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News

News Archive for 2014

The FSFE empowers users to control technology with its diverse activities and concrete engagement for software freedom. Follow us and make sure to receive regular updates and deeper insights on our various channels.

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EU to fund Free Software code review

19 December 2014

The European Parliament has approved funding for several projects related to Free Software and privacy. In the EU budget for 2015, which the European Parliament adopted on December 17, the Parliamentarians have allocated up to one million Euro for a project to audit Free Software programs in use at the Commission and the Parliament in order to identify and fix security vulnerabilities. 

Happy Birthday April!

18 December 2014

April, France's leading Free Software advocacy organisation, was founded 18 years ago today.
April was set up in December 1996 by students in a Paris university as a not-for-profit group to promote Free Software in computer science research. 

FSFE's work in 2014

18 December 2014 –

We shape tomorrow's world by what we do today. FSFE helps people to understand how technology affects their rights and freedoms, and empowers them to determine their own path in the digital world. See what we achieved in 2014, and where we're going next! 

Protect your privacy - Help GnuPG hire a second developer!

16 December 2014

GnuPG is the world's leading privacy tool, with an estimated base of more than four million active users world-wide, and a thousand new users each day. It guards emails, files, and programs from snooping and spying on Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux. This crucial program needs your help to keep going in 2015 and beyond.  

Study: To ensure transparency, European Parliament must adopt Free Software, Open Standards

12 December 2014

A study released on Friday says that the European Parliament must adopt Free Software and Open Standards in order to fulfil its transparency obligations. The authors conclude that "the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament should whenever possible make Free Software and Open Standards mandatory for all systems and data used for the work of Parliament."  

Get secure with a smartcard and support FSFE’s work in 2015

03 December 2014

Free Software Foundation Europe is a pan-European charity, established in 2001 to empower users to control technology. To enable the organisation to intensify its work with the European Commission and to let more people know about Free Software, the FSFE needs another €190,000 for its work in 2015. Next year, the FSFE will push harder than ever to weave software freedom into the fabric of our society. 

    [Blog] FSFE comments at European Parliament's DG ITEC conference

    20 November 2014

    At a meeting in the European Parliament, FSFE's president Karsten Gerloff highlighted several ways in which the Parliament could become more transparent, and make better use of Free Software and Open Standards.

    In a short intervention, he urged the Parliament to finally make its live streams accessible to Free Software users. He asked the Parliament's IT administration to enable IMAP access on its mail servers to allow Free Software users to connect through standard protocols, and warned the Parliament to avoid lock-in as it progresses towards greater digitisation.  

    In Switzerland, the legal basis for the government to support Free Software is still lacking

    20 November 2014

    For the time being, the public development of the Free Software 'OpenJustitia' by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court has ceased because of a new legal opinion. The reason for this abrupt end is apparently the legal uncertainty regarding public contractors in Switzerland. The FSFE demands that the missing legal framework be created as soon as possible so that software developed with public funding in Switzerland in the future can also be released as Free Software. 

    Italian consumers shouldn’t have to pay for software they don’t want – Letter to Regulators

    17 October 2014

    FSFE and Italian consumer association ADUC, along with Italian group ILS, are asking regulators to take concrete steps to protect Italians from being forced to pay for software they do not want or need. Italy’s High Court ruled in September that computer vendors must reimburse customers for the price of unwanted non-free software that comes pre-installed on PCs and laptops. Today, FSFE, ADUC and ILS have sent a letter to the Italian competition authorities, calling on them to ensure that vendors will comply with the High Court’s decision, and respect the rights of their customers. 

    Munich sticks with Free Software

    16 October 2014

    On Tuesday, Munich's first mayor finally reacted to an inquiry by the Green Party (in German) related to rumours regarding a possible switch back to a Windows-based desktop environment. The answer to the inquiry shows that there is no factual basis for the claims made by first mayor and second mayor. An evaluation of the IT infrastructure and -processes is underway. FSFE calls on the city council to include vendor independence as well as interoperability as factors in the investigation, since they were central reasons for Munich to switch to Free Software in the first place.  

    Your input wanted: How do we build a better future?

    01 August 2014

    Free Software has progressed in leaps and bounds since we founded FSFE in 2001. But we still have a long way to go until we can all be in control of our computing, our data, and our digital lives. 

      [Blog] Report from our German speaking team meeting 2014

      11 July 2014

      From 13 – 15 June 2014 FSFE had its German speaking team meeting in the Linuxhotel in Essen. The participants had some problems to travel there because of the chaos resulting from a heavy thunderstorm in the region. A lot of train lines where not functional, and the situation on the streets was also chaotic. But just because no ICE trains stop in Essen does not mean we will not continue our work for Free Software. In the end we were able to bring all volunteers to the Linuxhotel to plan further activities and discuss current issues.  

      EC distorts market by refusing to break free from lock-in

      08 July 2014

      The European Commission has recently renewed its commitment to a proprietary desktop and secret file formats.The Commission is refusing to get serious about breaking free from vendor lock-in, and is ignoring all available alternatives. In doing so, the EU's civil service fails to practice what it preaches.  

      [Blog] Translations of FSF's email self-defence now available

      30 June 2014

      Today our sister organisation, the FSF, published their e-mail self defence guide and their infographic in 6 new languages. It is now available in English, German, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Russian, Turkish, and Japanese. They explain the installation of the necessary programs for e-mail encryption under GNU/Linux, MacOS, and Microsoft Windows; the key generation; the web of trust; as well as the usage of those programs. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection, an email account, and about half an hour. Please give us feedback, so we can include that before printing the infographics, and help us to spread them. 

      [Blog] Schutz vor Überwachung durch Verschlüsselung mit Freier Software

      20 June 2014

      Eine charakteristische Eigenschaft digitaler Kommunikation ist ihre vermeintliche Stofflosigkeit. Diese Stofflosigkeit ist es, die auch ein prinzipiell unbegrenztes Speichern und Archivieren aller elektronischen Kommunikation ermöglicht. Das, und die Möglichkeit diese Daten massenhaft und maschinell auszuwerten und zu analysieren, verleitet Geheimdienste rund um den Globus zum abhören und speichern unser aller Kommunikation. Als Gegenmaßnahme könnte man wieder vermehrt offline kommunizieren – oder aber eine starke Verschlüsselung durch Freie Software verwenden.. 

      CCC and FSFE: German Federal Network Agency must improve

      28 March 2014

      After multiple public hearings and political debates, the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) presented a set of proposed regulations (German) that would eliminate compulsory use of particular routers and improve the transparency of telecommunication firms for customers. Compulsory routers tie customers to a device provided by the ISP. The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), Chaos Computer Club (CCC), and the project leadership of IPFire and OpenWrt, as well as other experts, reviewed these regulations and gave comments to the BNetzA (German) 

      Open Letter to EU institutions: Time to support Open Standards

      26 March 2014

      In an open letter to the European Parliament and the European Commission, Free Software Foundation Europe and Open Forum Europe are asking the European institutions to improve their support for Open Standards. The letter is directed to Giancarlo Vilella, the president of the European Parliament's DG ITEC and chair of the Inter-Institutional Committee for Informatics.  

      Computers in the post-Snowden era: choose before paying!

      24 March 2014

      The revelations from Edward Snowden concerning massive surveillance of communications demonstrates the need for each person to be able to control their computers and phones. Yet computer and telephone manufacturers and retailers typically impose on users programs that jeopardise their privacy. 

      Asian Legal Network launched

      14 March 2014

      Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), Open Invention Network (OIN), and The Linux Foundation announced today the launch of the Asian Legal Network. The Asian Legal Network was established to provide a leading forum for sharing knowledge and best practices regarding Free Software legal affairs, particularly those that relate to market participants in Asia.  

      And the winner of the election for FSFE's Fellowship GA seat is…

      03 March 2014

      …Stefan "Penny" Harmuth! The election period for this year's Fellowship GA seat has ended on February 28. There was just one candidate running for the Fellowship GA seat this time. The more we are happy that still 20,3% of our Fellows took their chance to support Stefan Harmuth in his run for the seat.  

      #ilovefs Report 2014

      21 February 2014

      On February 14th, people all around the world expressed their gratitude and appreciation not only to their partner but also to Free Software and its contributors. With our yearly #ilovefs we asked you to thank your favourite developers and projects and were overwhelmed by the resonance in blogs, social networks, and mailing lists. 

      Show your love for Free Software

      11 February 2014

      On 14th February, the Free Software Foundation Europe asks all Free Software users to think about the dedicated hard-working people in the Free Software community and to show them their appreciation like last year