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< title > FSFE: Stop unfair advertising - get your government to promote free PDF readers!< / title >
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< h1 > FSFE: Stop unfair advertising - get your government to promote free PDF readers!< / h1 >
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< p > The Free Software Foundation Europe calls on all Europeans to seek out < a href = "/activities/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.html" > advertisements for proprietary PDF readers on their government's
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websites, and report them< / a > . In addition, FSFE has prepared
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< a href = "/activities/pdfreaders/petition.html" > a petition< / a >
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demanding an end to such advertising practices, and encourages the
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public to < a href = "/activities/pdfreaders/petition.html" > sign it< / a > .< / p >
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< p > "Every time that state websites link to non-free applications and
encourage visitors to use them, they needlessly encourage citizens to
throw away their freedom", says Karsten Gerloff, FSFE's President.< / p >
< p > As websites such as < a href = "http://pdfreaders.org/" > pdfreaders.org< / a > demonstrate, Free
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Software PDF readers exist for all major operating systems. Fellows of
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FSFE launched the project in 2009 in response to public bodies' habit
of advertising a particular non-free product on their sites.< / p >
< p > FSFE's Fellowship Coordinator Matthias Kirschner comments: "What would
you think about a sign on the highway saying 'You need a Volkswagen to
drive on this road. Contact your Volkswagen dealer for a gratis test
drive'? When it comes to PDF readers, governments seem to think that
this is acceptable."< / p >
< p > Such endorsements give unfair advantage to whichever proprietary
product they recommend, and are often accompanied by inaccurate
statements presenting the application as the only available option.< / p >
< p > The hunt begins on September 13th, and will continue until October
17th 2010. Prizes will be awarded at the end of October to the
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individuals and groups who report the greatest number of proprietary software
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advertisements on government websites.< / p >
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< p > Happy hunting!< / p >
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