FSFE calls on Microsoft to release interoperability information
without restrictions
The European Commission has fined Microsoft 899 million Euro for
anti-competitive behaviour by restricting access to interoperability
information through unreasonable royalty payments prior to October
2007. This is in addition previous fines of 497 million Euro and 280
million Euro applied in the same investigation, resulting in a total
penalty of 1.676 billion Euro.
"Microsoft is the last company that actively promotes the use of
software patents to restrict interoperability. This kind of behaviour
has no place in an Internet society where all components should connect
seamlessly regardless of their origin," says Georg Greve, president of
the Free Software Foundation Europe.
"The idea that interoperability information for software can be
restricted by software patents is simply unacceptable," comments Shane
Coughlan, head of FSFE's Freedom Task Force. "The Commission is now
recognising this issue in the context of understanding that patent
royalties can distort the market. We have to ensure that such
distortion does not occur again. If Microsoft wants to act in good
faith it should release all the interoperability information for its
products on a royalty free basis."
"Microsoft have abused their monopoly position to prevent competition
and choice," says Jonas Oberg, vice-president of Free Software
Foundation Europe. "Yesterday's decision by the Commission is step
towards correcting this but Microsoft are still reaping the benefits of
their abuse. We need to act to restore a free market in European software."
Context - The European Commission press release:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/318&format=HT…
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.
Contact:
You can reach the FSFE switchboard from:
Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57
Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73
Sweden: +46 31 7802160
Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66
UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7
Media contact: Shane Coughlan, FTF Coordinator, FSFE extension: 408
mobile: +41792633406
Further information: http://fsfeurope.org
FSFE calls on Microsoft to release interoperability information
without restrictions
The European Commission has fined Microsoft 899 million Euro for
anti-competitive behaviour by restricting access to interoperability
information through unreasonable royalty payments prior to October
2007. This is in addition previous fines of 497 million Euro and 280
million Euro applied in the same investigation, resulting in a total
penalty of 1.676 billion Euro.
"Microsoft is the last company that actively promotes the use of
software patents to restrict interoperability. This kind of behaviour
has no place in an Internet society where all components should connect
seamlessly regardless of their origin," says Georg Greve, president of
the Free Software Foundation Europe.
"The idea that interoperability information for software can be
restricted by software patents is simply unacceptable," comments Shane
Coughlan, head of FSFE's Freedom Task Force. "The Commission is now
recognising this issue in the context of understanding that patent
royalties can distort the market. We have to ensure that such
distortion does not occur again. If Microsoft wants to act in good
faith it should release all the interoperability information for its
products on a royalty free basis."
"Microsoft have abused their monopoly position to prevent competition
and choice," says Jonas Oberg, vice-president of Free Software
Foundation Europe. "Yesterday's decision by the Commission is step
towards correcting this but Microsoft are still reaping the benefits of
their abuse. We need to act to restore a free market in European software."
Context - The European Commission press release:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/318&format=HT…
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.
Contact:
You can reach the FSFE switchboard from:
Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57
Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73
Sweden: +46 31 7802160
Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66
UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7
Media contact: Shane Coughlan, FTF Coordinator, FSFE extension: 408
mobile: +41792633406
Further information: http://fsfeurope.org
Microsoft pledge excluding primary competitors
Yesterday's media briefing by Microsoft on its its pledge to release
interoperability information for flagship products contained little
actual news. Over the years Microsoft has made multiple similar pledges
and they at times proved to be detrimental rather than beneficial for
interoperability. Examining the terms of the Microsoft's latest action
shows no major change of policy.
The announcement confirmed that Microsoft was planning to use its
software patent portfolio against interoperating products by requiring a
patent license for all commercial activity. [2] This is consistent with
its previous attempts at allowing competition only where it provides no
actual challenge to its monopolies.
Microsoft's patent licences are incompatible with Free Software, the
primary competitor to Microsoft in many markets. Almost all major
competitors have made significant investments in Free Software and built
substantial parts of their business on the principles of freedom of
competition and innovation.
Free Software's freedoms to use, study, share and improve software
without additional restrictions are key to the success and utility of
Free Software in both commercial and non-commercial ICT
infrastructure. They are also the basis for many of today's working
examples of interoperability and competition.
Microsoft's announcement contains little more than a statement that they
will support interoperability only under terms that disallow fair
competition. Their press statements may indicate otherwise, but terms
of release highlight this explicitly. There has never been a shortage
of promises by Microsoft, but results are what must be considered rather
than words.
Regrettably, the lack of substance in the pledge and the timing suggest
that Microsoft is primarily hoping for positive media coverage and not an
examination of the substance of their limited interoperability release.
It can be no coincidence that delegates are meeting in Geneva for the
Ballot Resolution Meeting (BRM) during this period to discuss serious
issues in the proposed MS-OOXML format [3], through which Microsoft aims
to reaffirm their control over standards in the global marketplace. [4]
If Microsoft truly means to facilitate interoperability and fair access
they should spare delegates the BRM, retract MS-OOXML from ISO and
converge this work into the global effort for the Open Document Format,
the existing Open Standard at ISO for office documents.
They should also release full interoperability information for all their
products without restrictions of any kind.
[1] http://mailman.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2006q1/000126.html
[2] http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/feb08/02-21ExpandInteroperabi…
[3] http://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-idiosyncrasies
[4] http://news.zdnet.co.uk/leader/0,1000002982,39292519,00.htm
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.
Further information: http://fsfeurope.org
[ http://documentfreedom.org/News/20080220 ]
Introducing Document Freedom Day
26 March: A global day for document liberation
Sign up your DFD team today!
The Document Freedom Day (DFD) is a global day for Document Liberation
with grassroots action for promotion of Free Document Formats and Open
Standards in general. The DFD was initiated and is supported by a group
of organisations and companies, including, but not limited to, the Free
Software Foundation Europe, ODF Alliance, OpenForum Europe, IBM, Red Hat
and Sun Microsystems, Inc.
On 26 March 2008, the Document Freedom Day will provide a global
rallying point for Document Liberation and Open Standards. It will
literally give teams around the world the chance to "hoist the flag":
A "DFD Starter Pack" containing a flag, t-shirt, leaflets and stickers
is in preparation and is planned to be sent out in the first weeks of
March to the first 100 teams that sign up. Sixteen teams already signed
up during the preparation phase of the DFD prior to this release. Sign
your team up now!
"We're proud to support this global effort to encourage open and
inclusive information exchange," said Marino Marcich, Managing Director,
OpenDocument Format Alliance. "Document freedom means creating,
exchanging, and preserving your electronic documents without having to
buy software from a particular vendor."
"Data lock-in and subsequent vendor lock-in are some of the most severe
issues users are facing today," says FSFE president Georg Greve. "Yet
most people only realise this connection when it is too late and they
have effectively lost control over their own data. We are supporting the
Document Freedom Day to help raise awareness for this issue by starting
with something that affects pretty much all users of computers: text
documents, spreadsheets and presentations."
"Free document formats and open standards are important elements in the
continued expansion of the global open source community," said Tom
Rabon, executive vice president, Corporate Affairs at Red Hat. "Red Hat
strongly supports Document Freedom Day and encourages participation by
all who look forward to the day when documents are controlled by those
who own them, not necessarily by those who create the technology to
access those documents."
Simon Phipps, Chief Open Source Officer, Sun Microsystems stated, "As I
explained in my paper "Freedom to Leave" [*], it's fundamental in the
emerging market for people to be free to use any software they desire to
handle their data. I fully support the goals of Document Freedom."
[*] http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dhb29vwq_3dzb2cs
Alexandre Oliva of the Free Software Foundation Latin America (FSFLA)
comments: "When you save your documents using a Free Open Standard
format such as ODF, you're also saving your own future, ensuring your
continued ability to access, decode and convert their contents."
Graham Taylor Director of OpenForum Europe: "OpenForum Europe applauds
the announcement of Document Freedom Day. The whole essence of
'openness' is captured by the right of users, citizens,
governments... to be able to freely access and exchange documents today
and in the future. Nothing gives greater meaning to the prevalent danger
of lock-in to proprietary solutions, and for the need for Government to
act now."
About the Document Freedom Day:
The Document Freedom Day (DFD) is a global day for Document
Liberation. It is a day of grassroots effort around the world to
promote and build awareness for the relevance of Free Document Formats
in particular and Open Standards in general. The DFD is supported by a
large group of organisations and individuals, including, but not
limited to Ars Aperta, COSS, Esoma, Free Software Foundations Europe
and Latin America, IBM, NLnet, ODF Alliance, OpenForum Europe, OSL,
iMatix, Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, Inc., The Open Learning Centre,
Opentia, Estandares Abiertos.
The list of DFD supporting groups can be found at
http://documentfreedom.org/Who
The list of DFD teams is available at
http://documentfreedom.org/Category:Teams
Further information:
http://documentfreedom.org
Contact:
contact(a)documentfreedom.org
Graham Taylor graham(a)openforumeurope.org
Ivan Jelic jelic(a)fsfeurope.org
Kerri Catallozzi kcatallo(a)redhat.com
Marino Marcich mmarcich(a)odfalliance.org
Marko Milenovic milenovic(a)fsfeurope.org
Terri Molini terri.molini(a)sun.com
FSFLA info(a)fsfla.org
FSFE's Freedom Task Force today announces the first European Licensing and
Legal Workshop for Free Software will be held on Friday the 11th of April in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The venue for this meeting is the
InterContinental Amstel Hotel.
The event is targeted towards large projects and medium to large enterprises
wishing to discuss their existing licence compliance processes. Parties
attending are expected to contribute to issues ranging from process
development through to optimising purchasing contract language for the
benefit of the European Free Software community.
Harald Welte and Armijn Hemel will be attending to represent
gpl-violations.org, and Dr. Till Jaeger will deliver a talk on licence
enforcement. Ciaran O'Riordan (FSFE Brussels and patent issue
representative), Shane Coughlan (FSFE legal coordinator) and Marko Milenovic
(FTF team member) will represent FSFE.
This workshop has limited space available and therefore attendance is by
invitation only. Projects and companies interested in attending this event
should contact the FTF at ftf(a)fsfeurope.org.
The European Licensing and Legal Workshop for Free Software is one of the
activities of FSFE's Freedom Task Force, also known as the FTF. The FTF is an
infrastructure project that can help individuals, projects and businesses
understand Free Software licensing and the opportunities that it presents. The
FTF works in partnership with gpl-violations.org to deal with licence
violations in the European arena.
The FTF undertakes several activities, ranging from the operation of a
European Legal and Technical Network which currently covers sixteen European
countries and with contacts around the world through to delivering training
and consultancy in Free Software licensing. It provides a variety of services
for individuals, community projects and commercial businesses with the aim of
fostering best practice throughout the industry.
For more information about the FTF or the first European Licensing and Legal
Workshop please contact the FTF:
The Freedom Task Force can be emailed at ftf(a)fsfeurope.org
Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57 ext 408
Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73 ext 408
Sweden: +46 31 7802160 ext 408
Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66 ext 408
UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7 ext 408
The Freedom Task Force website is located at http://www.fsfeurope.org/ftf/
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.
Further information: http://fsfeurope.org
January has been a month full of activity both on the grassroots community
level and in broad topics like Free Software legal infrastructure. The local
Fellowship groups in Berlin and Duesseldorf are very active, and Duesseldorf's
Fellowship is planning to expand to nearby cities in the coming months.
Meanwhile, FSFE and gpl-violations.org have been deepening their partnership
to ensure fair use of Free Software licences in the European area.
This is a great time to get more involved with FSFE and the Fellowship,
especially if you are interested in fostering local activities for like-minded
Free Software enthusiasts or new members of our community. You can find
tips on getting active here: http://fsfeurope.org/contribute.
Shane, FSFE Zurich office
1. GPL-violations.org and FSFE's Freedom Task Force plan future interaction
2. NLnet continues to support FSFE's Freedom Task Force
3. Berlin Fellowship meeting and talk
4. Duesseldorf Fellowship meeting and planning future events
5. FSFE meeting in Göteborg, Sweden
6. SELF Open Documentary Contest
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
7. Richard Stallman Speech about Free Software Philosophy and History in Berlin, 2008-02-18
8. Preparation for FOSDEM, Brussels, 2008-02-23 and 2008-02-24
9. "Standards and the Future of the Internet" Conference, Geneva, 2008-02-26
10. Secure shell speech at Duesseldorf Fellowship, Duesseldorf, 2008-02-27
1. GPL-violations.org and FSFE's Freedom Task Force plan future interaction
On the 31st of January representatives from gpl-violations.org and FSFE's FTF
met in Berlin to discuss the future of licence compliance in the European area.
Harald Welte and Armijn Hemel discussed the perspective of the successful
gpl-violations.org project, while Shane Coughlan represented FSFE. Dr. Till
Jaeger attended one of the sessions and brought his considerable legal knowledge
to the conversation. GPL-violations.org and FSFE's FTF have agreed to work
closely together to ensure fair use, understanding and responsibility in the
use of Free Software licences.
http://laforge.gnumonks.org/weblog/2008/02/02/#20080202-gplviolations-meeti…
2. NLnet continues to support FSFE's Freedom Task Force
The initial phase of the FTF was possible thanks to support by the Netherlands
based philantropic organisation NLnet foundation. Today the FTF's legal and
technical networks cover sixteen European countries, have over seventy members
and include contacts from the USA, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan.
The FTF delivers training courses in Switzerland in cooperation with Digicomp,
in Sweden with Internet Academy and in The Netherlands with ATComputing. Now,
after just over twelve months of continual growth, NLnet is providing a second
round of financial support to this innovative legal project.
http://fsfeurope.org/news/2008/news-20080118-01.en.html
3. Berlin Fellowship meeting and talk
The Berlin Fellowship Group met at the Newthinking Store as usual and featured
a talk from Hannes Hauswedell about the free BSD operating systems. Discussion
centred around BSD variants as alternative Free operating systems, description
of the various BSD variants and the policies that the BSD projects have
regarding Free Software adoption.
If you would like to join in the fun, please note that the Berlin Fellowship
meets every second Thursday in the month at the Newthinking Store,
Tucholskystr. 48 in 10117 Berlin.
4. Duesseldorf Fellowship meeting and planning future events
The Duesseldorf Fellowship met as usual and discussed future plans. This
included a highly interesting and constructive discussion about having a booth
at the Labour's Day 1. May at Duesseldorf. The Fellowship will share their
booth with other organisations. Chaosdorf e.V. (the local CCC group,
http://www.chaosdorf.de) may attend. The Fellowship also planned meetings
in other cities like Cologne and Roermond/NL to intensify the contact to other
Fellows.
Get in contact with the Duesseldorf Fellowship: rk(a)office.fsfeurope.org
5. FSFE meeting in Göteborg, Sweden
The Swedish team of the FSFE organised a small meeting for those
interested in the FSFE activities on the 28th of january. Some of the
issues discussed focused around publishing the videos recorded during
FSCONS in december, and generally around video editing and mastering.
6. SELF Open Documentary Contest
The SELF (Science, Education and Learning in Freedom) project has
announced a SELF Open Documentary Contest where individuals and
companies are invited to "create a documentary about the creation of
free knowledge and education in the digital era". The contest runs
until the end of may 2008, and the winners will be presented during a
SELF conference in Spain in july 2008.
http://www.selfproject.eu/contest
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
7. Richard Stallman Speech about Free Software Philosophy and History in Berlin, 2008-02-18
On Monday 18. February at 19:00 Richard M. Stallman, founder of the GNU project
and the FSF, will give a speech at the mediacentre - Atrium, Johannisstrasse 20,
in 10117 Berlin-Mitte. He will talk about the history and philosophy of Free
Software. The Berlin Fellowship group will have a small booth there and inform
visitors about the local groupd and FSFE's work in Germany and Europe. Admission
starts at 18:30. The entrance fee is 5 EUR.
8. Preparation for FOSDEM, Brussels, 2008-02-23 and 2008-02-24
Many in FSFE are getting ready for FSFE's 7th trip to FOSDEM. Like previous
years, FSFE has been given a large stall just inside the main entrance.
FOSDEM is one of the year's two largest Free Software events where FSFE's
members, friends, and employees can meet each other and the free software
community. It's also an opportunity to buy t-shirts and other FSFE
material, and to join the Fellowship of FSFE - which we launched at FOSDEM
2005.
If you're at the event or nearby, drop in an say hi! FOSDEM is very much a
community focussed event, with no entrance fee, but you can donate if you
like.
http://fosdem.org/2008/
9. "Standards and the Future of the Internet" Conference, Geneva, 2008-02-26
Shane Coughlan, the coordinator of FSFE's Freedom Task Force, will host a
breakout session discussing licensing issues at the "Standards and the Future
of the Internet" Conference being held in Geneva, Switzerland, during the 26th
and 27th of February. The conference will be hosted at the International
Conference Centre and confirmed speakers include Vint Cerf, Carlo Piana,
Thomas Vinje and Jeremy Allison.
10. Secure shell speech at Duesseldorf Fellowship, Duesseldorf, 2008-02-27
Patrick Haehnel will hold a talk at the Duesseldorf Fellowship on the 27th of
February. The title of his speech is "Forget the Swiss Army Knife! - Secure
Shell - tips'n'tricks."
You can find a full list of forthcoming events here:
http://fsfeurope.org/events/events.html
You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters here:
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html
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