|
|
|
|
|
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<html newsdate="2012-07-04" type="newsletter">
|
|
|
|
|
|
<version>1</version>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<title>FSFE Newsletter - July 2012</title>
|
|
|
|
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h1>FSFE Newsletter - July 2012</h1>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>"Secure Boot": Who will control your next computer?</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>The FSFE's goal is to ensure that the owners of IT devices are always
|
|
|
|
|
|
in full
|
|
|
|
|
|
and sole control of them. This fundamental principle is recently being
|
|
|
|
|
|
challenged. For maintaining sustained growth in the development and use of
|
|
|
|
|
|
software, the broad availability of general purpose computers is crucial. This
|
|
|
|
|
|
month the FSFE published <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="/freesoftware/secure-boot.html">its
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Secure Boot" analysis</a>.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>We demand that before purchasing a device, buyers must be informed concisely
|
|
|
|
|
|
about the technical measures implemented in this device, as well as the
|
|
|
|
|
|
specific usage restrictions and their consequences for the owner.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Furthermore, we strongly recommend to exclusively purchase IT devices which
|
|
|
|
|
|
grant their owners full, sole and permanent control over security subsystems
|
|
|
|
|
|
(e. g. signature-based usage restrictions), in order to maintain the ability to
|
|
|
|
|
|
install arbitrary software and lastly to retain exclusive control over ones own
|
|
|
|
|
|
data.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>European Court of Justice confirms: We are right!</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<blockquote><p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
We always said "They are willing to deal with everybody, but those who
|
|
|
|
|
|
compete with them." Meaning, proposing conditions against Free Software is an
|
|
|
|
|
|
abuse. Microsoft replied "change your business model to suit our licensing
|
|
|
|
|
|
scheme and you'll be served", or "Free what? Who the hell are you, what's
|
|
|
|
|
|
your turnover", or dismissals like this. Apart from annoying, they were
|
|
|
|
|
|
wrong. (<a href="http://piana.eu/msft_ends">Carlo Piana</a>, who represented
|
|
|
|
|
|
the FSFE and the Samba Team)</p></blockquote>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>This month the European Court of Justice has ordered Microsoft to finally
|
|
|
|
|
|
pay a record fine of 860 million euros for using its near-monopoly on the
|
|
|
|
|
|
desktop to keep rivals out of the workgroup server market.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Microsoft spent over 3.000.000.000 EUR to buy third parties out of <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="/activities/ms-vs-eu/ms-vs-eu.html">this case</a>. But for a decade, we
|
|
|
|
|
|
continued to participate in the case, to assert the rights of Free Software
|
|
|
|
|
|
developers to access interoperability information, especially for the Samba
|
|
|
|
|
|
Team. Samba is a Free Software to share files and printers in a network
|
|
|
|
|
|
competing with Microsoft's proprietary product.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="/activities/ms-vs-eu/ms-vs-eu.html">This decision</a> establishes
|
|
|
|
|
|
that we were right: Receiving the interoperability information was our right as
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free Software community, not a concession by Microsoft.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Spain won the Championship! What about Finland?</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Interesting times in the European Free Software Championship. <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/guido/2012/07/euro2012-final-spain-vs-norway/">Spain
|
|
|
|
|
|
won the European Free Software Championship</a> with 4:3 against Norway.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks to referee <a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/guido">Guido Arnold</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
we did
|
|
|
|
|
|
not receive any reports of fouls during the alternative games. Outside those
|
|
|
|
|
|
games the FSFE also works on fairness.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>We have started an initiative to advance fair public procurements in
|
|
|
|
|
|
Finland, to lower the barrier for Free Software in the Finnish public sector.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The initiative concentrates on IT related procurement notices that require
|
|
|
|
|
|
brand instead of defining functionality required by the procurer. To date the
|
|
|
|
|
|
FSFE has skimmed over 300 procurement notices, and of those taken into closer
|
|
|
|
|
|
analysis, 14 have been found to clearly violate the Finnish procurement law.
|
|
|
|
|
|
These violating notices explicitly asked for tenders of specific brands of
|
|
|
|
|
|
software manufacturers or products and thus discriminate all other brands and
|
|
|
|
|
|
manufacturers, effectively stopping free competition.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>The FSFE contacts the violating authorities and informs them about the
|
|
|
|
|
|
specific violation the notice contains, <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="/news/2012/news-20120619-01.html">including a six item list of
|
|
|
|
|
|
recommendations to ensure proper competition</a>.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Something completely different</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>The FSFE's former legal coordinator <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://lwn.net/Articles/501490/">Shane Coughlan launched
|
|
|
|
|
|
OpenRelief</a>. The project is aimed at developing
|
|
|
|
|
|
inexpensive—"disposable"—drone aircraft to assist relief teams in
|
|
|
|
|
|
detecting
|
|
|
|
|
|
people, changes in terrain, smoke, radiation, and other conditions in places
|
|
|
|
|
|
that may be difficult or dangerous for on-the-ground exploration.</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/repentinus/english/2012/06/02/linuxtag-akademy-2012/">After
|
|
|
|
|
|
meeting other Fellows at Linuxtag in Berlin</a>, Heiki Ojasild decided to
|
|
|
|
|
|
hold a <a href="http://pdfreaders.org">PDFreaders</a> sprint at Akademy in
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tallinn, Estonia. On July 4th <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/repentinus/english/2012/06/16/fsfe-pdf-readers-sprint-at-akademy-2012/">
|
|
|
|
|
|
everyone is invited</a> to <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="/activities/pdfreaders/pdfsprint.html">follow our PDF Readers Sprint
|
|
|
|
|
|
Guide</a> stopping public bodies from restricting the users' freedom and
|
|
|
|
|
|
unfairly distorting the competition in favour of certain proprietary software
|
|
|
|
|
|
makers.</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>The FSFE's president <a href="
|
|
|
|
|
|
https://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2012/06/04/common-sense-in-the-basque-country/">Karsten
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gerloff welcomes</a> the Basque Country's move to introduce a policy that
|
|
|
|
|
|
software developed with public funds will be released as Free Software by
|
|
|
|
|
|
default.</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>The draft for the UK Communications Bill outlines how civil servants are
|
|
|
|
|
|
intent on surveilling the internet communications of British citizens. <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="/news/2012/news-20120616-01.html">Sam Tuke</a> wrote about how to use
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free Software to protect your privacy online, regardless of the measures that
|
|
|
|
|
|
the Coalition may impose upon you or your telecoms providers.</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li><b>UPDATE: The European Parliament rejected
|
|
|
|
|
|
ACTA. (04/07/2012)</b><br />The FSFE has been <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="/news/2012/news-20120607-01.html">asking
|
|
|
|
|
|
activists across Europe</a> to protest against the Anti-Counterfeiting
|
|
|
|
|
|
Trade Agreement (ACTA). Our aim is that the European Parliament finally
|
|
|
|
|
|
rejects this controversial treaty, which would greatly harm citizens'
|
|
|
|
|
|
rights. The Parliament will hold a plenary vote on ACTA on 4th of July.</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>A bit sarcastic: some people are wondering <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://blog.crysys.hu/2012/06/stuxnet-duqu-flame-open-source-license-questions-v0/">
|
|
|
|
|
|
who was violating the GNU GPL with StuxNet</a>.</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>And in the upcoming month, the FSFE will be present at the <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://2012.rmll.info/">RMLL</a> (Libre Software Meeting) in Geneva,
|
|
|
|
|
|
and as you can see on <a href="/events/">our event page</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Richard Stallman is giving talks in the Czech Republic, Germany, and
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spain.</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>A selection from the <a href="https://planet.fsfe.org">Fellowship blog
|
|
|
|
|
|
aggregation</a>:</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>Fellowship representative <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://blog.hugoroy.eu/2012/06/13/facebook-update-their-terms-of-service-but-were-watching-them/">
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hugo Roy commented on Facebook's updates of the terms of service</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
(that is the document most people never read, but everyone agrees to when
|
|
|
|
|
|
they sign up to services online).</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>Mirko Böhm <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://www.agile-workers.com/web/2012/06/leadership-strategy-and-qt/">is
|
|
|
|
|
|
analysing why Nokia is laying off 10.000 employees, including 700 core Qt
|
|
|
|
|
|
developers?</a></li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>A Federal US Judge says APIs are not copyrightable. Read more in <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://piana.eu/api">Carlo Piana's article</a>, and learn why
|
|
|
|
|
|
copyright in software is not the same copyright as the one granted to
|
|
|
|
|
|
literary works.</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>Hannes Hauswedell wrote a triology (<a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/h2/2012/06/04/a-versatile-open-and-future-proof-audio-setup-part-0/">part
|
|
|
|
|
|
0</a> <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/h2/2012/06/06/a-versatile-open-and-future-proof-audio-setup-part-1-overview/">part
|
|
|
|
|
|
1</a>, and <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/h2/2012/06/14/a-versatile-open-and-future-proof-audio-setup-part-2-storage/">part
|
|
|
|
|
|
2</a>) about a versatile, open and future-proof audio setup.</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<li>And finally, read why it might somtimes be <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://bergie.iki.fi/blog/how-do-i-turn-this-off/">complicated to
|
|
|
|
|
|
really "try turning it off and on again"?</a>.</li>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Get Active: Whom should we ask next?</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Every time your editor reads <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/fellowship-interviews">a Fellowship interview</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
he feels proud to work for the FSFE with all those amazing people. Again
|
|
|
|
|
|
this month
|
|
|
|
|
|
when <a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/fellowship-interviews/?p=605">Bjarni Runar
|
|
|
|
|
|
Einarsson was interviewed</a> about PageKite, an application which
|
|
|
|
|
|
allows the publication of websites stored on personal computers. <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://pagekite.net/">PageKite</a> can be combined with other Free
|
|
|
|
|
|
Software to realise decentralisation.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Please help Chris Woolfrey and Sam
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tuke <a href="mailto:contact@fsfe.org">by suggesting</a> other Fellows
|
|
|
|
|
|
for an interview. You can also participate in our <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="/contribute/editors/editors.html">editors team</a> to help
|
|
|
|
|
|
interviewing people and editing other publications. And finally, if you know
|
|
|
|
|
|
interesting people in the Free Software community who are not yet Fellows (it
|
|
|
|
|
|
is hard to believe, but your editor heard rumours they still exist), convince
|
|
|
|
|
|
them to become a Fellow, so we can make new interesting interviews for
|
|
|
|
|
|
you.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Thanks to all the <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">Fellows</a> and
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="donate/thankgnus.html">donors</a> who enable our work,<br/>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="/about/people/kirschner">Matthias Kirschner </a> - <a
|
|
|
|
|
|
href="/">FSFE</a></p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>-- <br />
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="/index.html">Free Software Foundation Europe</a><br />
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="/news/news.rss">FSFE News</a><br />
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="/events/events.rss">Upcoming FSFE Events</a><br />
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml">Fellowship Blog
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aggregation</a><br />
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="/contact/community.html">Free Software Discussions</a> </p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<tags>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<tag key="newsletter"/>
|
|
|
|
|
|
</tags>
|
|
|
|
|
|
</html>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!--
|
|
|
|
|
|
Local Variables: ***
|
|
|
|
|
|
mode: xml ***
|
|
|
|
|
|
End: ***
|
|
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
