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FSFE Newsletter March 2019

Written by admin Objavljeno  

This month's newsletter highlights the new project the FSFE recently joined and the funding opportunities it offers, that you may want to take advantage of. You can get the latest updates on the Copyright Directive reform and the hottest news regarding Article 13, as well as a short summary of what else has happened during the past month. In the Editor's choice section this month you can find interesting news on developments with the Radio Equipment Directive, and find out who else have expressed their support for our "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign and what they have to say about it.

European Commission Next Generation Internet Initiative

Next Generation Internet Initiative

The European Commission launched an initiative called "The Next Generation Internet" and the FSFE is part of its NGI0 consortium. The Initiative's purpose is to create technologies for a better internet where the individual user's best interests are the top priority. In other words, internet technologies that respect human rights and important values like privacy, openness, transparency, cooperation, and protection of data. To help achieve these objectives, the Initiative runs two branch projects, led by the NLnet Foundation, in order to award grants to applicant technologies that attest to those ideals. The FSFE's role is to provide Free Software licensing recommendations and consultation in these projects:

All granted technologies will be based on and be made available as Free and Open Source Software.

The NGI0 consortium acts as a sort of advisory body for successful applicants and assists them with their technologies in specific areas, such as security and accessibility. In this context, the FSFE facilitates their software licensing, advising them on how to properly apply best licensing practices, and making sure their technologies are licensed and compliant.

Calls for applications for both projects are renewed every 2 months. They are currently in the midst of their 2nd call, the deadline of which is 1 April 2019. The first call, which ended in February, resulted in over a hundred submissions from countries not only from Europe, but also from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. If you are interested in getting funding to develop your relevant technology, you can apply here.

Copyright and Article 13 - What happened and what's next

Save Code Share

Despite uncertainties and controversies along the way, the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive seems to be reaching the end of the road. There are many steps to finalise a legal text in the EU, but now the EU Member States and the European Parliament have reached an agreement on a consolidated text. The next step is for the Directive to be voted in the plenary session at the end of March/in early April. As reported, the original proposal could have regulated the platforms software developers use, cooling incentives to innovate and making software more fragile in Europe. It was in response to this that the OpenForum Europe and the FSFE started the SaveCodeshare.eu campaign. Together we wrote letters, petitions, and held meetings and events in Brussels and in EU member states.

Article 13 now excludes “open source software development and sharing platforms” from its scope (see article 2(5)) in the provisional agreement. This one unintended consequence has at least been avoided. From a wider perspective, no matter how the vote turns out, we were able to raise awareness and understanding of what drives software development in Europe today among many policymakers. We explained how the software ecosystem operates, the pervasive use of Free and Open Source software licenses, and the commercial nature of Free and Open Source Software.


Join our community of freedom fighters: https://my.fsfe.org/support


Inside and Outside the FSFE

Freedom is also about diversity.

Editor's choice

EU Radio Lockdown Directive

Do not miss: upcoming events with the FSFE

Get Active

We have a cool tool for announcing events and promoting them on our website and social channels. If you would like us to include your event in our next newsletter and website, feel welcome to try out the event submission tool.

Contribute to our newsletter

If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, send them to us. As always, the address is newsletter@fsfe.org. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks to our community, all the volunteers, supporters and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your mother tongue.

Your editor,
Galia Mancheva


Join our community of freedom fighters: https://my.fsfe.org/support