164 lines
8.1 KiB
HTML
164 lines
8.1 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
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<html newsdate="2012-01-20">
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>Free Software legal news</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>Free Software legal news</h1>
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<p>Read about European concerns with SOPA, dangers of Secure
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Boot, Nokia's move to sell 450 patents to a patent troll, summary of Free
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Software developments in 2011, web blocking in Germany and many more.</p>
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<h3>European concerns with SOPA</h3>
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<p>The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a bill that is currently pending in the US
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House of Representatives, raise considerable controversy beyond the national
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territory. How does it effect or already effected European countries? <i>See</i>
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<a
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href="http://kluwercopyrightblog.com/2012/01/18/european-concerns-with-sopa/">
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article at Kluwer Copyright Blog</a> and <a
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href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/internet/spains-sopa-law-how-it
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-works-and-why-it-wont-work">artcile at IEEE Spectrum</a>;</p>
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<h3>Secure Boot Dangers</h3>
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<p>The question of whether Secure Boot technology in UEFI firmware could exclude
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Linux from PCs running Windows 8 has taken a fresh twist. <i>See</i> <a
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href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/18/windows_8_linux_secure_boot/">
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article at the Register</a>, <a
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href="http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/9844.html">article by Matthew Garrett</a>, <a
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href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2012/01/is-microsoft-
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blocking-linux-booting-on-arm-based-hardware/index.htm">article by Glyn
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Moody</a> and our petition <a
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href="http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/secure-boot-vs-restricted-boot/statement">
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here</a>;</p>
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<h3>German court ruled against web blocking</h3>
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<p>If we learned anything this week, it was that European courts are coming down
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increasingly hard on websites that facilitate the sharing of illegal ‘pirated’
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content. But for those that believe in an open, uncensored Internet, news that a
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German court has ruled against ordering Internet service providers (ISPs) to
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block such websites will be welcomed. <i>See</i> <a
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href="http://thenextweb.com/eu/2012/01/14/german-courts-are-bucking-the-trend-
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ruling-that-isps-shouldnt-block-illegal-websites/">article at TNW</a>, <a
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href="http://www.vg-koeln.nrw.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/01_120112/index.php">
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press release (DE)</a> and similar older decision <a
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href="http://www.justiz.nrw.de/nrwe/lgs/koeln/lg_koeln/j2011/
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28_O_362_10_Urteil_20110831.html">here (DE)</a>;</p>
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<h3>Nokia sells over 450 patents to a patent troll</h3>
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<p>Nokia sold a group of more than 450 patents and applications to the
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Luxembourg-based patent licensing firm Sisvel International, Reuters reports.
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The patents mostly involved wireless technology.<i>See</i> <a
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href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/01/13/nokia-sells-more-than-
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450-wireless-patents-to-patent-troll/">article at Forbes</a> and <a
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href="http://www.intomobile.com/2012/01/16/nokia-sells-over-450-patents-some-
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them-deemed-essential-gsm-patent-troll/">article at IntoMobile</a>;</p>
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<h3>Canonical to Offer Genivi Compliant Linux Automotive Infotainment
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Solution</h3>
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<p>Canonical and AllGo Embedded Systems today announced the availability of
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their Linux In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) solution that combines AllGo's IVI
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Middleware solution RACE with Canonical's Genivi compliant Ubuntu IVI Remix
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operating system. Together the solution provides advanced features for next
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generation connected car platforms like personal cloud services based on Ubuntu
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One, smartphone and tablet Integration in the car and location-based
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services.<i>See</i> <a
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href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/allgo-systems-and-canonical-to-offer-
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genivi-compliant-linux-automotive-infotainment-solution-and-cloud-services-to-
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cars-2012-01-09">article at Market Watch</a>;</p>
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<h3>AT&T Joins OpenStack</h3>
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<p>While there are a number of Free Software solutions emerging for cloud
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computing, OpenStack remains one of the best backed platforms, with vendors
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ranging from Hewlett-Packard to Dell to Citrix supporting it. OpenStack got its
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early momentum from Rackspace and NASA, though, and late last year Rackspace
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announced Rackspace Cloud: Private Edition, which is an OpenStack-powered cloud
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platform featuring managed services and--most important of all--operational
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support. Now, AT&T has announced that it is delivering Free Software cloud
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platform based on OpenStack.<i>See</i> <a
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href="http://ostatic.com/blog/at-t-makes-a-big-bet-on-linux-and-open-source-in-
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the-cloud">article at OSTATIC</a> and <a
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href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/247574/atandt_joins_openstack.html">article
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at Pc World</a>;</p>
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<h3>Free Software 2011 and 2012</h3>
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<p>Year 2011, was one of the most active years in legal developments in FOSS.
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What happend and what should it do in 2012? <i>See</i> <a
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href="http://lawandlifesiliconvalley.com/blog/?p=664">article at Law & Life
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Silicon Valley</a> and <a
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href="http://www.h-online.com/open/features/What-should-free-software-do-in-2012
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-1401813.html">article by Glyn Moody</a>;</p>
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<h3>Equal legal standing for Free Software</h3>
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<p>Free Software has thrived despite the absence of any legal recognition by the
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law, if not in spite of rules that clearly are shaped around proprietary
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software. In many jurisdictions it has passed the enforceability test. So, no
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laws seem necessary to make it work. Yet, can some legal principle be put
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forward, and included in some laws, to help? <i>See</i> <a
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href="http://www.piana.eu/laws">article by Carlo Piana</a>;</p>
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<h3>Richard Stallman Was Right All Along</h3>
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<p>Thirty years ago, when Richard Stallman launched the GNU project, and during
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the three decades that followed, his sometimes extreme views and peculiar antics
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were ridiculed and disregarded as paranoia - but here we are, 2012, and his once
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paranoid what-ifs have become reality. <i>See</i> <a
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href="http://www.osnews.com/story/25469/Richard_Stallman_Was_Right_All_Along">
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article by Thom Holwerda</a>;</p>
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<h3>Intel bets big on Android</h3>
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<p>Intel has gone beyond simply dropping new hardware into an otherwise-similar
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device. The company has put dedicated resources into software, too.. <i>See</i>
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<a
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href="http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2012/01/11/intel-bets-big-on-android-and-the-
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smartphone-ecosystem-could-benefit/">article at TNW</a>;</p>
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<h3>German cities following Munich's Free Software example</h3>
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<p>Municipal administrations in Germany are starting to follow the example of
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the city of Munich, and increase their use of free and Free Software software.
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Cities of Freiburg and Jena are examples of city administrations following
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Munich's lead. <i>See</i> <a
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href="http://joinup.ec.europa.eu/news/german-cities-following-munichs-open-
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source-example">article at TNW</a>;</p>
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<h3>Trial delayed in Oracle's Android lawsuit against Google</h3>
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<p>A pretrial order issued earlier this month indicated that Oracle's lawsuit
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against Google would likely head to a jury trial in March. In a new filing,
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Judge William Alsup decided to delay the trial until Oracle can propose a
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reasonable methodology for measuring the damages. <i>See</i> <a
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href="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2012/01/trial-delayed-in-oracles-
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android-lawsuit-against-google.ars">article at Ars Technica</a>;</p>
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<h3>"An Free Software World"? Where's The Free Software?</h3>
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<p>If we are to believe the early signs, 2012 may well be the year that British
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schools finally start to address the continuing shame that is ICT teaching. As I
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and many others have noted, the current approach essentially consists of sitting
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people in front of Microsoft Word and Excel and making them learn a couple of
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commands on the menus. <i>See</i> <a
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href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2012/01/if-its-an-open-
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source-world-wheres-the-open-source/index.htm">article by Glyn Moody</a>;</p>
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<h3>Cloud Computing and Data protection reform</h3>
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<p>The Commission will propose a reform of the current 15-year-old framework in
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a few weeks. The main issues were already clearly flagged in the Commission
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communication just over a year ago. <i>See</i> <a
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href="http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/cloud-data-protection/">article by
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Neelie Kroes</a>;</p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag key="legal"/>
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</tags>
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</html>
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