Telematics Freedom Foundation
Encyclopedia
Telematics Freedom Foundation is a non-profit organization
which aims to bring citizens, in the age of telematics
, Internet
, mobile phones and the web, all those freedoms and rights that the Free Software
Movement has already brought to PC users worldwide.
systems based on the web. A formal draft proposal, based on Free Software
, is currently under development.
Telematics Freedom Foundation is an advocate of the concept of Continuous Democracy, which stands for the power of citizens to practice democracy
not only at the time of elections, but on every single instance they might find it is needed, through constant discussion and confrontation between involved peers. From this viewpoint, it is also developing software for remote democratic organization, which will constitute a touchstone for the model of production, sharing and full control outlined by the idea of Telematics Freedom it is promoting.
The Foundation is also working on the consolidation of a huge multimedia collection, the Universal Audiovisual Library. This will host hundreds of thousands of Gigabytes of audio and video contents in their original language, released under open and public licenses. It will serve as an exhaustive source of material to be freely remixed and published by content editors and providers, with the intent of spreading knowledge. One example of this will be the Lazio DNA project (where DNA stands for Digital Nature Archive), a large set of raw full HD footage
of Lazio region's natural landscape and cultural heritage, available under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike license.
Moreover, to enrich the library and provide citizens with even more content to freely browse and view, the foundation is also promoting participatory journalism, through the "social video packs" project. Inspired by two successful experiments already implemented in Brazil, the "Pontos de Cultura" and "Estúdio Livre
", it will establish a series of multimedia centers based on GNU/Linux, equipped for creation, editing and post-production of videos created by citizens, which will be equipped with a backpack containing a camcorder
and everything they need to perform video footage on the road.
Telematics Freedom Foundation endorses the adoption of the Affero General Public License
to guarantee transparency and accountability for Open Source
e-voting and e-democracy
software. In fact, under this license all running source code of a web application should be made freely downloadable from final users at all time, and this should actually give them reasonable practical means to verify the software they are accessing.
In order to provide further concrete control, the Foundation also proposed that server rooms (or "cages") hosting free telematic services would be physically managed applying those same (or enhanced) physical security provisions that are currently applied to ballot boxes during an election. In practice, physical access to such servers would be enabled only while a few randomly selected or elected users (or citizens) are physically present.
The foundation also launched a video website featuring socio-political and satirical content, http://www.popolobue.tv, which should serve as a model of a television democratically controlled by its viewers.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
which aims to bring citizens, in the age of telematics
Telematics
Telematics typically is any integrated use of telecommunications and informatics, also known as ICT...
, Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, mobile phones and the web, all those freedoms and rights that the 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...
Movement has already brought to PC users worldwide.
Projects
TFF is working on a definition of "free telematics" as the freedom to run a web service, for any purpose, study its inner workings and adapt it, accessing the source code, redistribute copies of it, and above all verifying it is actually performing as expected, which are all essential prerequisites for any reliable and transparent e-democracyE-democracy
E-democracy refers to the use of information technologies and communication technologies and strategies in political and governance processes...
systems based on the web. A formal draft proposal, based on 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...
, is currently under development.
Telematics Freedom Foundation is an advocate of the concept of Continuous Democracy, which stands for the power of citizens to practice democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
not only at the time of elections, but on every single instance they might find it is needed, through constant discussion and confrontation between involved peers. From this viewpoint, it is also developing software for remote democratic organization, which will constitute a touchstone for the model of production, sharing and full control outlined by the idea of Telematics Freedom it is promoting.
The Foundation is also working on the consolidation of a huge multimedia collection, the Universal Audiovisual Library. This will host hundreds of thousands of Gigabytes of audio and video contents in their original language, released under open and public licenses. It will serve as an exhaustive source of material to be freely remixed and published by content editors and providers, with the intent of spreading knowledge. One example of this will be the Lazio DNA project (where DNA stands for Digital Nature Archive), a large set of raw full HD footage
Footage
In filmmaking and video production, footage is the raw, unedited material as it had been originally filmed by movie camera or recorded by a video camera which usually must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or similar completed work...
of Lazio region's natural landscape and cultural heritage, available under a Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
Attribution-Share Alike license.
Moreover, to enrich the library and provide citizens with even more content to freely browse and view, the foundation is also promoting participatory journalism, through the "social video packs" project. Inspired by two successful experiments already implemented in Brazil, the "Pontos de Cultura" and "Estúdio Livre
Estudio Livre
Estudio Livre is an environment which stimulates and enables the production, distribution and development of free media. It does this through personal weblogs, downloadable archives, user manuals, forums, working groups, discussion lists and other collaborative work tools...
", it will establish a series of multimedia centers based on GNU/Linux, equipped for creation, editing and post-production of videos created by citizens, which will be equipped with a backpack containing a camcorder
Camcorder
A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...
and everything they need to perform video footage on the road.
Telematics Freedom Foundation endorses the adoption of the Affero General Public License
Affero General Public License
The Affero General Public License, often abbreviated as Affero GPL and AGPL , refers to two distinct, though historically related, free software licenses:...
to guarantee transparency and accountability for Open Source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
e-voting and e-democracy
E-democracy
E-democracy refers to the use of information technologies and communication technologies and strategies in political and governance processes...
software. In fact, under this license all running source code of a web application should be made freely downloadable from final users at all time, and this should actually give them reasonable practical means to verify the software they are accessing.
In order to provide further concrete control, the Foundation also proposed that server rooms (or "cages") hosting free telematic services would be physically managed applying those same (or enhanced) physical security provisions that are currently applied to ballot boxes during an election. In practice, physical access to such servers would be enabled only while a few randomly selected or elected users (or citizens) are physically present.
The foundation also launched a video website featuring socio-political and satirical content, http://www.popolobue.tv, which should serve as a model of a television democratically controlled by its viewers.