"The Free Software Foundation Europe gathers members and volunteers at
the Free and Open Source Software Developers Meeting in Brussels"
Between the 16th and 17th of February, 2002, the Free and Open Source
Software Developers Meeting will take place in Brussels,
Belgium. Among the visitors will be Richard M. Stallman, president of
the Free Software Foundation and Georg C. F. Greve, president of the
Free Software Foundation Europe.
FOSDEM will also host the Free Software Foundation Award Ceremony. The
FSF Award For the Advancement of Free Software is handed out annually
to honor someone who has contributed significantly to further the Free
Software Movement. Earlier award winners include Larry Wall, Miguel de
Icaza and Brian Paul.
The FSF Europe will also meet internally during the FOSDEM event to
discuss the future of Free Software in Europe and elsewhere. An open
round table discussion on the topic will take place if there is
sufficient interest.
Additionally, the FSF Europe would like to welcome all members of the
press to FOSDEM where they will have the opportunity to meet many of
the foundation members and volunteers who would be happy to talk about
the issues of Free Software.
About the Free and Open Source Developers Meeting:
FOSDEM (renamed from The Open Source and Free Software Developers
Meeting to underline the importance of Free Software) was first held
in 2001 and was attended by more than 1200 visitors during its two day
conference, making it one of the larger Free Software events in
Europe.
More information: http://www.fosdem.org/
About the Free Software Foundation Europe:
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition -
allow equal participation in the information age. 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 FSF Europe, which was founded in 2001 as the
European sister organization of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
More information: http://fsfeurope.org/
Contact:
Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)gnu.org>
Tel: +49-40-23809080
Fax: +49-40-23809081
Further press contact information is available at
http://fsfeurope.org/press/.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Free Software Foundation
Bradley M. Kuhn <pr(a)gnu.org>
Phone: +1-617-542-5942
FSF Files Statement on Microsoft Judgment under Tunney Act
Washington, DC, USA - Tuesday, January, 29, 2002 - Eben Moglen, board
member and general legal counsel to the Free Software Foundation,
yesterday filed a response to the Proposed Revised Final Judgment in
United States vs. Microsoft. The FSF seeks to remove verbiage added by
Microsoft that we believe would eliminate the value of the settlement by
preventing Free Software systems from competing effectively against
Windows products.
Moglen reiterated today: "The language of the Proposed Judgment should be
amended to require Microsoft to release timely and accurate API
information to all parties seeking to interoperate programs with Microsoft
Windows and applications written to work with Microsoft Windows."
The Proposed Judgment allows Microsoft to specifically block such
interoperation through two specific methods. First, under the Proposed
Judgment, Microsoft can keep API information out of the hands of Free
Software developers through the imposition of royalty requirements. Large
groups of cooperating volunteers are both logistically and financially
unable to pay such royalties for access to APIs. Royalty charges for
Microsoft API access would slow to a halt Windows interoperability work by
their most viable competitor, the Free Software GNU/Linux operating
system. Free Software developers have by the nature of their development
model always given unfettered access to their APIs, and we ask that
Microsoft be required to do the same.
Second, the Proposed Judgment includes broad language concerning the
disclosure of communications protocols. This provision is so indefinite
that Microsoft will likely argue that all APIs and communications
protocols connected with the security and authentication aspects of
electronic commerce can be kept secret. Industry standard security
practices currently demand that all such protocols be publicly known and
documented. Under this Judgment, Microsoft would be permitted to keep
these private from both Free Software and the public relying on them for
their privacy and security.
The full FSF response to the Proposed Revised Final Judgment is available
at http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/ms-doj-tunney.html.
About GNU/Linux:
GNU/Linux is the integrated combination of the GNU operating system with
the kernel, Linux, written by Linus Torvalds in 1991.
Some people call the GNU/Linux system "Linux", but this misnomer leads to
confusion (people cannot tell whether you mean the whole system or the
kernel, one part), and spreads an inaccurate picture of how, when and
where the system was developed. Making a consistent distinction between
GNU/Linux, the whole operating system, and Linux, the kernel, is the best
way to clear up the confusion. See
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html for more explanation.
About the Free Software Foundation:
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of Free (as
in freedom) Software - particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants - and Free Documentation for Free Software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software. Their web site, located at
http://www.fsf.org, is an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
They are headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press(a)gnu.org>
http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press
[ for immediate release ]
[ URL: http://fsfeurope.org/news/article2002-01-18-01.en.html ]
"Portuguese National Association for Free Software becomes associate
of the Free Software Foundation Europe"
The FSF Europe gladly announces that the Portuguese "Associação
Nacional para o Software Livre" (ANSOL) is now an associate
organization of the Free Software Foundation Europe.
ANSOL has joined the FSF Europe to actively support its activities and
work for free software in Europe and to facilitate cooperation with
organizations in other Portuguese-speaking countries.
The first important task ANSOL is currently working on is the study of
the implications for free software of the European Union Copyright
Directive and other European and national legislation.
"This collaboration is a very important step for the Portuguese and
European free software community. Problems faced by the free software
community in Portugal are similar to those faced in other European
countries; by joining forces with FSFE we can solve this problems more
efficiently" said Jaime Villate, founding member of ANSOL.
"Creating an associated organization is usually the first important
step to bring the FSF Europe to another country," says Georg Greve,
President of Free Software Foundation Europe. "We are glad that people
in Portugal wish to become part of our vision for a Europe united in
Free Software."
About ANSOL:
ANSOL is a recently born non-profit association with the primary goal
of promoting Free Software in Portugal.
More information: http://www.ansol.org/
About the Free Software Foundation Europe:
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition -
allow equal participation in the information age. 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 FSF Europe, which was founded in 2001 as the
European sister organization of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
More information: http://fsfeurope.org/
Contact:
Europe
Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)gnu.org>
Tel: +49-40-23809080
Fax: +49-40-23809081
France
Frederic Couchet <fcouchet(a)april.org>
Tel: +33 6 60 68 89 31
Germany
Bernhard Reiter <bernhard(a)intevation.de>
Tel: +49-541 - 335 08 - 33
Italy
Alessandro Rubini <rubini(a)gnu.org>
Tel: +39-0382-529.554 (o .424)
Fax: +39-0382-529.424
Sweden
Jonas Öberg <jonas(a)gnu.org>
Tel: +46-31-546211
Further press contact information is available at
http://fsfeurope.org/press/