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119 lines
4.4 KiB
119 lines
4.4 KiB
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
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<html>
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>Democracy and Free Software</title>
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</head>
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<body class="article">
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<p id="category">
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<a href="/freesoftware/freesoftware.html">Free Software</a>
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</p>
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<h1>Democracy requires Free Software</h1>
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<p>
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Throughout history technology has influenced society. Reading,
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writing, arithmetic, agriculture, printing and radio are all examples
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of developments that changed the way we interact through trade, art and science.
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The most important cultural technology of the 21st century is software. The
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Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is committed to ensuring that
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people in our society have the right to shape this technology as they see fit.
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</p>
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<p>
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Today it is impossible to imagine daily life without software.
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The majority of us can't spend a single day without using
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it. People use software in the
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workplace, on laptops, and on mobile phones. Software is also found in
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less obvious places however: in trains, cars,
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televisions, washing-machines, fridges, and many other devices. None
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of these devices could function without software. Without software we
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couldn't write e-mails, make phone calls, go shopping, or travel as we
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are accustomed to. Software is our society's central tool.
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</p>
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<h2>Unchained</h2>
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<p>
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When others control a tool as important to us as software, they are
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able to exert great influence over our actions. Whoever controls the search
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engine that we use determines what we find. He who controls our e-mails
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has the opportunity to censor us. Simply put, control of a communication
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service entails the ability to decide who can exchange
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what with whom. Similarly whoever decides how software operates has great
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influence over how we live and work.
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</p>
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<p> In modern democracies power is separated. We distribute legislative,
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executive and judiciary powers between different institutions. Furthermore
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we distribute responsibilities between several levels of competence, e.g.
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central government, regional government, and local government. A key
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function of the freedom of the press is to safeguard against the formation
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of an informational monopoly, where too much power would be concentrated in
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too few hands. A key benefit of effective democracy is that you could give any
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office inside the democratic system to your worst opponent.
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</p>
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<p>
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It would represent a great danger to democracy if the critical social instrument
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that software constitutes were controlled by only a small group. Not
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only does our communication depend on software, but
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also a big part of society's infrastructure. FSFE wants to voice the
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interests of computer users, and to hand control of software's future to
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everybody. Society cannot afford to be dependant on private interests when it
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comes to a tool as important as software.
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</p>
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<h2>Freedom</h2>
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<p>
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Our society must ensure that everybody has the opportunity to shape
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software for themselves. This requires that we have the freedom to use
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software for any purpose, to study how it works, to share it with others,
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and to make improvements.
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<strong>Use:</strong> The freedom to use the software for any
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purpose fights discrimination, and ensures equal opportunity for
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everyone to participate in the society.
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</li>
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<li>
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<strong>Study:</strong> The freedom to study how software functions is
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central to an understanding of how this critical tool works.
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</li>
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<li>
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<strong>Share:</strong> The freedom to distribute the software
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ensures that we can assist others by sharing it with them.
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</li>
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<li>
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<strong>Improve:</strong> Lastly, a society must have the freedom to change
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its tools in order to develop them, and to adapt them to personal needs.
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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Software that respects these four freedoms is Free Software.
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</p>
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<p>
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A democratic society needs firm foundations. One of these foundations is Free
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Software.
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</p>
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</body>
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<author id="kirschner" />
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<date>
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<original content="2010-04-23" />
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</date>
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<sidebar/>
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</html>
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