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268 lines
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<title>FSF Europe - Recommendation for the 6th EU Framework Programme</title>
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<div align="right">
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<h3>Hamburg, April 30th, 2002</h3>
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<center>
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<h1>Recommendation</h1>
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of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe)<br />
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and supporting parties<br />
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for the<br />
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<b>Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the
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Council concerning the rules for the participation of undertakings,
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research centres and universities and for the dissemination of research
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results for the implementation of the European Community framework
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programme 2002--2006</b>
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</center>
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<br />
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<center>
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<a href="recommendation.pdf">Download as PDF; 126k</a>
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</center>
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<br />
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[ <a href="recommendation.en.html">Recommendation</a> | Reasoning | <a href="supporting-parties.en.html">Supporting Parties</a> ] [ <a href="more-support.en.html">More Supporting Parties</a> ]
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<br />
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<h2>Reasoning</h2>
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<p>The ``Introduction to the instruments available for implementing
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the FP6 priority thematic areas'' speaking notes and the ``modified
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proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the
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Council'' -- henceforth referred to as ``Proposal'' -- define several
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goals and priorities for the 6th framework programme. This section
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will explain why and how some of these can benefit from Free
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Software.</p>
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<h3>Increasing the European edge</h3>
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<p>To increase international competitiveness, it is important to
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encourage freedom from software and hardware dependencies on U.S.
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companies. Free Software is a proven way of furthering this
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independence as can be seen when studying the hardware platform
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independence of Free Software operating systems available today.</p>
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<p>Free Software operating systems cover a wider range of hardware
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platforms than any proprietary operating system. Because of the
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inherent properties of Free Software, they can also be ported with
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fewer problems and by local suppliers, thus reducing the hardware
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dependency and opening up new perspectives for innovative
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hardware and software development and industry on both local and
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European levels.</p>
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<p>As cited in paragraph 1 of the Proposal, Article 163 of the Treaty
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gives the Community the objective of strengthening the scientific and
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technological bases of Community industry and encouraging it to become
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more competitive at international level, while promoting research
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activities deemed neccessary by virtue of other Community policies.</p>
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<p>Furthering Free Software will help achieving this objective.</p>
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<h3>Creating sustainable knowledge economy</h3>
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<p>Sustainability is one of the major advantages offered by Free
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Software, especially by ``Copylefted'' Free Software. One can easily
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find good indication for this when considering that this increased
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sustainability allowed Free Software to create two major operating
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systems<sup><a NAME="ref1" HREF="#fn1">1</a></sup> as good as and in
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parts even better than the proprietary operating systems with a tiny
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fraction<sup><a NAME="ref2" HREF="#fn2">2</a></sup> of the resources
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spent on the proprietary operating systems.</p>
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<p>Since operating systems are the first part of the Free Software
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infrastructure, their creation was the initial step. Therefore they
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provide the largest base of experience with Free Software, which is
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why they have been chosen for most examples in this document.</p>
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<p>It should be understood that Free Software works similarly in other
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fields and is not limited to operating systems, however.</p>
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<p>In perspective of building a European knowledge economy, it should be
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self-explanatory that software will be the basis of this economy.</p>
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<p>Access to the technology upon which the knowledge economy will be
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built should be encouraged, not prevented. The more people,
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organisations and companies have access to the fundamental
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prerequisites of the knowledge economy, the more dynamic
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and competitive the knowledge economy will become.</p>
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<p>Free Software offers the highest accessibility known today.</p>
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<p>These properties of Free Software can help meeting the goals of
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Paragraph 5 of the Proposal, which refers to conclusions aimed at the
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rapid establishment of a European research and innovation area with a
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view to job creation and economic growth, in the context of
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sustainable development, with the ultimate goal of enabling the Union,
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within the next ten years, to become the world's most competitive and
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dynamic knowledge economy.</p>
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<h3>Ethical principles</h3>
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<p>Even though access to software has never been acknowledged as a
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fundamental right by any policial system known to us, it seems obvious
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that access to software becomes an increasingly important prerequisite
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to be able to participate in the cultural, social and economic
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development of mankind.</p>
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<p>With software becoming the most important medium of communication,
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access to software and freedom to use software become immediately
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connected with such fundamental principles of democracy as freedom of
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speech<sup><a NAME="ref3" HREF="#fn3">3</a></sup>.</p>
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<p>Free Software guarantees equal usage and access to all people,
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avoiding such problems entirely.</p>
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<p>Therefore it also appears to be the best choice when viewed in
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accordance with paragraph 11 of the Proposal, which gives that
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research activities carried out within the framework programme must
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respect fundamental ethical principles, notably those which appear in
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the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.</p>
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<h3>Integration of European Research and Industry</h3>
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<p>Free Software encourages integration and cooperation in a very
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effective way. The ability to work together regardless of the size or
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location of the partners involved is a major advantage that could be
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used to futher the European objectives.</p>
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<p>Especially Copylefted Free Software helps keeping the playing field
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level and allows players as different as IBM, a local developer,
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Universities and a group of smaller European companies to cooperate on
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a project. This has been demonstrated by the recent engagement to
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bring GNU/Linux<sup><a NAME="ref4" HREF="#fn4">4</a></sup> to the IBM
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S/390 mainframe.</p>
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<p>Thanks to the properties of the GNU GPL<sup><a NAME="ref5"
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HREF="#fn5">5</a></sup>, none of these partners had to fear losing
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their investments<sup><a NAME="ref6" HREF="#fn6">6</a></sup> or being
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taken advantage of.</p>
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<p>The integration and cooperation between commercial and non-commercial
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partners made possible by Free Software is rather unique and
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partially responsible for the economic value of Free Software.</p>
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<p>As given by Annex 1 of the Proposal, integration of European research
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while strengthening the scientific and technological bases of
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Community industry is a seminal objective to be furthered by the 6th
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framework programme that could profit from Free Software.</p>
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<h3>Strengthening transdisciplinary approaches</h3>
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<p>While integrating research activities in similar fields can be
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difficult, doing the same for transdisciplinary research will normally
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be much more complicated, albeit much more fruitful where it succeeds.</p>
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<p>The same mechanisms that allow integration and cooperation between the
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commercial and non-commercial fields will simplify transdisciplinary
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cooperation, making Free Software an excellent choice to encourage
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such activities.</p>
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<p>This would directly benefit Annex 1 of the Proposal, as well, which
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also specifies that research activities will be based on an integrated
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and, where relevant, transdisciplinary approach, incorporating as
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appropriate innovation and socio-economic dimensions.</p>
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<h3>Scientific software</h3>
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<p>With increasing reliance of science on software, software becomes an
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integral part of the scientific process. The scientific method relies
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on the ability to verify results, however, and only if this is
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possible will a scientific result hold any significance.</p>
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<p>If such a result is somehow dependent on or published as proprietary
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software, verification becomes impossible, greatly reducing the impact
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of the research effort.</p>
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<p>Free Software does not have these drawbacks, making it the best choice
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for all kinds of science, which is obviously a major concern of the
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Proposal. </p>
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<h3>Protection of personal data and privacy</h3>
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<p>Since communication through software is always opaque, it is seminal
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that the software itself is entirely transparent so people retain the
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possibility to know what the software does when they transmit personal
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or private data.</p>
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<p>Currently, only Free Software is truly transparent.</p>
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<p>As set out in the Charter of fundamental rights of the EU, protection
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of personal data and privacy becomes increasingly important when
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approaching the information age. Furthering Free Software will help
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upholding the Charter.</p>
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<h3>Information society technologies</h3>
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<p>As stated above, Europe already has a leading role in Free Software
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development and the European Free Software community is the most
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active worldwide.</p>
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<p>As stated in section 1.1.2., ``Information society technologies,''
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Europe is well positioned to lead and shape the future development not
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only of technologies but also of their impact on our life and work.</p>
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<p>If Europe capitalised on this advantage, it could become the global
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leader in information technology and knowledge economy.</p>
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<hr />
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<dt><a NAME="fn1"></a><sup>1</sup>
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The most prominent Free Software operating system employed today is
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certainly the GNU/Linux system, -- often only referred to as
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``Linux'' -- based on the GNU project started in 1984 by the Free
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Software Foundation; it should be noted however, that other Free
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Software operating systems like the ``Berkeley Source Distribution''
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(BSD) based systems FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD are also quite
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successfully being used.
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</dt>
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<dt><a NAME="fn2"></a><sup>2</sup>
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How large this fraction truly is can only be estimated. It is
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certainly below 10% and quite probably below 1%.
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</dt>
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<dt><a NAME="fn3"></a><sup>3</sup>
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This does not seem overexaggerated in the light of some proprietary
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software licenses specifying that a piece of software (in this case
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a web publishing program) may not be used to say anything
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unfavorable about the software vendor. Even if this clause won't
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hold in court it clearly shows how technology can interfere with
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free speech.
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</dt>
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<dt><a NAME="fn4"></a><sup>4</sup>
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The essential parts of which are covered under the GNU General Public
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License and GNU Lesser General Public License.
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</dt>
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<dt><a NAME="fn5"></a><sup>5</sup>
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Please see <a
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href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html</a>
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</dt>
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<dt><a NAME="fn6"></a><sup>6</sup>
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IBM invested 1 billion USD into its Free Software activities last
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year.
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</dt>
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</body>
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<timestamp>$Date$ $Author$</timestamp>
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</html>
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