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Threats on free software

Software patents:

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA):

European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD):

Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA, also known as CBDTPA - Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act.):

TCPA/Palladium/DRM:

References

[French] http://www.rfi.fr/Kiosque/Proces/fiches/fiche9.html: "Creation of software should be seen as a resource as scientific discoveries, and not as a product from industry. Research in software should take as model research in mathematic, on which the fundamental works have become world heritage." (no date)

[French] http://www.april.org/articles/communiques/pr-bresil.html: "It is the same logic which works today in the field of human genome, food and agricultural research (with the GMO), in software or numeric documents, and which leads to the multiplication of patents, reserving to a few exclusive rights of commercial exploitation on knowledge which belongs to the common heritage of humanity." February 12th, 2001

[French] http://lsm.abul.org/archive2000/program/topic03/aull_fr.html: "Under the lead of AAUL, African countries could also collaborate and go united to international forums and meetings to encourage a fair use of free software and look after its classification as a human heritage." 2000

[French] http://www.freescape.eu.org/pipermail/escape_l/2000-April/000091.html Freescape Manifesto

[French] http://france.fsfeurope.org/news/article2001-07-23-01.fr.html: "Olivier: scheduling of free software as world human heritage."

[French] http://linuxfr.org/2001/10/06/5301,0,1,0,0.html: News from Pierre Jarillon on Linuxfr: "Something news in UNESCO".

[French] http://www.freepatents.org/liberty/euro.html : "Freedom to copy has a lot of virtues on which we cannot do without. Most of the world cultural heritage, from medieval stories to graphical arts of Asia, was built thanks to the freedom to copy and to inspire from others."

http://www.unesco.org/culture/copyright: intergovernmental copyright committee

[French] http://france.fsfeurope.org/donations/howto.fr.html: "Free software belongs to scientific heritage. This point is explained in the preamble of the statutes." (statutes http://france.fsfeurope.org/about/statute.fr.html).
"Free software are a vector of understanding of virtual space in schools and universities. This point is explained in the preamble of the statutes.
Free software represent, in many fields, a know-how and are a source of learning. Universities use them as base for computer classes, they are objects of studies, are a base for practical work and could be object to a program in itself. FSFE France participates to the creation of perennial free software of all kinds, and all could be used for teaching."

[French] http://www.autrans2003.org/ : "Why people makes free software?"
"For Moglen, it's a question of humanity. Similarly to the reason for which Figaro sings, which Mozart writes for him the music he sings, and for which we all build new words: because we can. Homo ludens meets home faber. The social condition of global interconnection which we call Internet makes possible the creativity for each of us in new ways, and we have not even seen them in dreams. Until we allow the "private property" to interfere.

[French] French national commission for UNESCO, with an organisational chart

Portal of UNESCO on free software

UNESCO actions on free software in Latin America

[French] Opinions of French political parties on free software and software patenting

Answer from Dr. Edgar David Villanueva Nuñez, Peru congressman, to MS Peru, or a good argumentation for free software