking. We verbeteren
gebruikersrechten door het opheffen van barrières voor de adoptie van
Vrije Software, moedigen mensen aan om Vrije Software te gebruiken en te
ontwikkelen en voorzien in middelen om iedereen in staat te stellen
Vrije Software in Europa verder te promoten.
https://fsfe.org
= EU Parliament intends to widen participation in the Interoperable Europe Board =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230719-02.nl.html ]
Today the EU Parliament’s Committee responsible for the Interoperable
Europe Act has adopted its final position. It is a step forward towards
a more inclusive Interoperable Europe Board while it introduces clearer
indicators and statistics to monitor the progress of the Act. This
position must now be upheld during the upcoming trialogue.
Today the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) has voted on
its final text of the Interoperable Europe Act which is an improvement
of the Commission proposal. The EU Parliament has introduced the
possibility for relevant stakeholders to participate with observer
status in the Interoperable Europe Board meetings and activities,
including within those, the Free Software community.
Furthermore, the EU Parliament has also followed our demand [1]
suggesting the introduction of clearer objectives and statistics, that
will allow to evaluate and properly measure the progress of the
activities that will fall under this Act. Especially, when it comes to
monitoring the use and uptake of Free Software solutions among public
administrations.
“The inclusion of relevant stakeholders and experts, such as the Free
Software community, in the Interoperable Europe Board must be part of
the final text of the Interoperable Europe Act. Likewise, proper
monitoring and evaluation procedures need to be set up to improve and
adapt the interoperability of Europe in the long run. We, therefore,
call upon the EU Parliament, especially the rapporteur Ivars Ijabs, to
safeguard its position during the upcoming trialogue and to not allow
any backwards step”, /mentions Lina Ceballos, FSFE Policy Project
Manager./ The ITRE Committee has also voted with a large majority to
enter the inter-institutional negotiations. This means that the European
Parliament must now defend its position and anchor it to the final text
which will be negotiated together with the Council and Commission in the
coming weeks. This is of high importance bearing in mind that the latest
compromise text of the Council is hindering the inclusion of relevant
stakeholders [2] in the governance structure of this Act.
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-02.nl.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230623-01.nl.html
== Over de Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is een goed doel dat gebruikers in staat
stelt om technologie te controleren. Software is sterk verweven met
alle aspecten van onze levens. Het is belangrijk dat deze technologie
ons tot iets in staat stelt in plaats van ons te beperken. Vrije
Software geeft iedereen het recht om software te gebruiken, te
begrijpen, aan te passen en te delen. Deze rechten helpen het
ondersteunen van andere fundamentele vrijheden zoals de vrijheid van
meningsuiting, pers en privacy.
De FSFE helpt individuen en organisaties begrijpen hoe Vrije Software
bijdraagt aan vrijheid, transparantie en zelfbeschikking. We verbeteren
gebruikersrechten door het opheffen van barrières voor de adoptie van
Vrije Software, moedigen mensen aan om Vrije Software te gebruiken en te
ontwikkelen en voorzien in middelen om iedereen in staat te stellen
Vrije Software in Europa verder te promoten.
https://fsfe.org