Free Software Foundation Europe - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) was founded in 2001 as an official European sister organization of the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

-based Free Software Foundation

Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...

(FSF) to take care of all aspects of free software

Free software

Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...

in Europe. FSF and FSFE are financially and legally separate entities.

FSFE believes that access to and control of software determines who may participate in a digital society. Therefore, the freedoms to use, copy, modify and redistribute software, as described in The Free Software Definition

The Free Software Definition

The Free Software Definition, written by Richard Stallman and published by Free Software Foundation , defines free software, as a matter of liberty, not price. The term "free" is used in the sense of "free speech," not of "free beer." The earliest known publication of the definition was in the...

, are necessary for equal participation in the Information Age

Information Age

The Information Age, also commonly known as the Computer Age or Digital Age, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously...

Goals

The focus of FSFE's work is political, legal, and social with the aim of promoting Free Software and the ethical, philosophical, social, political and commercial values that it implements.http://www.fsfe.org/about/about.en.html In particular, it

is actively promoting Free Software politically as Europe-based global competence center in dialog with politicians and press.
follows and seeks to influence legal and political activities that are contrary to the goals and values of Free Software.
provides a contact point and orientational help on all issues regarding Free Software.
works closely together with lawyers active in the Free Software area in Universities and practices in order to follow and influence the legal discourse. Also it cooperates with lawyers throughout Europe to maximise the legal security of Free Software.
supports, coordinates and develops projects in the Free Software area, especially the GNU Project
GNU Project
The GNU Project is a free software, mass collaboration project, announced on September 27, 1983, by Richard Stallman at MIT. It initiated GNU operating system development in January, 1984...

. It also provides computer resources to Free Software developers to enable them to continue their developments.
helps companies to develop business models based on Free Software or fit existing models to it; it encourages companies in their evolution to Free Software. To make it easier for companies based on Free Software to be commercially successful, the FSF Europe also seeks to broaden the market for Free Software.
helps coordinating and networking other initiatives in the Free Software area.

Example projects

Software patent

Software patent debate

The software patent debate is the argument dealing with the extent to which it should be possible to patent software and computer-implemented inventions as a matter of public policy. Policy debate on software patents has been active for years. The opponents to software patents have gained more...

s in Europe : According to the FSFE, software patents for Europe are currently being pushed forward actively by a lobby gathering around the European patent office and the Business Software Alliance

Business Software Alliance

The Business Software Alliance is a trade group established in 1988 and representing a number of the world's largest software makers and is a member of the International Intellectual Property Alliance...

(BSA), which represents the interests of the largest U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

companies. Software patents are considered by the FSFE to be a menace to society and economy and FSF Europe is actively involved in the resistance to such plans.http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/swpat/swpat.en.html

European Union v. Microsoft : In 2001 the European Union, through the DG Competition of the European Commission (led by Prof.

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

Mario Monti

Mario Monti is an Italian economist and academic who is Prime Minister of Italy, as well as Minister of Economy and Finance, since November 2011. Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the Internal Market, Services, Customs and Taxation from 1995 to 1999...

), started investigating Microsoft's dominant position in the desktop operating systems. The Free Software Foundation Europe was invited by the EC to represent the stance of the Free Software movement. In 2004 FSFE was admitted as an intervening third party in the appeal against the Decision of the Commission and, also representing the Samba Team

Samba (software)

Samba is a free software re-implementation, originally developed by Andrew Tridgell, of the SMB/CIFS networking protocol. As of version 3, Samba provides file and print services for various Microsoft Windows clients and can integrate with a Windows Server domain, either as a Primary Domain...

, was one of the only two interveners to remain active in the proceedings from start to end. It provided strong evidence in court thanks to the effort volunteers like Andrew Tridgell

Andrew Tridgell

Andrew "Tridge" Tridgell is an Australian computer programmer best known as the author of and contributor to the Samba file server, and co-inventor of the rsync algorithm....

, Jeremy Allison

Jeremy Allison

Jeremy Allison is a computer programmer known for his contributions to the free software community, notably to Samba, a re-implementation of SMB/CIFS networking protocol, released under the GNU General Public License....

, Volker Lendeke and their lawyer, Carlo Piana

Carlo Piana

Carlo Piana is a lawyer by training and a Free Software advocate. A qualified attorney in Italy, Piana has been practicing IT law since 1995,focusing his practice on software, technology, standardization, data protection and digital liberties in general, and serves as external General Counsel to...

. The case is now considered one of the leading cases in European antitrust http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/ms-vs-eu/ms-vs-eu.en.html

World Intellectual Property Organization

World Intellectual Property Organization

The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world"....

: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

system of organisations. Its role is to administer 23 international treaties dealing with different aspects of limited monopolies on knowledge. As an observer to WIPO and together with a global coalition of other players with similar goals, FSFE is working towards reshaping it as a "World Intellectual Wealth Organisation."http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/wipo/wipo.en.html

Freedom Task Force : The legal project of FSFE. "The Freedom Task Force is a legal infrastructure project that helps individuals, projects and businesses understand Free Software and the opportunities that it presents. The FTF is primarily focused on Free Software licensing issues and managing FSFE's legal affairs. Our goal is to educate people in the proper use of Free Software."http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/index.en.html

Each month, FSFE publish a newsletter, in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

, and Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, of their activities that can be mentioned in public.

Structure

From FSFE's published "Self-Conception":

"The people of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), see ourselves as Europeans
from different cultures with the shared goal of co-operation across cultures and of
developing a common culture of co-operation from a regional to a global level.

We form a non-profit non-governmental organisation and network that itself is part of
a global network of people with common goals and visions. We are not representative for
anyone but ourselves and our work. Our common work and dedication to freedom in all
aspects of digital society is what defines us."

Internally, the FSFE has a consensus-oriented, team structure in which participation is determined by each persons willingness to participate and do work. A democratic and representative-democratic model functions as a fallback for when the consensus-based approach either reaps no results or a quick decision is needed.

Legal structure

The FSFE has a modular legal structure with a central "Hub" organisation and the possibility of local legal bodies, called "Chapters". The Hub is a charitable association ("e.V.") which is, by happenstance, registered in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

As well as being in regular contact with the other FSFs (FSF

Free Software Foundation

, FSFI, FSFLA

Free Software Foundation Latin America

Free Software Foundation Latin America is the Latin American sister organisation of the Free Software Foundation. It is the fourth sister organisation of FSF, after Free Software Foundation Europe and Free Software Foundation India...

), FSFE has a structure of organisations which are official associates. These are mostly national-level free software groups.

People

The President of FSFE is Karsten Gerloff and its Vice-President is Fernanda G. Weiden

Fernanda G. Weiden

Fernanda "nanda" G. Weiden is a system administrator and a former council member of Free Software Foundation Latin America. She is a participant in Debian Women and an organizer of the Fórum Internacional Software Livre . She is founder of the Women in Free Software Project in Brazil.Fernanda G...

. The Founding President is Georg C. F. Greve

Georg C. F. Greve

Georg C. F. Greve is a self-taught software developer, academically trained physicist and author. He has been working on technology politics since 2001 when he founded the Free Software Foundation Europe....

. FSFE is composed of several country teams coordinated by FSFE European core team.

Awards

In 2010 FSFE received the Theodor Heuss Medal in recognition of its work for freedom in the information society. The medal is awarded once a year in Stuttgart by a non-partisan foundation named for West Germany's first president.

External links

Free Software Foundation Europe
Self-Conception of the FSF Europe
The FSFE Fellowship
Current work of FSFE
The current FSF Europe team
Associate Organisations of the FSF Europe
Open Parliament - petition to use Open Standards in EU
Slashdot
Slashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...

news coverage:
- World Intellectual Wealth Organisation Proposed, October 2004
- FSFE becomes WIPO observer, November 2004
- Video and Transcripts of GPLv3 Event Now Online, July 2006
- EU Patent Wars to Resume, August 2006
- Transcripts of GPLv3 talks from Tokyo, November 2006
- FSFE Supports Microsoft Antitrust Investigation, December 2007
- Tasks of a Free Software Legal Department, October 2008
- FSFE Launches Free PDF Readers Campaign, February 2009
- Steve Jobs Hints at Theora Lawsuit, April 2010

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