= FSFE wants to better protect Free Software licenses from bankruptcy =
[Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20120730-01.en.html ]
When the companies or authors that license Free Software enter
bankruptcy there is a risk that granted Free Software licenses will face
legal challenges in some jurisdictions. FSFE is now trying to prevent
this situation in Germany. The expert institution ifrOSS supported by
FSFE suggests German Ministry of Justice to include a specific Free
Software clause in the German Insolvency Code.
It is not entirely clear what can happen to the Free Software licenses
that were granted by rights holders either before or after they went
bankrupt. This lack of clear rules could greatly endanger functioning of
the Free Software, which depends on the contributions from numerous
rights holders.
Some time ago, German Ministry of Justice published an initiative to
improve the regulation of licenses during the insolvency proceedings. As
a response, ifrOSS (Institute for Legal Questions on Free and Open
Source Software) supported by FSFE now prepared the suggestion of the
Free Software clause that could effectively remove the problems
specifically associated with the Free Software. The clause ensures that
Free Software licensing model would not be negatively affected by a
bankruptcy of a licensing rights holder. It makes it clear that any
offer to grant Free Software license made before the licensor's
bankruptcy can be accepted by anyone even after the bankruptcy
proceedings started.
FSFE asks the German Ministry of Justice to consider this proposal
favourably as it can greatly contribute to the legal certainty of the
Free Software based industries, such as automotive, mechanical
engineering and IT field.
ifrOSS together with FSFE asks the government to include the following
clause in the newly proposed § 108a of the Insolvency Code
(/Insolvenzordnung, InsO/):
Original version: "(4) Wenn der Schuldner durch Lizenzvertrag
unentgeltlich ein einfaches Nutzungsrecht für jedermann einräumt, so
findet die Regelung des § 103 InsO keine Anwendung. Das vom Schuldner
vor des Insolvenzverfahrens abgegebene Angebot auf Abschluss eines
solchen Lizenzvertrags, kann auch nach Eröffnung angenommen werden."
English version: "(4) When the debtor grants somebody a non-exclusive
right by means of a license agreement without consideration, the rule
stipulated in § 103 Insolvency Code shall not apply. Debtor's offer to
conclude such license agreement made before the initiation of the
insolvency proceedings can be also accepted after the insolvency
proceedings have been initiated."
Shall the Free Software face similar problems in other jurisdictions, we
kindly invite you to contact us or take similar steps.
FSFE works for the public good. Its activities can be supported by
signing up at http://fsfe.org/support
== Further links ==
- Legislative Initiative of the German Ministry of Justice (de)
http://www.der-betrieb.de/content/pdfft,0,466327
- The press release of ifrOSS (de)
http://www.ifross.org/artikel/vorschlag-des-ifross-insolvenzrechtlichen-fra…
- The entire proposal of ifrOSS (de)
https://www.ifross.de/ifross_html/120506%20Stellungnahme%20InsO.pdf
== 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.
http://fsfe.org/
Contact: Matthias Kirschner, Free Software Foundation Europe,
Linienstr. 141, 10115 Berlin, t +49-30-27595290, m +49-1577-1780003
= City of Helsinki Wants To Keep Software Costs Secret =
[Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20120711-01.html ]
The IT department of the city of Helsinki claimed in a report to the
city board that migrating to OpenOffice would cost is over 21 million
euros. On 10th of April 2012, FSFE filed a Freedom of Information
request, asking the city how it had arrived at a surprisingly high cost
estimates for running OpenOffice (now LibreOffice) on the city's
workstations. The city of Helsinki has now denied this request[1]and has
stated that it will not release any details about the calculations.
"This secrecy is truly disappointing. If anyone was looking to Helsinki
for a pragmatic assessment of the costs and benefits of Free Software,
this should make them reconsider," says Otto Kekäläinen, FSFE's
Finland coordinator. The city's administration insists that its
calculations are based on a secret formula provided by a consultancy.
Even if one were to accept that business secrets should be more
important than the interests of Helsinki's citizens, the city could and
should still release the numbers that it put into the formula. This
could be such information as the estimated cost per seat, or estimated
annual costs for support. "If Helsinki won't explain how they came by
their figures, how can anyone take those numbers seriously?" asks
Kekäläinen.
Johanna Sumuvuori, member of Helsinki's city council, has been pushing
for greater use of Free Software in the city's administration since
2010. Together with 50 out of 85 members of Helsinki's city council, she
is now urging the city[2]to at least provide users with up-to-date
LibreOffice installs in parallel with the proprietary office suite
currently in use.
During 2011, the city of Helsinki ran a pilot project, trying out the
Free Software suite as a secondary office suite on all 21 000 city
workstations and on as the sole office suite on 600 laptops provided to
city trustees. After the pilot ended in December 2011, a report by the
city claimed that the cost of using OpenOffice/LibreOffice would cost
70% more than the current proprietary office suite.
FSFE's analysis points to a number of severe deficiencies[3]in both the
pilot project and the report. Even though the city's claims appear
unrealistic, Helsinki's administration refuses to explain how the
figures were calculated.
FSFE is running a project to improve public sector procurement
practices[4]in Finland. Public sector bodies frequently make mistakes in
their calls for tender by requesting tenders for specific brands and
product names, thus discriminating competitors. FSFE works with public
bodies to fix mistakes in calls for tender, and to spread best practices
on how to increase true competition and thus better quality for a more
competitive price.
FSFE works for the public good. Its activities can be supported by
signing up at fsfe.org/support[5]
1. news-20120711-01-attachment-helsinki-foia-denial.pdf
2. http://www.sumuvuori.net/node/178
3. http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20120412-02.en.html
4. http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20120619-01.en.html
5. http://fsfe.org/support
== Contact ==
=== Finland ===
Otto Kekäläinen
FSFE Coordinator, Finland
otto(a)fsfe.org
=== +358 44 566 2204International ===
Karsten Gerloff
FSFE President
gerloff(a)fsfe.org
+49 176 9690 4298If you wish to receive further updates, subscribe to
our press release mailing list at http://fsfe.org/press
== 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.
http://fsfe.org/