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<head>
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<title> FSFE's work in 2014</title>
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</head>
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<body microformats="h-entry">
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<h1 class="p-name">FSFE's work in 2014</h1>
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<p>We shape tomorrow's world by what we do today. FSFE helps people to
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understand how technology affects their rights and freedoms, and
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empowers them to determine their own path in the digital world. See
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what we achieved in 2014, and where we're going next!</p>
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<blockquote><p>Free Software has never been more necessary to
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journalists and activists throughout the world. FSFE helps shape a
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world where technology empowers us, instead of oppressing
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us. </p>
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<cite>Amaelle Guiton, journalist on hacker culture and privacy</cite></blockquote>
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<p>I would like to share with you an overview of the work we did
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during the year of 2014. The support of FSFE's Fellows and donors
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has let us reach more people than ever before, and has allowed us to
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make an important impact. It has also allowed us to invest time and
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effort into making FSFE more effective. Importantly in a time of
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countless industry front groups, their contributions have helped to
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keep FSFE the way we like it: Fiercely independent and oriented
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towards the long term.
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</p>
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<p>Please enjoy our annual overview. Thank you for helping us make the
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world a better place!</p>
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<div id="toc">
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#telling-the-world-about-free-software">Telling the world about Free Software</a></li>
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<li><a href="#changing-the-rules">Changing the rules</a></li>
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<li><a href="#our-free-software-legal-work">Our Free Software legal work</a></li>
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<li><a href="#making-fsfe-better">Making FSFE better</a></li>
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<li><a href="#fsfes-finances">FSFE's finances</a></li>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#where-fsfes-funds-come-from">Where FSFE's funds come from</a></li>
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<li><a href="#how-we-spend-the-money">How we spend the money</a></li>
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</ul>
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<li><a href="#whats-ahead-in-2015">What's ahead in 2015</a></li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<h2 id="telling-the-world-about-free-software">Telling the world about
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Free Software</h2>
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<p>Getting the Free Software message to as many people as possible is
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one of the main things we do at FSFE. Working with FSFE's Fellows,
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friends, and allies, we help people understand how software freedom
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lets them take charge of the technology in their lives.</p>
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<p>FSFE's Fellows are great ambassadors for software freedom. The
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Zurich Fellowship group really came alive this year. The group
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published a detailed position paper on the ability of Swiss public
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bodies to distribute Free Software, and set up a version of the Free
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Software pact campaign for local elections. These volunteers
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established a country team in Switzerland, ran a local Free
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Software Pact campaign, and published a position paper on the OpenJustitia
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case.</p>
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<p>Another team of Fellows got together to form a country team in the
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Netherlands which runs privacy cafes, booths at events, and boosts
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local Fellowship engagement.</p>
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<p>For this
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year's <em><a href="http://documentfreedom.org/news/2014/news-20140424-01.en.html">Document
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Freedom Day</a></em> campaign, we worked with volunteers around the
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world to explain and promote Open Standards at 51 events in 21
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countries.</p>
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<div class="captioned">
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<img src="graphics/dfd-venezuela.jpg"/>
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<p>Document Freedom Day
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in <a href="http://documentfreedom.org/events/events.en.html#event-20140329-02">El
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Tigre, Venezuela</a></p>
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</div>
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<p>In Munich, Germany, the local Fellowship group had a big media
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impact during the local elections in Munich this year, working to
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secure the city's use of Free Software amid political change. The
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group continues to closely follow the political process, and to build
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resistance in the city administration to the aggressive lobbying of
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some proprietary vendors.</p>
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<p><strong>Events and conferences</strong> are still the single best venue to
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establish personal links with people who might be interested in Free
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Software. We explained Free Software in talks, workshops, panel
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discussions, radio shows and several times on TV. For many of these
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events, FSFE's Fellows took charge of organising our participation and
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staffing the booth. In addition to the usual IT conferences and
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events, we expanded our reach to cover street festivals in Munich and
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Düsseldorf (Germany), as well as festivals and game conferences in
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Vienna. This new outreach angle worked well, and we want to be present
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at many other such events next year.</p>
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<p>Quite frequently, these events are also an opportunity for people
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to seek FSFE's help and support with moving their own organisations
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along the path to Free Software. In this way, we helped the protestant
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church in the German Rhineland
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to <a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2014/06/30/free-software-in-the-church-from-principles-to-practice/">build
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Free Software into its IT strategy</a>, and are currently engaged in a
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similar conversation with the European Commission and the European
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Parliament.</p>
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<div class="captioned">
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<img src="graphics/istanbul-nermin-kg.jpg"/>
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<p>Turkish DFD volunteer Nermin Canik and Karsten Gerloff in Istanbul</p>
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</div>
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<p>Of course, we don't just rely on campaigns and events. We spread
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the word about Free Software every day, and help others do the
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same. Often, our wonderful team of translators helps us do this in
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local languages. During 2014, our monthly newsletter was translated
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into six languages on average. The same volunteers help us make FSFE's
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website available in up to 30 languages.</p>
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<p>People who want to talk about Free Software to their friends and
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neighbours can order information packs through our website. We are
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currently sending out ten packs per month on average. People can order
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these free of
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charge <a href="/contribute/spreadtheword.html#promo-material">through
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our website</a>, though of course we appreciate donations to cover
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printing and shipping costs. Both our introductory Free Software
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leaflet and our F-Droid leaflet are available in five languages. We
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recently added a flyer on “email self defence” in German and
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English (more languages will be available soon); demand for this has
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been so great that we have already done three print runs of
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this. Volunteers distributed this flyer at the premiere screenings of
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the movie “Citizenfour”.</p>
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<h2 id="changing-the-rules">Changing the rules</h2>
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<p>Governments make the rules. By working with politicians and
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administrators, FSFE makes sure that laws and institutions put human
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rights and freedoms first.</p>
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<p>For the European elections in May 2014, we helped the French Free
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Software association April with the
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<em><a href="http://freesoftwarepact.eu">Free Software Pact</a></em>. We
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invited candidates in those elections to sign the pact, asking them to
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commit to using their European Parliament mandate to promote Free
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Software. Many of FSFE's Fellows got in touch with the candidates in
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their area to ask them. 33 of the pact's signatories are currently
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serving as Members of the European Parliament. We will repeat this
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effort for other elections. Preparations are currently under way for
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Switzerland's 2015 elections. With more resources available, we could
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put more time into following up with signatories, and using the
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contact we've built through the campaign to let them know what they
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should do in order to improve the situation for Free Software.</p>
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<div class="captioned">
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<img src="graphics/berlin-demo-eal.jpg"/>
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<p>Taking Free Software to street - Berlin</p>
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</div>
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<p>In order to put users in charge of their devices, we kept pushing
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on “<em>trusted computing</em>” and
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“<em><a href="/freesoftware/secure-boot.html">SecureBoot</a></em>”. We
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brought this issue with Germany's Federal Information Security
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Office, and to the ministries of economics and interior. At the EU
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level, we initiated conversations about alternatives such as
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CoreBoot. We are pushing to ensure that consumers have the
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possibility to install alternative operating systems on the devices
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they buy and own. Our goal is to use the progress we have made in
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Germany to create progress in other European countries, and finally
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put device owners in full control of their hard- and software.</p>
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<p>On <em>public procurement</em>, we pushed hard for the European
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Commission to improve the way it acquires software, in order to open
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up opportunities for Free Software and Open Standards. Using the
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EU's
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“<a href="http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/extending_or_replacing_ecs_contr">freedom
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of information</a>” mechanism, as well as parliamentary
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questions, we got the Commission to
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release <a href="https://download.fsfe.org/policy/procurement/">documents</a>
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about the way its contracts with Microsoft and other providers of
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non-free software are structured. We also obtained a document
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outlining the EC's [desktop software strategy] [pdf] for the coming
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years. This effort has opened the doors to several meetings with
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high-level IT decision makers in the Commission and the Parliament,
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and has enabled us to start a constructive conversation with them
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about what steps to take next. For example, the Commission has asked
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us to provide input to the next version of its “open source
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strategy”.</p>
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<p>The router that connects your home to the Internet should be under
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your control. That's why we have followed developments on the issue
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of <em>compulsory routers</em>. We have published position papers,
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and documented
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both <a href="/activities/routers/routers.html">the
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arguments</a> and
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the <a href="/activities/routers/timeline.html">process</a>
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in German, English, and Dutch. We supported other organisations with
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arguments and technical expertise, such as the Federation of German
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Consumer Organisations. Germany's ministry of economics is currently
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working on a draft law to enable free router choice for consumers,
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and prohibit compulsory routers.</p>
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<h2 id="our-free-software-legal-work">Our Free Software legal
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work</h2>
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<p>Freedom faces many challenges. FSFE builds networks among the
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people who can do most to break down the barriers on the way to a
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free society.</p>
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<p>We facilitate the world's largest network of legal experts on Free
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Software, with currently more than 360 members (up from 320 last
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year). Participating experts come from a wide range of backgrounds,
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from corporate legal departments to lawyers in private practice, and
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engineers with legal skills. The network serves to develop and
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spread best practices around Free Software, and increase
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acceptance. Several participants have called the network's annual
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meeting, the Free Software Legal & Licensing Workshop, the best
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event of its kind in the world.</p>
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<div class="captioned">
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<img src="graphics/ThereIsNoCloud.jpg"/>
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<p>Our favourite sticker this year.</p>
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</div>
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<p>This year, we
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also <a href="/news/2014/news-20140314-01.html">launched</a>
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the Asian Legal Network as a discussion forum specifically targeted
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at the companies in that region, which make most of the world's
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computing hardware and embedded devices. Run jointly with the Open
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Invention Network and the Linux Foundation, this group is intended
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to help those companies join the global conversation on Free
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Software best practices, and assist them in improving license
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compliance.</p>
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<p>FSFE's <a href="/activities/ftf/ftf.html">legal
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team</a> again handled several dozen inquiries from developers and
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companies about copyright, licensing, trademarks, patents, and many
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other aspects of Free Software. Our legal coordinator Matija Šuklje
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also answered lots of in-person questions at conferences and events,
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as well as at Ljubljana's CyberPipe hackerspace, where he works one
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day a week.</p>
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<h2 id="making-fsfe-better">Making FSFE better</h2>
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<p>This year, we set aside some time to review FSFE's goals, and the
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ways in which we pursue them. We conducted a stakeholder survey to
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learn more about the people who take an interest in FSFE, talked to
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many of our friends and allies in person about FSFE's work and
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direction, and reviewed our activities.</p>
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<p>With a small group of internal and external experts, we hammered
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out a better way to explain FSFE's purpose that concisely reflects
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the direction we want the organisation to take for the coming
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years. This was an intense and highly productive internal
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process. The results will become visible over time, as FSFE's edge
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grows sharper, and we become more effective than we already are.</p>
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<h2 id="fsfes-finances">FSFE's finances</h2>
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<p>This section is based on our financial results at the end of Q3
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2014. FSFE's information for previous financial years
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is <a href="/about/funds/index.html">available
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online</a>. We will post the final numbers for 2014 as soon as
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they become available.</p>
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<h3 id="where-fsfes-funds-come-from">Where FSFE's funds come from</h3>
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<p>FSFE has an annual budget of roughly 400,000 Euro. 35% of this is
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covered by Fellowship contributions. 25% is covered by sponsoring
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for specific activities (mostly the
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annual <a href="/activities/ln/llw.html">Free
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Software Legal & Licensing Workshop</a>,
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and <a href="http://documentfreedom.org">Document Freedom
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Day</a>). 20% comes from three big donors (Google, Linuxhotel and
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Red Hat), and 15% from smaller corporate or private donations
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(see <a href="/donate/thankgnus.html">our list of
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donors</a>. The rest comes from sources such as merchandise sales,
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speaker fees and so on.</p>
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<p>75% of FSFE's income is unrestricted, while 25% are tied to
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specific purposes -- mostly the sponsoring mentioned above.</p>
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<div class="captioned">
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<img src="graphics/rmll-fsfe-2014.jpg"/>
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<p>FSFE's booth at <a href="https://2014.rmll.info/">RMLL 2014</a>.</p>
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</div>
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<p>In sum, roughly half of FSFE's funds come from a limited number of
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large <a href="/donate/thankgnus.html">donors</a>
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and sponsors (and let's not forget
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our <a href="/donate/hardware.html">hardware
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donors</a>). The other half comes from countless small
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contributions from individuals and companies, in particular through
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the Fellowship. Fellowship contributions have shown reliable and
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constant growth, increasing by 164% since 2010. This is great, since
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they are the bedrock of FSFE's financial independence. In effect,
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they put us in the wonderful position to pursue our work for freedom
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without being worrying whether our initiatives might annoy our large
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donors.</p>
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<h3 id="how-we-spend-the-money">How we spend the money</h3>
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<p>This section is based on
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our <a href="/about/funds/2013.html">financial
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results for 2013</a>. We will publish the figures for 2014 as soon
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as they become available; the distribution of costs across different
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categories is going to be similar to the 2013 results.</p>
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<p>Across nearly all categories, our largest cost factor are staff
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salaries. We have a great team of experienced and dedicated people,
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and by paying them a living wage, we make it possible for them to
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dedicate their working time to Free Software.</p>
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<p>The largest cost center is public awareness, where we spent 30% of
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our funds in 2013. Most of this went into staff salaries for
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campaigns and general public awareness work. The rest paid for
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FSFE's participation in events (mostly travel-related costs) and
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informationation materials.</p>
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<p>About 22% of our spending went to FSFE's legal work. We used this
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to pay the salary of our legal coordinator, and travel to
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legal-related events. A large chunk of our spending in this category
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went towards organising the annual conference of the Legal Network;
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we cover the cost of these events through sponsoring and ticket
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sales.</p>
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<p>Roughly 13% of our 2013 spending went towards the
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Fellowship. Again, most of this was for the salaries of our staff
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that support the Fellows in being effective ambassadors for Free
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Software. We also organised a meeting of European coordinators that
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year (to be repeated in 2015), and made money available for local
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activities by Fellowship groups.</p>
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<p>Pretty much exactly the same share of spending went to FSFE's
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policy work. Here, the cost structure is very simple. Nearly all of
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the funds we spend on policy work go towards staff salaries. Most of
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the rest serves to cover travel costs for policy work, with Brussels
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as the most frequent destination.</p>
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<p>About two percent of our costs in 2013 were for merchandise,
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covering mostly production (buying) costs and staff time. Of course,
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these costs were more than covered by the money we made selling said
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merchandise.</p>
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<p>About 20% of our costs (19.2% in 2013, to be exact) are overhead
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spending, covering personnel costs for management and
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administration, team meetings (we are a pretty distributed
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organisation), rent for office space, phone bills, and so
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forth. We're trying hard to keep the overhead rate low; but there's
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no escaping the fact that an organisation like FSFE needs some level
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of management and coordination in order to remain effective.</p>
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<h2 id="whats-ahead-in-2015">What's ahead in 2015</h2>
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<p>During the coming months, the new <em>European Commission</em> will
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set the direction of its work for the next five years. During the
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past year, we have built a number of high-level connections in the
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Commission and the Parliament, and we are itching to leverage
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these. In addition, we are currently receiving numerous inquiries
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from Commission staff with whom we have built long-standing
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relationships, and who currently see open doors for Free Software in
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Brussels.</p>
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<p>It is important that we can intensify our work as soon as possible,
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and take advantage of this opportunity to improve the situation for
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Free Software and Open Standards at the EU level. Software
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procurement, standardisation, patents, and device sovereignty are
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core topics for our policy work.</p>
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<p>We want to <em>reach more people</em>, and go to more places where
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people do not yet know about Free Software. This is why we will
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further strengthen FSFE's network of local volunteers and Fellowship
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groups. In 2015, we plan to be present at street festivals and other
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events where until now, nobody has been promoting Free Software. We
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have greatly improved our leaflets, stickers, and other printed
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information materials over the past year. Now we will translate it
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into more languages, and expand its distribution libraries, cinemas,
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shops, and other places.</p>
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<p>In the long run, we want to make sure that anyone who hears about
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Free Software in Europe can easily find a knowledgeable person close
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to them to help them along their path. That's why we will focus
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on <em>supporting local activities</em> in various ways. We're
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preparing a workshop for the European coordinators of FSFE's
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volunteer teams, in order to help them and their teams become more
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effective activists. We will enable activists to visit Fellowship
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groups in other places, teach their skills, and share their
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experiences. And we will make our promotion materials available in
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even more languages.</p>
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<p>As we prepare to take on these challenges, we are grateful for the
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huge support we are experiencing, and for our Fellows' unrelenting passion for freedom!</p>
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<p>Sincerely,<br />
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Karsten Gerloff <br />
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President, Free Software Foundation Europe
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</p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag key="annual-report"/>
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<tag key="front-page"/>
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</tags>
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<author id="gerloff" />
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</html>
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