[for immediate release]
FSFE to challenge Microsoft in its appeal against
European Commission
(Essen/Luxemburg) The European Commission sought to help the IT market
grow in the best possible way for consumers and citizens of the
European Union with its antitrust ruling against Microsoft.
EU Commissioner Mario Monti imposed a penalty of nearly 500 millions
Euro and additional conditions. One of these is the publication of the
software interfaces. This information is important for example to the
Free Software project SAMBA. SAMBA connects the UNIX and GNU/Linux
World with Microsoft's operating systems. Via this gateway SAMBA
reduces customers addiction of the monoculture which is fostered by
the Redmond based software giant. Without the information on the
interfaces SAMBA cannot work properly.
Although it seems questionable whether that ruling would truly stop
the monopoly, Microsoft seems to be worried and has entered appeal
against it in front of the European Court.
After having participated as third party in the antitrust case before,
the Free Software Foundation Europe has participated to the
preliminary hearing on Tuesday 27th of July 2004 to enter court in
order to defend the decision of the European Commission and the
freedom to use Free Software SAMBA.
Among general interests of Free Software, the FSFE will specifically
be representing the interests of the SAMBA team, a Free Software
cooperation developing the only remaining competing implementation of
the SMB/CIFS protocols that permit interoperability between various
operating systems and the MS Windows family.
The Italian lawyer Carlo Piana, of the milanese firm Tamos Piana &
Partners, will represent the interests of FSF Europe and of SAMBA
team, the developers of the remaining alternative implementation of
the SMB/CIFS protocols that permits interoperability between various
operating systems and the MS Windows family. He commented: "FSFE
simply could not remain outside this litigation. The decision of the
Commission represents an important precedent which is of utmost
importance in the sofware market and for the whole society. Freedom,
not just money, is at stake. I am therefore very proud of this
appointment".
"This case is about preserving the last remaining obstacle to total
Microsoft dominance of the Microsoft-compatible server market. It is
not only about defending freedom for users, but mainly freedom of
businesses." says Georg Greve, president of the FSFE, adding "We call
on all businesses to support us in this struggle. Those who ignore
that call today have to expect to have only one choice to buy storage
and directory services from tomorrow."
Information about the FSFE fundraising campaign can be found at
http://fsfeurope.org/news/2004/news-20040701.en.htmlhttp://fsfeurope.org/help/donate.en.html
More background information on the Microsoft investigation is available
on http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ms-vs-eu/ms-vs-eu.en.html
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.
http://fsfeurope.org
Press Speaker:
Joachim Jakobs <jj at office.fsfeurope.org>
Cell: +49-179-6919565
Other Contacts:
Georg C. F. Greve <greve at fsfeurope.org>
Tel: +49-40-23809080
Fax: +49-40-23809081
Stefano Maffulli <maffulli at fsfeurope.org>
Tel: +39 02 34 537 127
Fax: +30 02 34 531 282
Cel: +39 347 14 93 733
More information for the press available at
http://fsfeurope.org/press/
FSFE to challenge Microsoft in its appeal against European Commission
The European Commission sought to help the IT market grow in the best
possible way for consumers and citizens of the European Union with its
antitrust ruling against Microsoft.
EU Commissioner Mario Monti imposed a penalty of nearly 500 millions
Euro and additional conditions. One of these is the publication of the
software interfaces. These informations are important for example to
the Free Software project SAMBA. SAMBA connects the UNIX and GNU/Linux
World with Microsofts operating systems. Via this gateway SAMBA
reduces customers addiction of the monoculture which is fostered by
the Redmond based software giant. Without the informations on the
interfaces SAMBA cannot work best.
Although it seems questionable whether that ruling would truly stop
the monopoly, Microsoft seems to be worried and has entered appeal
against it in front of the European Court.
After having participated as third party in the antitrust case before,
the Free Software Foundation Europe has participated to the
preliminary hearing on Tuesday 27th of July 2004 to enter court in
order to defend the decision of the European Commission and the
freedom to use Free Software SAMBA.
Among general interests of Free Software, the FSFE will specifically
be representing the interests of the SAMBA team, a Free Software
cooperation developing the only remaining competing implementation of
the SMB/CIFS protocols that permit interoperability between various
operating systems and the MS Windows family.
The Italian lawyer Carlo Piana, of the milanese firm Tamos Piana &
Partners, will represent the interests of FSF Europe and of SAMBA
team, the developers of the remaining competing implementation of the
SMB/CIFS protocols that permits interoperability between various
operating systems and the MS Windows family. He commented: "FSFE
simply could not remain outside this litigation. The decision of the
Commission represents an important precedent which is of utmost
importance in the sofware market and for the whole society. Freedom,
not just money, is at stake. I am therefore very proud of this
appointment".
"This case is about preserving the last remaining obstacle to total
Microsoft dominance of the Microsoft-compatible server market. It is
not only about defending freedom for users, but mainly freedom of
businesses." says Georg Greve, president of the FSFE, adding "We call
on all businesses to support us in this struggle. Those who ignore
that call today have to expect to have only one choice to buy storage
and directory services from tomorrow.
Information about the FSFE fundraising campaign can be found at
http://fsfeurope.org/news/2004/news-20040701.en.htmlhttp://fsfeurope.org/help/donate.en.html
More background information on the Microsoft investigation is available
on http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ms-vs-eu/ms-vs-eu.html
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.
http://fsfeurope.org
Contacts:
Georg C. F. Greve <greve at fsfeurope.org>
Tel: +49-40-23809080
Fax: +49-40-23809081
Stefano Maffulli <maffulli at fsfeurope.org>
Tel: +39 02 34 537 127
Fax: +30 02 34 531 282
Cel: +39 347 14 93 733
More information for the press available at
http://fsfeurope.org/press/
1. Georg Greve in South America
2. Wizards of OS
3. Firenze Tecnologia becomes Patron of FSF Europe
4. Sources-switch, the Italian coordination effort of communities
5. Introducing Matthias Kirschner
6. GNU/Linuxtag in Karlsruhe
7. Strengthening the global Free Software network
8. Demonstration against software patents
9. Introducing the translators team
10. Fundraising campaign
1. Georg Greve in South America
Georg Greve continued his visit to South America by taking part in
several events in La Plata, Porto Alegre, Sao Paulo and Brasilia. A
summary of his most important activities in South America as well as
some pictures are available online at
http://www.fsfeurope.org/events/2004/FISL/fisl.en.html.
2. Wizards of OS
The third "Wizards of OS" conference took place in Berlin from June
10th, 2004 until June 12th, 2004. Georg Greve took part in the WSIS
(World Summit on the Information Society) panel.
3. Firenze Tecnologia becomes Patron of FSF Europe
To facilitate the technological innovation of the region Toscana and
the province of Firenze, Firenze Tecnologia (a company owned by the
Chamber of Commerce of Firenze) is investing on Free Software for the
technological innovation of the Toscana territory. Firenze Tecnologia
has therefore decided to protect their investement financing the work
that FSF Europe is doing for defending and promoting Free Software in
Europe. It is a very important success for the activities of FSFE,
since the donation is included in a wider strategical plan to support
innovation, in which Free Software and freedom play a central role.
4. Sources-switch, the Italian coordination effort of communities
Too many times our community have faced attacks from outside. Given
the growing importance of Free Software in all aspects of life, the
members of the main italian associations promoting Free Software have
founded a common working group, the "sources switch", aimed at
coordination and information exchange. Sofar the associations are
Chapter Italy of FSF Europe (FSFE-I), Associazione Software libero
(AsSoLi), Italian Linux Society (ILS), ROSPA and the business
Consortium Italicum Ratione Soluta (CIRS). The group will provide a
framework for promotional events organized by each association, and
will define a common strategy to increase effectiveness. Members
participate to the works as individuals, but they have agreed to
promote the initiatives within their organizations. The group met in
Avellino from April 28 through 30; results of the discussions include
an initial agenda, setting up of a secretary and a press office, a
common position on software patents and open standards, and a schedule
for the next meetings.
5. Introducing Matthias Kirschner
Matthias Kirschner has joined the FSF Europe team as Georg Greve's
Assistant. He will mainly help with administrative tasks such as
moderating mailing lists or coordinating the President's numerous
appointments. While he currently contributes as a volunteer, he will
work as an intern from September 2004 to March 2005.
6. GNU/Linuxtag in Karlsruhe
GNU/Linuxtag is one of the major Free Software events in Europe. Like
every year, the FSF Europe was present there with a well visited booth.
Georg Greve and Bernhard Reiter held speeches on the basic principles
of Free Software.
7. Strengthening the global Free Software network
The FSF Europe was happy to share it's GNU/Linuxtag booth with several
people from outside Europe. Federico Heinz is the president of Via
Libre, an Argentinian foundation for Free Software. Hong Feng from
China is the publisher of the Free Software Magazine, and Fumitoshi
Ukai, Niibe Yutaka, and Takatsugu Nokubi are members of the Free
Software Initiative Japan. The possibility to mutually share the
experiences was very positive not only for the guests but also for the
FSF Europe.
8. Demonstration against software patents
More than 1000 people demonstrated against software patents on June 24
in Karlsruhe. Along with several other speakers, Georg Greve expressed
his hope that the European Union will not give in under the pressure of
the strong lobby pushing for patentability of algorithms.
9. Introducing the translators team
With the growing attention the FSF Europe attracts in many countries,
the need has arised to build up a flexible, responsive, and well
coordinated translator team. Translating and proofreading texts is a
precious contribution to the work of the FSF Europe and an excellent
chance to spontaneously take part in the activities of the FSF Europe
without long-term obligations. You can find more information on:
http://www.fsfeurope.org/contribute/translators.en.html
10. Fundraising campaign
In order to be able to extend its activities, the FSF Europe has
started a fundraising campaign. The web page
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/2004/news-20040701.en.html contains more
details.
You can find a list of all FSF Europe newsletters on
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html
Dear Professor Bullinger,
"Research should be able to earn its money also on the market!" - say
politicians – so we, the Free Software Foundation Europe, understand
when researchers use creative ways to get a better income. But even
researchers should take care not to bite the hand that feeds them. This
danger
is real, especially with the actual software patent discussion:
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is well known for its patent of the MP3
audio-compression standard. Another compression procedure, named Ogg
Vorbis,
is considered to be of higher technological value by experts. If software
patents should indeed be introduced in Europe, the Ogg Vorbis developers
could be confronted with license claims at will by the Fraunhofer IIS [1],
although they took care not to infringe the MP3 patent. The FhG might be
able to get rid of an unpleasant competitor or would at least better its
income substantially. We will avoid a discussion of the ethical questions
related to such a behaviour.
But it certainly is not very useful from the economical point of view if a
good idea blocks an even better one: this is also shown by Dr. Daniel
Probst
of the chair of Economy and Economical Theory at the University of
Mannheim.
Dr. Probst stated in a hearing of the German parliament regarding software
patents in June 2001 [2]:
"The part of SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) would sink and a
concentrational process would begin. Based on network effects, a few large
enterprises would gain a dominant place on the market. As far as allowed by
competition regulations, they would agree on cross-licensing their patent
portfolios and would hinder market entry of new companies with blocking
patents. The research intensity in the branch would stagnate or fall."
There
would also be a significant decrease of Free Software solutions.
Personally I regret every single point of the above. There are many more
deficiencies, some of them have been shown to the new German president,
Professor Köhler, in an open letter in June [3]. A particular important
point
for you as head of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft should certainly be the
quote
"The part of SME would sink...", especially regarding the fact that,
according to the German government [4], the FhG is taking 60 percent of its
research orders from SMEs.
Another point to take into consideration would be that big companies
might move
the research to the eastern parts of the European Union, because they can
find in Poland and other newly entered EU countries perfectly competent
software developers at a fraction of actual costs.
For Europe's greatest research society in the field of "information and
communication technology", this could mean not only the disappearance of
their project partners but, even worse, the dying of the companies which
FhG
wanted to live of. "Sawdust is falling since quite a certain time, the
splintering of the branch is imminent."
Kind Regards
Georg Greve
[1] http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/
[2] http://swpat.ffii.org/events/2001/bundestag/probst/index.de.html
[3]
http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release-de/2004q2/000030.html
[4] http://www.bmbf.de/pub/inno-masterplan.pdf
--
Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org>
Free Software Foundation Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
GNU Business Network (http://mailman.gnubiz.org)
Brave GNU World (http://brave-gnu-world.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.
http://fsfeurope.org
Free Software “…should be seen, then, as more than just a
different kind of product. It is a different kind of process for
building, maintaining and changing the rules that govern
information flows."- according to a United Nations. The
institution working for Free Software in Europe is the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). Its success is well known:
"FSFE does a great job - for example by protecting the rights of
free software developers. Therefore we support the FSFE", says
Paul Salazar, director of marketing for the GNU/Linux Distributor
Red Hat in Europe, the middle East and Africa. He is not alone
with this positive view. Says Horst Nebgen, Vice President,
Novell, Central Europe and Managing Director, Novell, Germany:
"Novell released the installation and configuration tool "YAST"
(yet another setup tool) under the GPL (GNU General Public
License), to make it accessible for every developer. The GPL -
and therefore the FSFE by which it is published, maintained and
protected - guarantees transparency and independence from a
platform. This assures that through the ability of Free Softwarte
to innovate, the already proverbial stability, security and broad
network support continue to evolve and advance. Therefore for
Novell, the Free Software Foundation Europe is an important
partner on its way into the future.
"We are of course very happy about this praise", says Georg
Greve, President of the FSFE. "What makes this public
appreciation particularly significant is that the FSFE never
spared with criticism of these very companies when it seemed
necessary. Obviously the job done by the FSFE is appreciated even
if we are uncomfortable at times. This independence from
politics, industry and other associations is a prerequisite for
our present successes and the basis for our continued work."
The projects of the FSFE are multifaceted: participation in the
German government's delegation at the "World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS)", consulting with the European Union
during the establishment of the framework programmes,
participation in AGNULA, a project to build a fully Free Software
distribution for professional musicians and multimedia authors
and also the maintenance and advancement of the GNU General
Public License (GPL). This diversity costs a lot of money:
travels round the world, production of information and marketing
material, personnel cost.
The FSFE Coordinator for Germany, Bernhard Reiter, illustrates
the background: "We want to pursue our projects at the highest
level. Moreover we observe an increasing demand for support of
the public: we are asked to give speeches and to consult on
licensing Free Software. We would like to do all of this. But
without funding our hands are tied.
--
Joachim Jakobs <jj(a)office.fsfeurope.org>
Press Speaker - FSF Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
In der Roede 24, 64367 Mühltal (Tel: +49-179-6919565)