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sfconservancy.org.rss.xml - sfeed_tests - sfeed tests and RSS and Atom files |
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sfconservancy.org.rss.xml (349786B) |
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1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> |
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2 <rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel xml… |
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3 |
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4 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2024/dec/05/2024-fundraisin… |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
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8 |
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9 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Daniel Takamori</strong&… |
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10 <div class="picture-small right"> |
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11 <img src="https://nextcloud.sfconservancy.org/apps/files_sharing/publ… |
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12 <p>CC-BY-NA 4.0 Patrick Masson</p> |
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13 </div> |
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14 |
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15 <p>We're so happy to feature our incredible matchers this year! Th… |
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16 |
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17 <p><b>SFC</b>: Tell us a bit about yourself! Where are… |
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18 |
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19 <p><b>Patrick</b>: I am currently the Executive Direct… |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 <p>I live in Albany, New York, moving here from southern Californi… |
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23 |
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24 <p><b>SFC</b>: Why do you care about software freedom?… |
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25 |
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26 <p><b>Patrick</b>: I first discovered Free Software in… |
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27 |
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28 <p><b>SFC</b>: How do you use free software in your li… |
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29 |
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30 <p><b>Patrick</b>: I use free and open source software… |
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31 |
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32 <p><b>SFC</b>: On the spectrum on developer to end use… |
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33 |
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34 <p><b>Patrick</b>: Like many in our industry, "career … |
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35 |
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36 <p><b>SFC</b>: Tell us about how Apereo is forwarding … |
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37 |
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38 <p><b>Patrick</b>: I joined Apereo just over two years… |
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39 |
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40 |
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41 <p>Institutions of higher education have an inherent understanding… |
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42 |
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43 <p><b>SFC</b>: What's got you most excited from the pa… |
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44 |
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45 <p><b>Patrick</b>: <a href="https://fossy.us/">F… |
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46 |
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47 |
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48 <p>For Apereo, the event is a perfect opportunity to work with the… |
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49 |
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50 <p><b>SFC</b>: What issues happened this past year tha… |
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51 |
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52 <p><b>Patrick</b>: While the history and activities un… |
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53 |
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54 |
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55 <p>A core tenet of research is reproducibility. Research reproduci… |
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56 |
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57 <p>I was also delighted to see SFC's response was "aspirational" a… |
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58 |
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59 <p><b>SFC</b>: Do you think we are doing a good job re… |
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60 |
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61 <p><b>Patrick</b>: I think SFC--like other organizatio… |
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62 |
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63 |
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64 <p>Reaching a wider audience is a real challenge, considering reac… |
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65 |
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66 <p><b>SFC</b>: Have you been involved with any of our … |
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67 |
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68 <p><b>Patrick</b>: While most of my involvement has be… |
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69 |
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70 <p><b>SFC</b>: How do you see our role amongst the var… |
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71 |
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72 <p><b>Patrick</b>: "Supporting the supporters." I rely… |
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73 |
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74 <p><b>SFC</b>: Do you think we do a good job standing … |
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75 |
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76 <p><b>Patrick</b>: Times are tough for FOSS foundation… |
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77 |
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78 <p><b>SFC</b>: What other organizations are you suppor… |
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79 |
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80 <p><b>Patrick</b>: I am committed to supporting the FO… |
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81 |
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82 </description><author>[email protected] (Daniel Takamori)</author><… |
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83 |
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84 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2024/dec/03/openwrt-one-man… |
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85 |
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86 |
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87 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
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88 |
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89 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich</strong… |
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90 <p>Software cannot run without hardware. To have software freedom… |
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91 |
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92 <p>Software Freedom Conservancy announced on Friday, in conjuction… |
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93 |
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94 <p>SFC works toward GPL compliance across the industry, so the dev… |
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95 |
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96 <p>We are very excited to watch the interesting applications you f… |
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97 amazed and impressed to learn some people are already running Doom and o… |
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98 |
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99 <p>The OpenWrt One is admittedly not perfect. It's sadly a prime … |
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100 |
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101 <p>SFC wants to build this future of freedom for all your electron… |
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102 |
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103 <p>We <a href="/news/2024/nov/26/2024-fundraiser/">just star… |
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104 |
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105 </description><author>[email protected] (Denver Gingerich)</autho… |
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106 |
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107 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/nov/29/openwrt-one-wir… |
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108 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
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109 |
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110 |
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111 |
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112 <p><strong>The New OpenWrt One on sale now for $89 — Ulti… |
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113 <p>Today, we at SFC, along with our OpenWrt member project, announ… |
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114 |
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115 <p>The OpenWrt One demonstrates what's possible when hardware desi… |
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116 <p>Priced at <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100500779… |
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117 |
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118 <p>This new product has completed full FCC compliance tests; it's … |
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119 |
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120 <p>You can order an OpenWrt One now! Since today is the tradition… |
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121 |
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122 <p>Everyone can purchase <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/it… |
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123 |
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124 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
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125 |
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126 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2024/nov/28/anna-e-so-inter… |
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127 |
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128 |
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129 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
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130 |
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131 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Karen Sandler</strong>… |
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132 <p> Today is Thanksgiving in the United States, and I am so gratef… |
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133 |
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134 <iframe title="Interview with Anne e só and Karen Sandler" width="56… |
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135 |
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136 <p>I am excited to share with you this video where I recently sat … |
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137 Outreachy organizers. Anna is one of the voices I'm most excited to hear… |
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138 |
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139 <p>In the interview, we got so excited talking about Anna's experi… |
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140 |
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141 </description><author>[email protected] (Karen Sandler)</author><p… |
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142 |
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143 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/nov/26/2024-fundraiser… |
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144 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
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145 |
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146 |
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147 |
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148 <p><strong>$204,887 for software freedom pledged</strong&… |
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149 <p>The 2024 Software Freedom Conservancy match fundraiser launches… |
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150 <p>Our matchers include people giving large donations but also peo… |
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151 |
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152 <p>We have been <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/#Y… |
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153 |
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154 <p>Software Freedom Conservancy has always spoken to current issue… |
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155 |
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156 <p>Our member projects dedicated to providing freedom respecting t… |
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157 |
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158 <p>Please <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/">ren… |
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159 |
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160 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
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161 |
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162 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/oct/31/success-in-2024… |
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163 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
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164 |
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165 |
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166 |
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167 |
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168 <div class="picture-small right"> |
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169 <img src="https://nextcloud.sfconservancy.org/apps/files_sharing/publ… |
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170 <p>Director of Compliance, Denver Gingerich, speaking before the L… |
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171 </div> |
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172 |
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173 <p>Software Freedom Conservancy is proud to announce its successfu… |
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174 |
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175 <p>In their rule making, the Librarian of Congress fully summarize… |
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176 <h3>Jailbreaking of routers + smart TVs</h3> |
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177 <p>This is technically two separate exemptions, one for routing eq… |
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178 |
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179 <h3>License investigation</h3> |
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180 <p>We're also proud of the exemption for circumvention of technolo… |
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181 |
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182 <h3>Medical devices</h3> |
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183 <p>Our Executive Director Karen Sandler, along with Hugo Campos an… |
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184 |
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185 <h3>Onwards</h3> |
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186 <p>Seeing the Librarian of Congress continue to grant our exemptio… |
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187 |
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188 <p>We would also like to point out that iFixit filed an exemption … |
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189 |
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190 <p>Many thanks for our General Counsel, Rick Sanders, who drafted … |
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191 |
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192 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
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193 |
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194 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2024/oct/31/open-source-ai-… |
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195 |
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196 |
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197 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
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198 |
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199 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Bradley M. Kuhn</strong&… |
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200 <p>This week, the Open Source Initiative (OSI) <a rel="nofollow… |
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201 Source Artificial Intelligence Definition (OSAID) official with its 1.… |
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202 announcement, we have reached the moment that software freedom advocat… |
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203 feared for decades: the definition of &ldquo;open source&rdquo… |
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204 with which OSI was entrusted &mdash; now differs in significant |
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205 ways from the views of most software freedom advocates.</p> |
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206 |
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207 <p>There has been substantial acrimony during the drafting process… |
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208 community complaints about the OSAID and its drafting |
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209 process. <a href="https://samjohnston.org/2024/10/15/the-osi-lac… |
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210 bloggers</a> |
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211 and <a href="https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/995159/fb948a90f9c423… |
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212 press</a> have covered those. The |
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213 <acronym title="Too Long; Didn't Read">TLDR</acronym> here, |
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214 <acronym title="In My Opinion">IMO</acronym> is simply sta… |
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215 <strong>require</strong> reproducibility by the |
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216 public of the scientific process of building these systems, because th… |
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217 requirements on the licensing and public disclosure of training sets f… |
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218 OSI refused to add this requirement because of a fundamental flaw in t… |
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219 was no point in publishing a definition that no existing AI system cou… |
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220 currently meet&rdquo;. This fundamental compromise undermined the… |
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221 labeled this document as &rdquo;recommendations&rdquo; for now… |
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222 |
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223 <p>As the publication date of the OSAID approached, I could not h… |
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224 remember a fascinating statement that Donald E. Knuth, one of the foun… |
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225 of the field of computer |
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226 science, <a href="https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/email.… |
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227 said</a>: <q>[M]y role is to be on the bottom of things. &… |
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228 digest &hellip; knowledge into a form that is accessible to people… |
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229 have time for such study</q>. If we wish to engage in the |
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230 highly philosophical (and easily politically corruptible) task |
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231 of <em>defining</em> what terms like &ldquo;software f… |
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232 &ldquo;open source&rdquo; mean, we must learn to be on the &am… |
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233 things&rdquo;. OSI made an unforced error in this regard. While… |
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234 have humbly announced this as &ldquo;recommendations&rdquo; or… |
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235 they instead formalized it as a &ldquo;definition&rdquo; &… |
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236 <acronym title="Open Source Definition"><a href="https://ope… |
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237 |
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238 <p>Yet, OSI itself only turned its attention to AI only recently, … |
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239 announced <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220803005815/https… |
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240 OSI has responded <em>too</em> rapidly to this industry b… |
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241 an easy target for regulatory capture. </p> |
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242 |
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243 <p>By comparison, the original OSD was first published in February… |
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244 That was at least twelve years after the widespread industry adoption … |
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245 various <acronym title="Free and Open Source Software">FOSS</… |
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246 for decades before it was officially &ldquo;defined&rdquo;. |
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247 The OSI announced itself as the &ldquo;marketing department for Fr… |
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248 based the OSD in large part on the independently |
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249 developed Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG). The OSD was thus the |
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250 culmination of decades of thought and consideration, and primarily de… |
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251 by a third-party (Debian) &mdash; which provided a balance on OSI'… |
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252 (Interestingly, <a href="https://opensourcedeclaration.org/index-en… |
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253 |
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254 <p>OSI claims that they must move quickly so that they can |
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255 counter the software companies from coopting |
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256 the term &ldquo;open source&rdquo; for their own aims. But |
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257 <a href="https://trademarks.justia.com/754/39/open-source-75439502.… |
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258 cronies in any event from using the &ldquo;open source&rdquo; |
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259 moniker for his Facebook and Instagram products &mdash; let alone … |
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260 new Llama product. |
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261 Furthermore, OSI's insistence |
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262 that the definition was urgently needed <em>and</em> that … |
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263 be engineered as a retrofit to apply to an existing, available system … |
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264 Simply put, OSI has a tiny sample set to examine, in 2024, |
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265 of what <acronym title="Large Language Model">LLM</acronym>… |
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266 about the software freedom and rights implications of such a nascent f… |
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267 an automatic bias to accept the actions of first movers as legitimate. |
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268 By making this definition official too soon, OSI has endorsed demonstra… |
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269 as &ldquo;open source&rdquo; <em>by definition</em&g… |
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270 |
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271 <p>OSI also disenfranchised the users and content creators in thi… |
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272 FOSS activists should |
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273 be <a href="/news/2023/oct/04/ftc-ai-panel/">engaging with</a… |
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274 the <a href="/news/2023/nov/01/us-copyright-office-generative-ai-ma… |
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275 impacted communities of content creators about what &ldquo;open |
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276 source&rdquo; means to them, and how <em>they</em> fee… |
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277 their data in the training sets into these third-party systems. The l… |
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278 these systems that we cannot rely on old, rote conclusions that the |
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279 &ldquo;data is separate and can be proprietary (or even unavailabl… |
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280 source&rsquo;&rdquo;. That adage fails us when analyzing this… |
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281 and we must take careful steps &mdash; free from the for-profit co… |
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282 interest of AI fervor &mdash; as we decide how our well-established |
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283 philosophies apply to these changes.</p> |
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284 |
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285 <p>FOSS activists err when we unilaterally dictate and define what… |
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286 ethical, moral, open and Free in areas outside of software. Software r… |
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287 theorists <em>can</em> (and should) make meaningful contri… |
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288 other areas, but not without substantial collaboration with those crea… |
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289 individuals who produce the source material. Where were the painters,… |
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290 novelists, the actors, the playwrights, the musicians, and the poets i… |
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291 OSAID drafting process? The OSD was (of course) easier because our |
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292 community <em>is</em> mostly programmers and developers (o… |
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293 to those fields); software creators knew best how to consider philosop… |
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294 The OSI, and the folks in its leadership, definitely |
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295 know software well, but I wouldn't name any of them (or myself) as gre… |
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296 thinkers in these many areas outside software that are noticeably impa… |
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297 LLMs that are trained on those creative works. The Open Source commun… |
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298 consistently in danger of excessive insularity, and the OSAID is an |
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299 unfortunate example of how insular we can be.</p> |
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300 |
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301 <p>Meanwhile, I have spent literally months of time over the last … |
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302 coalition of software freedom &amp; rights activists remained in b… |
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303 congruence (at least publicly) with those (like OSI) who are oriented … |
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304 for-profit and corporate open source approach. Until today, I was alw… |
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305 &ldquo;I believe that anything the OSI calls &lsquo;open sourc… |
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306 gives you all the rights and freedoms that you deserve&rdquo;. I … |
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307 say that again unless/until the OSI revokes the OSAID. Unfortunately,… |
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308 Rubicon may have now been permanently crossed! OSI |
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309 has purposely made it politically unviable for them to |
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310 revoke the OSAID. Instead, they plan only incremental updates to the… |
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311 entities begin to rely on this definition as written, OSI will find i… |
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312 later declare systems that were &ldquo;open source&rdquo; und… |
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313 with OSAID's key problems forever. OSI undermines its position as a p… |
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314 |
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315 <p>I truly don't know for sure (yet) if the only way to respect us… |
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316 generative AI system is to only use training sets that are publicly |
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317 available and licensed under Free Software licenses. <a href="/new… |
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318 that's the ideal and preferred form for modification of those systems&… |
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319 a generally useful technical system that is built by collapsing data (… |
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320 is philosophically much more complicated than binary software and its … |
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321 studied the issue myself, I believe the Socratic Epiphany currently ap… |
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322 spot for compromise |
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323 regarding the issues of training set licensing, availability and simil… |
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324 My instincts, after 25 |
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325 years as a software rights philosopher, lead me to believe that it will |
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326 take at least a decade for our best minds to find a reasonable answer … |
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327 acceptable behavior with regard to these AI systems. While <a href… |
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328 to differ. The humble act now is to admit that it was just too soon t… |
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329 rebrand these the OSAID 1.0 as &ldquo;current recommendations&… |
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330 headlines or raise as much money as the OSAID did, but it's the moral … |
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331 |
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332 <p>Finally, rather than merely be a pundit on this matter, I am in… |
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333 to try to be part of the solution. I plan to run for the OSI Board of D… |
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334 platform: I will work arduously for my entire term to see the OSAID rep… |
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335 not as a definition, but merely recommendations, and to also issue a sta… |
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336 that OSI published the definition sooner than was appropriate. I'll wri… |
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337 next OSI Board election approaches. I also call on other software right… |
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338 are not actually binding, as OSI's by-laws allow the current Board to re… |
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339 |
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340 </description><author>[email protected] (Bradley M. Kuhn)</author>… |
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341 |
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342 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/oct/25/aspirational-on… |
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343 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
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344 |
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345 |
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346 |
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347 |
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348 <p>In 2022, |
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349 Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) <a href="/news/2022/feb/23/committ… |
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350 convened a committee</a> in the <a href="/blog/2022/feb/03/gith… |
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351 announcement</a>, to meet and begin considering the complex questi… |
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352 from the use of large language models (LLMs) in generative AI systems th… |
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353 seek to assist software developers.</p> |
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354 |
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355 <p>Today, |
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356 we <a href="/activities/aspirational-statement-on-llm-generative-ai-f… |
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357 a joint statement by this committee, entitled <cite>Machine-Learni… |
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358 Programming that Respects User Freedom</cite></a>.</p> |
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359 <p>Everyone on our committee |
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360 has watched as interest in this issue has grown in the |
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361 <acronym title="Free and Open Source Software">FOSS</acronym>… |
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362 While the Committee was initially convened to consider how copyleft rela… |
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363 to these systems, our focus changed as we considered the complex issues.… |
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364 the unending influx of models, products, and projects in this area, we b… |
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365 to see a potential dystopia: no systems available today are reproducible… |
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366 the public, and all of them seem to disrespect user rights and freedoms … |
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367 some manner. Rather than despair, we turned our minds to what FOSS does |
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368 best: imagining the ideal if corporate interests were not the primary fo… |
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369 defining society's relationship with software. </p> |
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370 |
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371 <p>In the past, the FOSS community has responded to new challenges… |
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372 race-to-the-bottom document that defines the bare minimum of user rights… |
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373 freedoms that the community of activists will accept. For-profit compani… |
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374 hope to legitimately claim whatever they produce is “FOSS enough”. … |
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375 we have avoided any process that effectively auto-endorses the problemat… |
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376 practices of companies whose proprietary products are already widely dep… |
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377 . No system, particularly a proprietary one, should ever be "too big to |
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378 fail".</p> |
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379 |
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380 <p>While our proposal may seem unrealistic, nearly every proposal … |
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381 history of FOSS has seemed unrealistic &mdash; until it happened. W… |
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382 the FOSS community to not lament what is, but to dream and strive for wh… |
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383 can be. The statement follows:</p> |
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384 |
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385 <h2>Machine-Learning-Assisted Programming that Respects User Freed… |
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386 |
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387 <p>There has been intense industry ballyhoo about a specific branc… |
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388 Artificial Intelligence (AI): generative AI backed by large language mod… |
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389 (LLMs). We have reached an era in computing history where input data se… |
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390 for many different types of works are quite large (after decades of Inte… |
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391 content archiving), and hardware is powerful enough to rebuild LLMs |
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392 repetitively. As FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) activists, we must |
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393 turn at least a modicum of attention to the matter, lest its future be |
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394 dominated by the same proprietary software companies that have curtailed… |
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395 rights for so long.</p> |
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396 |
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397 <p> <acronym title="Large Language Models">LLM</acronym&g… |
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398 generative <acronym title="Artificial Intelligence">AI</acronym… |
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399 rights of everyone &mdash; including developers, creators, and |
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400 users. Software freedom, both in theory and practice, yields substantial |
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401 public good. Yet, traditional, narrow |
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402 |
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403 <acronym title="Free and Open Source Software">FOSS</acronym>… |
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404 boundaries and confines; it's inadequate when applied to these |
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405 technologies.</p> |
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406 |
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407 <p>We propose an aspirational vision of a FOSS, LLM-backed generat… |
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408 system for computer-assisted programming that software rights supporters |
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409 would be proud to use and improve.</p> |
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410 |
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411 <p>This narrow approach is by design. We are keenly cognizant tha… |
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412 been built for myriad works &mdash; from visual art, to the spoken h… |
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413 voice, to music, to literature, to actors' performances. However, this |
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414 document focuses on systems that employ LLM-backed generative AI to assi… |
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415 programmers because such systems have a critical role in the future of F… |
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416 While the impact of AI-based programming assistants' in the daily life of |
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417 programmers remains unclear (in the long term), it seems likely that AI |
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418 assistants have the potential to advance FOSS goals around the |
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419 democratization of software development. For example, such systems help |
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420 newcomers get started with unfamiliar codebases. We must look hopefully… |
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421 these technologies and seek ways to deploy them that help everyone.</… |
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422 |
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423 |
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424 <h4>Aspirational Target for a Software-Rights-Respecting AI Assist… |
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425 Programming System</h4> |
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426 |
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427 <p>The ideal system for generative-AI-assisted programming should … |
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428 following properties:</p> |
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429 |
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430 <ol> |
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431 |
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432 <li> The system is built using only FOSS, and is used only for the… |
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433 of FOSS, and never for proprietary software. In this manner, the system |
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434 would propagate and improve interest in software freedom and rights.&l… |
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435 |
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436 <li>The system must respect the principle of “FOSS in, FOSS out,… |
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437 throughout”. In detail, this means:<ol type="a"><li>All s… |
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438 technical information (including but not limited to: user interface code… |
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439 applications for generating new material from the model, data cleaning c… |
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440 model architecture, hyper parameters, model weights, and the model itsel… |
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441 needed to create the system are freely available to the public under a F… |
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442 license<a href="#footnote-foss-as-moral-imperative" class="footnoteR… |
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443 <li>All training data should be fully identified, and available fr… |
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444 <li>The system will aid the user in adding necessary licensing not… |
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445 determining any licensing requirements<a href="#footnote-llm-genera… |
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446 of the output. </li> |
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447 </ol> |
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448 |
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449 <p>As an aspirational document, this is not intended to be prescr… |
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450 |
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451 <section class="footnotes"> |
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452 <hr /> |
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453 <ol> |
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454 <li id="footnote-foss-as-moral-imperative" class="footnoteRef"><… |
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455 &nbsp;It is well established that FOSS activists consider it a |
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456 moral imperative to share any generally useful technical information und… |
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457 FOSS license. As such, we should not tolerate any portion of the softwa… |
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458 and generally useful technical information released under a license that… |
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459 non-FOSS.&nbsp;<a href="#return-footnote-foss-as-moral-imperative… |
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460 |
|
461 <li id="footnote-llm-generative-ai-recitation" class="footnoteRef">… |
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462 &nbsp; |
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463 Since recitation (i.e., verbatim repeating of parts of the training set)… |
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464 to occur in these systems, we know they will occasionally output Works |
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465 Based on the training set, so our ideal system would be capable of |
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466 notifying the user that recitation occurred and properly mark the lice… |
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467 for it.&nbsp; |
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468 <a href="#return-footnote-llm-generative-ai-recitation">↩</a&… |
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469 </ol> |
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470 |
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471 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
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472 |
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473 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/oct/17/FOSSY-2025-anno… |
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474 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
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475 |
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476 |
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477 |
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478 <p><strong>Submit track proposals now</strong></p&g… |
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479 <div class="picture-small right"> |
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480 <img src="/img/psu-outside.png" alt="Exterior shot of Smith Memorial … |
|
481 <p>A view towards the Smith Memorial Student Union, copyright Kare… |
|
482 </div> |
|
483 |
|
484 <p>Mark you calendars - <a href="https://2025.fossy.us">FOSS… |
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485 <p>Once again, FOSSY will feature community led tracks on a variet… |
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486 |
|
487 <p>You can <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/fossy/community-t… |
|
488 |
|
489 <p>Feel free to reach out to us if you would like to discuss an id… |
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490 |
|
491 <p> Also be sure to check out the <a href="https://www.youtube.… |
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492 |
|
493 <p>Please also considering recommending sponsorship to your compan… |
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494 |
|
495 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
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496 |
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497 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2024/oct/03/linux-plumbers-… |
|
498 |
|
499 |
|
500 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
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501 |
|
502 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich</strong… |
|
503 <p>We were excited and very happy to participate in Linux Plumbers… |
|
504 |
|
505 <p>We hosted a BoF, <a href="https://lpc.events/event/18/contri… |
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506 |
|
507 <p>The discussion moved on to how we can bring the next generation… |
|
508 |
|
509 <p>This really struck me, as I had many conversations in the "hall… |
|
510 |
|
511 <p>While GPL enforcement isn't the only factor in ensuring people … |
|
512 |
|
513 <p>The feedback from the BoF was overwhelmingly positive, and we w… |
|
514 |
|
515 <p>In the meantime, we are proud to continue the work to ensure th… |
|
516 |
|
517 </description><author>[email protected] (Denver Gingerich)</autho… |
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518 |
|
519 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/may/23/fossy-2024-cfp-… |
|
520 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
521 |
|
522 |
|
523 |
|
524 <p><strong>Submit before June 14th</strong></p> |
|
525 <p>FOSSY 2024 CFP and ticket sales are now open! Join us in Portla… |
|
526 <p>To submit a talk, please visit our <a href="https://2024.fos… |
|
527 |
|
528 <p>Along with the opening of the CFP, we have opened ticket sales.… |
|
529 |
|
530 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
531 |
|
532 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/mar/28/fossy-2024/</li… |
|
533 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
534 |
|
535 |
|
536 |
|
537 |
|
538 <div class="picture-small right"> <img src="/img/psu-smsu.jpg"… |
|
539 <p>CC-BY 3.0 </p> |
|
540 </div> |
|
541 |
|
542 <p>Join us at <a href="https://fossy.us">FOSSY</a> thi… |
|
543 channel</a> if you would like to chat with someone about your prop… |
|
544 <p>Please help us make the event a success by sponsoring at one |
|
545 of our tree themed tiers (Giant Sequoia, Redwood, Douglas Fir) or by pro… |
|
546 A/V. If you or your organization would like more information here is our… |
|
547 or you can contact us at [email protected] for more informati… |
|
548 |
|
549 <p>Come join us for what we hope will be a beautiful summer weeken… |
|
550 you there, so mark your calendars!</p> |
|
551 |
|
552 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
553 |
|
554 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/feb/03/use-the-source-… |
|
555 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
556 |
|
557 |
|
558 |
|
559 <p><strong>SFC launches key tool in the fight for user right… |
|
560 <p>This past weekend at <abbr title="Free and Open source Softw… |
|
561 <p>Most consumer electronics ship with software that is provided u… |
|
562 |
|
563 <p>Use The Source seeks to be a hub for collaboration in solving t… |
|
564 |
|
565 <p>This Use The Source initiative harkens back to the beloved but… |
|
566 |
|
567 <p>SFC is acutely aware that, for the last decade since those reso… |
|
568 |
|
569 <p>As always, SFC plans to follow its <a href="/copyleft-compli… |
|
570 |
|
571 <p>SFC encourages anyone interested to review the source code cand… |
|
572 |
|
573 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
574 |
|
575 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2024/feb/03/ccirt-security-… |
|
576 |
|
577 |
|
578 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
579 |
|
580 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich</strong… |
|
581 <p>Across organizations who develop and deploy software, there are… |
|
582 |
|
583 <p>Many other teams exist across organizations for different level… |
|
584 |
|
585 <p>With this in mind, we at SFC are helping prioritize the copylef… |
|
586 |
|
587 <p>Now some companies may not need a CCIRT. Unlike security vulne… |
|
588 |
|
589 <p>We recently launched <a href="/usethesource/">Use The Sou… |
|
590 |
|
591 <p>We hope that this new terminology will help organizations prior… |
|
592 |
|
593 </description><author>[email protected] (Denver Gingerich)</autho… |
|
594 |
|
595 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/jan/18/2023-fundraiser… |
|
596 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
597 |
|
598 |
|
599 |
|
600 <p><strong>$325,400 raised for software freedom!</strong&… |
|
601 <p>This year's fundraiser went right up to the last hour; thanks t… |
|
602 <p>Overall, there was great turn out to our Q&A sessions with … |
|
603 |
|
604 <p>We'll see some of you at <a href="https://fosdem.org/">FO… |
|
605 |
|
606 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
607 |
|
608 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2024/jan/15/supporter-inter… |
|
609 |
|
610 |
|
611 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
612 |
|
613 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Daniel Takamori</strong&… |
|
614 <div class="picture-small right"> |
|
615 <img src="https://nextcloud.sfconservancy.org/apps/files_sharing/publ… |
|
616 <p>CC-BY-NA 4.0 Lucy Voigt</p> |
|
617 </div> |
|
618 |
|
619 <p>Thanks so much to one of our matching supporters, The Voigt Fam… |
|
620 |
|
621 <p><b>SFC</b>:Tell us a bit about yourself! Where are … |
|
622 |
|
623 <p><b>Eli</b>: I moved from Chicago to Portland as a t… |
|
624 |
|
625 <p><b>SFC</b>: Why do you care about software freedom?… |
|
626 |
|
627 <p><b>Eli</b>: In college (almost 10 years ago? Oh no.… |
|
628 |
|
629 <p>Software Freedom is important to me because world class softwar… |
|
630 |
|
631 <p>I definitely think of Software Freedom as a spectrum. For examp… |
|
632 |
|
633 <p><b>SFC</b>: How do you use free software in your li… |
|
634 |
|
635 <p><b>Eli</b>: I use Linux and free software whenever … |
|
636 |
|
637 <p><b>SFC</b>: On the spectrum on developer to end use… |
|
638 |
|
639 <p><b>Eli</b>: I am definitely more of a Developer, an… |
|
640 |
|
641 <p><b>SFC</b>: What's got you most excited from the pa… |
|
642 |
|
643 <p><b>Eli</b>: I was a huge fan of FOSSY! I could only… |
|
644 |
|
645 <p><b>SFC</b>: What issues happened this past year tha… |
|
646 |
|
647 <p><b>Eli</b>: I think the work you're doing with Righ… |
|
648 |
|
649 <p><b>SFC</b>: Do you think we are doing a good job re… |
|
650 |
|
651 <p><b>Eli</b>: I am sure running a conference like FOS… |
|
652 |
|
653 <p><b>SFC</b>: Have you been involved with any of our … |
|
654 |
|
655 <p><b>Eli</b>: I am a huge fan of Busybox! When I put … |
|
656 |
|
657 <p><b>SFC</b>: What other organizations are you suppor… |
|
658 |
|
659 <p><b>Eli</b>: A few of my recurring donations I want … |
|
660 |
|
661 <ul> |
|
662 <li>My local public broadcasting channel: <a href="https://opb.… |
|
663 |
|
664 <li><a href="https://archive.org">The Wayback Machine</a&… |
|
665 |
|
666 <li>My go-to for Climate Change stories: <a href="https://grist… |
|
667 |
|
668 </ul> |
|
669 |
|
670 <p><b>SFC</b>: Did you have the first FOSSY Baby?</… |
|
671 |
|
672 <p><b>Eli</b>: Yes! His name is Oliver and he just tur… |
|
673 |
|
674 </description><author>[email protected] (Daniel Takamori)</author><… |
|
675 |
|
676 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/jan/11/outreachy-2023-… |
|
677 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
678 |
|
679 |
|
680 |
|
681 |
|
682 <div class="picture-small right"> <img src="https://www.outrea… |
|
683 <p>Photo CC-BY Outreachy</p> |
|
684 </div> |
|
685 |
|
686 <h2>Celebrating 14 Years of Impact</h2> |
|
687 |
|
688 <p>In 2023, Outreachy marked a significant milestone in its 14-yea… |
|
689 <h2>Outreachy in 2023: By the Numbers</h2> |
|
690 |
|
691 <p>Outreachy's impact in 2023 by the numbers tells a compelling st… |
|
692 |
|
693 <p>The heart of Outreachy lies in the interns it supports. In 2023… |
|
694 |
|
695 <p>Despite these achievements, the need for financial support rema… |
|
696 |
|
697 |
|
698 <h2>Outreachy Team Milestones</h2> |
|
699 |
|
700 <h3>1. 1000th Intern Celebration</h3> |
|
701 |
|
702 <p>The Outreachy organizing team played a big role in orchestratin… |
|
703 |
|
704 <p>We also appreciate our alums who served as the leads for the lo… |
|
705 |
|
706 <p>Photo albums capturing the vibrant moments of each celebration … |
|
707 |
|
708 <p><a href="https://nextcloud.sfconservancy.org/apps/photos/pub… |
|
709 <p><a href="https://nextcloud.sfconservancy.org/apps/photos/pub… |
|
710 <p><a href="https://nextcloud.sfconservancy.org/apps/photos/pub… |
|
711 <p><a href="https://nextcloud.sfconservancy.org/apps/photos/pub… |
|
712 <p><a href="https://nextcloud.sfconservancy.org/apps/photos/pub… |
|
713 <p><a href="https://nextcloud.sfconservancy.org/apps/photos/pub… |
|
714 |
|
715 <p>These celebratory events not only recognized the interns but al… |
|
716 |
|
717 <h3>2. Intern and Community Support</h3> |
|
718 |
|
719 <p>The heart of Outreachy lies in its interns, and the team ensure… |
|
720 |
|
721 <h3>3. Applicant Empowerment</h3> |
|
722 |
|
723 <p>Empowering applicants is a core focus of Outreachy, and in 2023… |
|
724 |
|
725 <h3>4. Mentor and Coordinator Engagement</h3> |
|
726 |
|
727 <p>The involvement of mentors and community coordinators is crucia… |
|
728 |
|
729 <p>To further support mentors, a full-time Outreachy mentor advoca… |
|
730 |
|
731 <h3>5. Embracing Open Source</h3> |
|
732 |
|
733 <p>Outreachy's commitment to open source and software freedom exte… |
|
734 |
|
735 <h3>6. Community Engagement</h3> |
|
736 <p>Outreachy didn't limit its impact to its own community. The tea… |
|
737 |
|
738 <p>Outreachy organizers gave a keynote at FOSSY to celebrate 1,000… |
|
739 |
|
740 <div class="picture-small"> |
|
741 <iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://ar… |
|
742 <p>Outreachy keynote at FOSSY</p> |
|
743 </div> |
|
744 |
|
745 <p>Outreachy organizers also attended the following conferences:&l… |
|
746 |
|
747 <ul> |
|
748 <li>Diversity and Inclusion in Scientific Computing (DISC)… |
|
749 |
|
750 <li>OSCA fest: <a href="https://medium.com/@omotolaEO/j… |
|
751 |
|
752 <li>Euro Python: <a href="https://medium.com/@omotolaEO… |
|
753 |
|
754 <li>Django Africa: <a href="https://medium.com/@omotola… |
|
755 |
|
756 <li>Open Life Science program (Open Seed Cohort 8): <a … |
|
757 |
|
758 <li>Dublin Developer Relations Meetup (August 2023 edition… |
|
759 |
|
760 <li>Women TechMakers Karu branch, Abuja FCT, Nigeria: <… |
|
761 |
|
762 <li>FOSS Backstage (Dinner with Outreachy mentors): <a … |
|
763 |
|
764 <li>CZI LatAm meeting: <a href="https://anna.flourishin… |
|
765 |
|
766 <li>FOSSY: <a href="https://anna.flourishing.stream/rep… |
|
767 |
|
768 <li>DevFest Cerrado: <a href="https://anna.flourishing.… |
|
769 |
|
770 <li>Angola Open Source Community's The Open Source Café: … |
|
771 </ul> |
|
772 |
|
773 <h2>Looking Ahead to 2024</h2> |
|
774 <p>As Outreachy gears up for the May 2024 cohort, the team is comm… |
|
775 |
|
776 <p><b>Better mentor support:</b> The Outreachy team wi… |
|
777 |
|
778 <p><b>Spotlighting Outreachy mentors:</b> The Outreach… |
|
779 |
|
780 <p><b>Improved website experience:</b> The Outreachy t… |
|
781 |
|
782 <p><b>Partnering with organizations:</b> The Outreachy… |
|
783 |
|
784 <p><b>Updated longitudinal study:</b> Building on the … |
|
785 |
|
786 |
|
787 <p>Outreachy remains steadfast in its mission to foster diversity … |
|
788 |
|
789 <h3>Support Outreachy: Your Contribution Matters!</h3> |
|
790 |
|
791 <p>Please <b><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer… |
|
792 |
|
793 <p>If you appreciate Outreachy's work, we encourage you to donate … |
|
794 |
|
795 <p>Outreachy is a core part of Software Freedom Conservancy. Outre… |
|
796 |
|
797 <p>Link to <a href="https://www.outreachy.org/blog/2024-01-11/o… |
|
798 |
|
799 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
800 |
|
801 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/jan/03/vizio-sj-reject… |
|
802 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
803 |
|
804 |
|
805 |
|
806 <p><strong>SFC files own “Motion for Summary Adjudication�… |
|
807 <p>A very welcome victory in our <a href="https://sfconservancy… |
|
808 |
|
809 <div class="picture-small right"> <img src="https://nextcloud.… |
|
810 <p>The decision speaks clearly:</p> |
|
811 |
|
812 <blockquote>Allowing third parties such as SFC to enforce their ri… |
|
813 source code is not only consistent with the GPLs’ objectives; it i… |
|
814 essential and necessary to achieve these objectives. Recipients of |
|
815 GPL-licensed software will be assured of their right to receive sour… |
|
816 only if they have standing to enforce that right.</blockquote> |
|
817 <br> |
|
818 |
|
819 <p>and</p> |
|
820 |
|
821 <blockquote>&hellip; the Court finds that Plaintiff’s cl… |
|
822 <br> |
|
823 |
|
824 <p>The (full decision is available in <a href="https://sfconser… |
|
825 |
|
826 <p>With that decided, we now turn our focus to our own filing, a &… |
|
827 |
|
828 <p>Our motion seeks to establish that distributors of GPL'd softwa… |
|
829 |
|
830 |
|
831 <blockquote>Defendant Vizio, as the licensee, is responsible for e… |
|
832 complies with the terms of the license. As such, it would be more equita… |
|
833 claims against a licensee who fails to adhere to the terms and condition… |
|
834 <br> |
|
835 |
|
836 <p>We focus on protecting the rights of all end users as third par… |
|
837 |
|
838 <p>You can help fund our continuing work in this case by becoming … |
|
839 |
|
840 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
841 |
|
842 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/dec/21/tesla-no-source… |
|
843 |
|
844 |
|
845 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
846 |
|
847 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich</strong… |
|
848 <p>There appears to be some debate over whether a certain billiona… |
|
849 |
|
850 <p>Tesla's violation is not surprising, given their past behavior.… |
|
851 |
|
852 <p>Now you may wonder why we care about a company that is decidedl… |
|
853 |
|
854 <p>The need for being able to repair here is not hypothetical. The… |
|
855 |
|
856 <p>Tesla has taken a strong and disturbing position: they'd rather… |
|
857 |
|
858 <p>By refusing to comply with the GPL agreements, Tesla is not onl… |
|
859 |
|
860 <p>Of course, we're just as concerned as anyone that owners might … |
|
861 |
|
862 <p>We hope you will stand with us in calling on all companies to f… |
|
863 |
|
864 </description><author>[email protected] (Denver Gingerich)</autho… |
|
865 |
|
866 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/dec/19/a-note-from-kar… |
|
867 |
|
868 |
|
869 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
870 |
|
871 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Karen Sandler</strong>… |
|
872 <p>Just when I think that I've really grokked the implications of … |
|
873 |
|
874 <div class="picture-small left"> <img width=480px src="https:/… |
|
875 <p>Front of hospital in Brussels CC-BY-SA 4.0 Karen Sandler</p&… |
|
876 </div> |
|
877 |
|
878 <p>Early this year, in February, as I readied myself for the excit… |
|
879 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/feb/02/karen-honorary-do… |
|
880 already scheduled visit to the cardiologist revealed that my inherited h… |
|
881 condition had caused an irregular rhythm. I struggled to walk up even |
|
882 shallow inclines.</p> |
|
883 |
|
884 <p>I have a heart condition I was born with, called Hypertrophic C… |
|
885 condition that generally causes me no discernible symptoms, but I am at … |
|
886 I've had, for many years, an implanted pacemaker/defibrillator.</p> |
|
887 |
|
888 <p>Irregular heart rhythms are common for HCM patients over time b… |
|
889 irregular rhythms. Luckily, I have my implanted pacemaker/defibrillator… |
|
890 designed to record that important information. Ostensibly, this is one … |
|
891 the purposes of having an implanted medical device: to collect such data… |
|
892 inform my treatment.</p> |
|
893 |
|
894 <p>Years before, I'd decided to have this device implanted with th… |
|
895 of trepidation. Many of the key and important features of this device a… |
|
896 implemented in software, not hardware. This <a href="https://sfconse… |
|
897 previous one eventually had battery failure), So, twice, I've had to dec… |
|
898 to make an unfair moral choice: do I maximize my chance of surviving wit… |
|
899 heart condition, or do I allow installation of proprietary software in my |
|
900 body?</p> |
|
901 |
|
902 <p>After I decided to have the device installed, I made serious ef… |
|
903 actually verify the safety and efficacy of the software in the device |
|
904 myself. I filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to review the |
|
905 FDA's approval process of this device. What I discovered horrified me: … |
|
906 one — not the FDA, not the patients, not the doctors, not the public �… |
|
907 ever reviewed the source code of the device, or even done direct testing… |
|
908 the software itself. Only the manufacturer does this, and the FDA revie… |
|
909 their reports.</p> |
|
910 |
|
911 <p>This is a problem that will take a lifetime of many activists w… |
|
912 patient's rights to solve. In the meantime, I had to make the difficult |
|
913 moral choice whether to allow the device in my body, and ultimately I di… |
|
914 tried to reduced the harm by choosing a device manufacturer that allowed… |
|
915 radio telemetry to be disabled for security reasons. This was a huge |
|
916 benefit, but ultimately it meant I picked a device made by a company tha… |
|
917 large presence in Europe, but a very small one in the United States. Li… |
|
918 another difficult decision, which would <em>again</em> only … |
|
919 because the software in the device is proprietary.</p> |
|
920 |
|
921 <p>In February 2023, while I scrambled to have data in my device e… |
|
922 before my trip, I discovered that due to the proprietary nature of the |
|
923 device, no one but a company representative could help me. The only one… |
|
924 worked In my city (a major city!) had gone on vacation to visit family |
|
925 overseas. The company had no other representatives available to help |
|
926 me. After much calling to different numbers of the company, I was able t… |
|
927 a list of hospitals and offices across the city that might have had a ma… |
|
928 (oddly, they call them “programmers”) that could interface with (or |
|
929 “interrogate”) my device. Upon calling those locations, only a few a… |
|
930 had the programmers and none of those were able to give me an appointment |
|
931 before I left for Europe.</p> |
|
932 |
|
933 <p>The helplessness that I felt was a powerful echo of how I felt … |
|
934 when I realized that my defibrillator was shocking me unnecessarily when… |
|
935 was pregnant. The only way to stop it was to take (otherwise unnecessary) |
|
936 medication to slow my heart rate down. Proprietary software, installed i… |
|
937 body, led me to no choice but to accept medical treatment that I didn't … |
|
938 need.</p> |
|
939 |
|
940 <div class="picture-small right"> |
|
941 <video class="right" controls="" poster="/videos/2023-02-02_Sandl… |
|
942 <source src="/videos/2023-02-02_Sandler-Karen_KU-Leuven_Honorary-… |
|
943 <track src="/docs/2023-02-02_Sandler-Karen_KU-Leuven_Honorary-Doc… |
|
944 <track src="/docs/2023-02-02_Sandler-Karen_KU-Leuven_Honorary-Doc… |
|
945 </video> |
|
946 <p><a href="/videos/2023-02-02_Sandler-Karen_KU-Leuven_Hono… |
|
947 </div> |
|
948 |
|
949 |
|
950 <p>This time, even though I live in a major city, just one employe… |
|
951 vacation schedule meant my doctors could |
|
952 not diagnosis my urgent health problem. These heart devices are all loc… |
|
953 down. Equipment between companies and also among newer models are *not* |
|
954 interoperable. I and my doctors could not access the critical informatio… |
|
955 my own body when I needed it most.</p> |
|
956 |
|
957 <p>Ultimately, I made the difficult and potentially dangerous deci… |
|
958 to KU Leuven anyway to receive the honorary doctorate. It was an incredi… |
|
959 honor and I would have missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Outraged… |
|
960 frustrated again that I was forced to make a life-or-death decision that |
|
961 would have been much easier to evaluate were it not for proprietary soft… |
|
962 being the only option for heart devices, I nevertheless went.</p> |
|
963 |
|
964 <p>Thanks to a fellow software freedom activist who helped me navi… |
|
965 Belgian medical system, I was able to get my device interrogated there. I |
|
966 confirmed there was not immediate danger, and I used that information to… |
|
967 up with a plan for the rest of my trip and for my healthcare in the comi… |
|
968 months. While the trip was a wonderful experience, I'm haunted by that |
|
969 helplessness that comes from having no control over technology I rely on… |
|
970 deeply.</p> |
|
971 |
|
972 <p>When I returned my cardiologist insisted that I get a wearable … |
|
973 heart rate. Knowing my feelings about proprietary software (from all of … |
|
974 times I advocated for software freedom in the doctors office!), he told … |
|
975 “you're not going to like the recommendation I have”: the doctor sug… |
|
976 get an Apple Watch. As soon as I got home I researched all of the |
|
977 alternatives. I found an FDA approved device that has reliable heart rate |
|
978 monitoring but does not require constant contact with a proprietary mobi… |
|
979 device or continuous connection to a centralized, proprietary service. T… |
|
980 device is unfortunately proprietary itself, but fortunately has no GPS or |
|
981 other similar tracking, and doesn't mandate additional use of third-party |
|
982 proprietary software. This was still a painful compromise for me. I wish |
|
983 every day that I had access to its source code and the ability to modify… |
|
984 software to better suit my unique heart-monitoring needs. But this is my… |
|
985 and my health, and I'm grateful that I found a solution that I can use w… |
|
986 I wait for (and advocate for and support) free solutions to catch up so … |
|
987 use them instead.</p> |
|
988 |
|
989 <div class="picture-small right"> <img width=480px src="https:… |
|
990 <p>Karen finally getting her device "interrogated" in Brussels. No… |
|
991 </div> |
|
992 |
|
993 <p>Happily, since that happened, surgery has returned my heart to … |
|
994 heart rhythm, but my cardiologists have said that my need for the tracki… |
|
995 device remains. I hate that I've had to incorporate more proprietary sof… |
|
996 into my life, but I'm so grateful for the treatment I receive and the ye… |
|
997 of life I am hopefully gaining.</p> |
|
998 |
|
999 <p>The ways we rely on our software are not theoretical. They perv… |
|
1000 aspect of our lives, and we must make our decisions carefully — knowin… |
|
1001 there will be immediate and long term consequences of those choices.<… |
|
1002 |
|
1003 <p>We should stand strongly for our principles but we must also li… |
|
1004 Software Freedom Conservancy we have the philosophy that it's not enough… |
|
1005 just talk about our values, it's all about actually doing work that will… |
|
1006 the needle towards achieving software freedom for everyone.</p> |
|
1007 |
|
1008 |
|
1009 <p>There is at least one, and perhaps a few, rather famous FOSS ac… |
|
1010 are fond of declaring that they live their life without using any propri… |
|
1011 software. I am in awe of the luck that their privilege affords them. I… |
|
1012 to make a really tough choice: put myself at risk of an untimely death, … |
|
1013 put proprietary software in my body. I chose to live — and |
|
1014 continue my work advocating against proprietary software.</p> |
|
1015 |
|
1016 |
|
1017 <p>This year, at SFC, we focused on our partnerships with right to… |
|
1018 organizations to ensure that the software right to repair (which could h… |
|
1019 part of the previously hardware-focused conversations. We raised the al… |
|
1020 about <a |
|
1021 href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/mar/16/john-deere-gpl-violatio… |
|
1022 Deere's GPL violations after years of work on the matter</a>. We … |
|
1023 regular contact with other organizations to support them and we worked on |
|
1024 concrete action items, like the <a |
|
1025 href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/dec/06/sfc-amicus-curiae-in-dm… |
|
1026 brief we recently co-signed</a>.</p> |
|
1027 |
|
1028 <div class="picture-small left"> <img width=480px src="https:/… |
|
1029 <p>Waffles for sale in a Belgian hospital CC-BY-SA 4.0 Karen Sandl… |
|
1030 </div> |
|
1031 |
|
1032 <p>We stood up for the consumer and user rights that are baked int… |
|
1033 and continued to push forward our <a |
|
1034 href="https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/vizio.html">lawsu… |
|
1035 against Vizio</a> — to make sure that everyone must be taken ser… |
|
1036 they ask for source code they are entitled to by the GPLs.</p> |
|
1037 |
|
1038 <p>We know that users face real difficulty and often feel like the… |
|
1039 choices. We don't blame anyone who uses proprietary software; instead, … |
|
1040 empathize with you because we live in the real world too and face diffic… |
|
1041 choices. We have campaigns such as <a |
|
1042 href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/aug/15/exit-zoom/">Exit Zoo… |
|
1043 and <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/GiveUpGitHub">Give Up GitHub… |
|
1044 help you find alternatives to the proprietary software that you're using |
|
1045 every day that you'd rather liberate yourselves from.</p> |
|
1046 |
|
1047 <p>I do hope that (after you <a href="https://sfconservancy.org… |
|
1048 |
|
1049 <p>Happy holidays.</p> |
|
1050 |
|
1051 </description><author>[email protected] (Karen Sandler)</author><p… |
|
1052 |
|
1053 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/dec/11/response-to-big… |
|
1054 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
1055 |
|
1056 |
|
1057 |
|
1058 |
|
1059 <p>After <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/nov/01/us… |
|
1060 <p>In this case, we're particularly glad to stay engaged. We disc… |
|
1061 |
|
1062 <blockquote>To concede Microsoft’s “fair use” claims would b… |
|
1063 |
|
1064 <p>Microsoft seeks maximalist copyright protections, but only when… |
|
1065 |
|
1066 <blockquote>While we and other FOSS activists might support a full… |
|
1067 software from the ground-up, we do not think a piecemeal reworking of so… |
|
1068 particularly to merely serve the interests of large corporations, is in … |
|
1069 not have Big Tech’s resources. Such changes would be particularly toxi… |
|
1070 chosen to license our copyrights under copyleft licenses, which were spe… |
|
1071 full transparency and the complete sharing of source code.</blockquot… |
|
1072 |
|
1073 <p>Finally, our comments reiterated our timely concern: &ldquo… |
|
1074 |
|
1075 <p>You can read our <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/202… |
|
1076 |
|
1077 <p>Please consider becoming a <a href="https://sfconservancy.or… |
|
1078 |
|
1079 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
1080 |
|
1081 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/dec/06/sfc-amicus-curi… |
|
1082 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
1083 |
|
1084 |
|
1085 |
|
1086 <p><strong>Large coalition against DMCA among right to repai… |
|
1087 <p>In the case of <i>Green v. Department of Justice</i>… |
|
1088 <ul> |
|
1089 <li><i>The right to repair</i>: TPMs block third-party… |
|
1090 <li><i>The right to exclude</i>: TPMs spy on consumers… |
|
1091 <li><i>The right to use</i>: TPMs prevent consumers fr… |
|
1092 <li><i>The right to possess</i>: Device manufacturers … |
|
1093 </ul> |
|
1094 |
|
1095 <p>The amicus brief expresses its support for Green's position tha… |
|
1096 |
|
1097 <blockquote>When consumers seek to circumvent TPMs to protect thei… |
|
1098 |
|
1099 <p>&sect;1201 gives corporations power over us. The amici bel… |
|
1100 |
|
1101 <p>Also, SFC's Executive Director, Karen Sandler, shared her compe… |
|
1102 <blockquote>A software malfunction on the device misinterpreted he… |
|
1103 her heart unnecessarily while she was pregnant. Yet the defibrillator�… |
|
1104 kept [her] from even finding the bug in the software, let |
|
1105 alone repairing it, leaving her at the mercy of the device’s manufactu… |
|
1106 the erroneous shocks.</blockquote><br> |
|
1107 |
|
1108 <p>Free and open source software is a necessary (but not sufficien… |
|
1109 |
|
1110 <p>You can read the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/bri… |
|
1111 |
|
1112 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
1113 |
|
1114 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/nov/27/sourceware-than… |
|
1115 |
|
1116 |
|
1117 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
1118 |
|
1119 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Sourceware PLC</strong&g… |
|
1120 <p>Sourceware is maintained by volunteers, but hardware, bandwidth… |
|
1121 servers are provided by sponsors. It is our goal to offer a worry-free, … |
|
1122 home for Free Software projects. Because Free Software needs Free Infras… |
|
1123 |
|
1124 <p>We have only been a Conservancy member project for 6 months, bu… |
|
1125 started the search for a fiscal sponsor about two years ago. Although |
|
1126 we probably didn't really know or understand why we needed one at first |
|
1127 or the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/projects/services/">serv… |
|
1128 |
|
1129 <p>Sourceware has been a Free Software hosting platform since 1998. |
|
1130 As a developer platform for developers getting consensus on <a href="… |
|
1131 roadmaps</a> |
|
1132 has always been easy. But the discussion on governance took some time. |
|
1133 In particular how much influence corporations should get was at times co… |
|
1134 Sourceware may be volunteer managed, but wouldn't be possible without th… |
|
1135 network resources and services provided by some corporate sponsors. The … |
|
1136 community values their independence and the strong community which it ma… |
|
1137 |
|
1138 <p>After nine months of discussion we finally settled on <a hre… |
|
1139 with a <a href="https://sourceware.org/mission.html#plc">Project L… |
|
1140 (Frank Ch. Eigler, Christopher Faylor, Ian Kelling, Ian Lance Taylor, To… |
|
1141 Mark J. Wielaard and Elena Zannoni). |
|
1142 Our <a href="https://sourceware.org/Conservancy-Sourceware-FSA.pdf"&g… |
|
1143 with the Conservancy states that there cannot be a majority of people af… |
|
1144 with the same organization (max two members can be employed by the same … |
|
1145 The agreement also states that for projects Sourceware hosts everything … |
|
1146 solely as Free Software and that we will publish all services as Free So… |
|
1147 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/projects/policies/conflict-of-inte… |
|
1148 |
|
1149 <p>Joining the Software Freedom Conservancy as a member project ma… |
|
1150 Sourceware more structured. We have monthly Open Office hours now to lea… |
|
1151 from the community about any infrastructure issues and then the Sourcewa… |
|
1152 Project Leadership Committee meets to discuss these, set priorities |
|
1153 and decide how to spend any funds and/or negotiate with hardware and |
|
1154 service partners together with the Software Freedom Conservancy staff.&l… |
|
1155 |
|
1156 <p>Projects hosted by Sourceware are part of the core toolchain fo… |
|
1157 the cloud and, through Cygwin, Windows. Years ago Ken Thompson laid out … |
|
1158 operating system via the compiler and other code generation tools. These… |
|
1159 The Free Software community should reasonably insist that they be defend… |
|
1160 mechanisms for prevention, detection and restoration. We have been encou… |
|
1161 policy which we support with technical infrastructure. Sourceware now of… |
|
1162 is valid. Using the Sourceware public-inbox instance you can use b4 for … |
|
1163 Projects concerned with source code integrity now have various options t… |
|
1164 or use gitsigur for protecting git repo integrity. And new services, lik… |
|
1165 are run in containers, on separate VMs or servers (thanks to our hardwar… |
|
1166 advisory role in how community projects are impacted by and can comply w… |
|
1167 USA Cyber Security Directives and the EU Cyber Resilience Act.</p> |
|
1168 |
|
1169 <p>Conservancy staff has been attending conferences to discuss wit… |
|
1170 community, first virtual, then in person. Without having a formal fundra… |
|
1171 we already collected more than $6000 in just 6 months for Sourceware. We… |
|
1172 more support from hardware partners, who provided us with extra servers … |
|
1173 buildbot and to setup new services. We wrote up a <a href="https://so… |
|
1174 looking backwards to the last 25 years and looking forwards to the next … |
|
1175 All this resulted in more volunteers showing up helping out.</p> |
|
1176 |
|
1177 <p>Having been part of Conservancy for just 6 months has given the |
|
1178 community and volunteers running the Sourceware infrastructure |
|
1179 confidence in the future. We hope the community will support |
|
1180 the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/nov/21/2023-fundrais… |
|
1181 and become a Conservancy <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer… |
|
1182 so Conservancy can support more Software Freedom communities like |
|
1183 Sourceware.</p> |
|
1184 |
|
1185 </description><author>Sourceware [email protected] (Sourceware PLC)<… |
|
1186 |
|
1187 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/nov/21/2023-fundraiser… |
|
1188 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
1189 |
|
1190 |
|
1191 |
|
1192 <p><strong>Double your contribution to software freedom befo… |
|
1193 <p>We at Software Freedom Conservancy are proud to be supported by… |
|
1194 find the mission of providing ethical technology for all worth investing… |
|
1195 Your support is what lets us develop free and open source alternatives |
|
1196 to proprietary technologies like being the home to <a href="https://i… |
|
1197 <a href="https://openwrt.org">OpenWrt</a>, <a href="https… |
|
1198 and many others, support <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-… |
|
1199 and run <a href="https://outreachy.org">Outreachy</a>, |
|
1200 which just hosted its 1000th intern this year! It's the continued support |
|
1201 of individuals which enables our work to protect us all from |
|
1202 incursion of our digital rights and freedoms.</p> |
|
1203 <p>Our annual match drive of an <b>historic $161,729</b&g… |
|
1204 donors, giving all different levels of support to make sure we can conti… |
|
1205 give during the match challenge period and up to that overall amount, th… |
|
1206 to make your contributions to software freedom double! Over the next few |
|
1207 weeks we'll be talking with some of our matchers like: Alison Chaiken, B… |
|
1208 see what they are most excited about our work and the future of software |
|
1209 freedom.</p> |
|
1210 |
|
1211 <p>This has been an exciting year for our organization, from hirin… |
|
1212 to running the first FOSSY conference, to seeing our projects continue to |
|
1213 grow and develop. You can read all about this years exciting developments |
|
1214 on our <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/#YearInReview">… |
|
1215 |
|
1216 <p>We urge you to become a <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/s… |
|
1217 |
|
1218 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
1219 |
|
1220 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/nov/01/us-copyright-of… |
|
1221 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
1222 |
|
1223 |
|
1224 |
|
1225 <p><strong>SFC warns that “compulsory licensing” undercu… |
|
1226 <p>This week, Software Freedom Conservancy responded to the United… |
|
1227 <p>SFC's submitted comments highlight how copyleft truly “promo… |
|
1228 |
|
1229 <p>SFC drew specific attention to the questions regarding financia… |
|
1230 on copyrighted works, such as musical compositions, using royalty paymen… |
|
1231 are principled and encompass more than mere financial compensation, comp… |
|
1232 |
|
1233 <p>You can view <a href="/docs/2023-10-30_Software-Freedom-Cons… |
|
1234 |
|
1235 <p> |
|
1236 You can support work like this by becoming a <a href="https://sfconse… |
|
1237 |
|
1238 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
1239 |
|
1240 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/oct/12/how-i-watched-m… |
|
1241 |
|
1242 |
|
1243 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
1244 |
|
1245 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich</strong… |
|
1246 <p>In SFC's ongoing <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/vizio"&g… |
|
1247 |
|
1248 <p>I was hoping to be able to use a standard interface to view the… |
|
1249 |
|
1250 <p>I am not sure how other countries approach this problem, and ma… |
|
1251 |
|
1252 <p>As part of <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2019/apr/… |
|
1253 |
|
1254 <p>Once this dilemma was resolved (for better or worse), I went th… |
|
1255 |
|
1256 <blockquote>By clicking "Join", you agree to our {0} and {1}.</… |
|
1257 <br/> |
|
1258 |
|
1259 <p>Now there were no links to {0} or {1}, so I made some guesses a… |
|
1260 |
|
1261 <p>The hearing event itself was familiar to those who have attende… |
|
1262 |
|
1263 <p>Once the other cases were heard, the judge turned to us, with b… |
|
1264 |
|
1265 <p>It was a bit jarring to hear my own name mentioned in court, as… |
|
1266 |
|
1267 <p>After Vizio's lawyer had finished, the judge turned to our lawy… |
|
1268 |
|
1269 <p>Our lawyers finished with some examples of how contract law wor… |
|
1270 |
|
1271 <p>We are extremely proud of our lawyers in this case, especially … |
|
1272 |
|
1273 <p>We look forward to hearing the judge's decision on this motion … |
|
1274 |
|
1275 </description><author>[email protected] (Denver Gingerich)</autho… |
|
1276 |
|
1277 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/oct/12/transcript-msj-… |
|
1278 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
1279 |
|
1280 |
|
1281 |
|
1282 |
|
1283 <div class="picture-small right"> <img src="https://nextcloud.… |
|
1284 <p>SFC lawyers posing outside the courthouse - CC BY-SA 4.0</di… |
|
1285 |
|
1286 <p>Last Thursday, Software Freedom Conservancy took the next step … |
|
1287 <p>The motion, and consequently the hearing, focuses on two of th… |
|
1288 |
|
1289 <p>In the courtroom, SFC was represented by leading California law… |
|
1290 |
|
1291 <p>Together, Naomi and Don were a powerhouse representing us on th… |
|
1292 <br> |
|
1293 <blockquote>Vizio does not dispute that the recipients of licensed |
|
1294 software have a right to source code under the GPL's, and |
|
1295 yet Vizio argues that as a matter of law those recipients |
|
1296 of licensed software may not enforce the right that we |
|
1297 indisputably enjoy, because somehow it would be |
|
1298 inconsistent with the objectives of the contract and the |
|
1299 reasonable expectations of the contracting parties. |
|
1300 Nothing could be further from the truth, |
|
1301 </blockquote> |
|
1302 </p> |
|
1303 |
|
1304 <p> Naomi gave an excellent primer on the difference between valid… |
|
1305 |
|
1306 <br> |
|
1307 <blockquote> Vizio now argues that it can breach this |
|
1308 contract with impunity, because any claim for breach |
|
1309 would be preempted by copyright law, and because the |
|
1310 parties who are harmed by the breach lack standing to |
|
1311 enforce their rights. |
|
1312 |
|
1313 That is not and cannot be the law. |
|
1314 </blockquote> |
|
1315 |
|
1316 <br> |
|
1317 <blockquote>Vizio is taking the position that enforcement by copyr… |
|
1318 </blockquote> |
|
1319 |
|
1320 </p> |
|
1321 |
|
1322 <p>We were thrilled to hear in real-time our lawyers argue so pass… |
|
1323 |
|
1324 <br> |
|
1325 <blockquote> |
|
1326 In this case the party that is harmed is the party demanding the source … |
|
1327 </blockquote> |
|
1328 </p> |
|
1329 |
|
1330 <p>We encourage those of you that care about the rights granted un… |
|
1331 |
|
1332 <p>We expect a decision on this motion in the coming days, and wil… |
|
1333 |
|
1334 <p>Public policy litigation like this is expensive. We urge you t… |
|
1335 |
|
1336 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
1337 |
|
1338 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/oct/11/joint-statement… |
|
1339 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
1340 |
|
1341 |
|
1342 |
|
1343 |
|
1344 <div class="picture-small right"> <a href="https://fsfe.org/ne… |
|
1345 |
|
1346 <p>Both <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20231011-01.ht… |
|
1347 Conservancy (SFC) are committed to defending and expanding software free… |
|
1348 and the rights of people to use, understand, share and improve their sof… |
|
1349 <p>As part of this work, both FSFE and SFC strive to create a soft… |
|
1350 freedom community that is egalitarian, fair, kind, and welcoming to ev… |
|
1351 Sadly, though, we are also aware that toxic behavior, bullying, and ot… |
|
1352 Codes of Conduct do occur throughout our community. As such, both |
|
1353 organizations make substantial efforts to protect our volunteers and s… |
|
1354 from bad behavior.</p> |
|
1355 |
|
1356 <p>Historically, both FSFE and SFC collaborated and coordinate… |
|
1357 |
|
1358 Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC), and specifically with SFLC's fou… |
|
1359 |
|
1360 However, some time ago, both our organizations ended our collaborati… |
|
1361 |
|
1362 Furthermore, both FSFE and SFC now have internal policies to avoid a… |
|
1363 |
|
1364 |
|
1365 <p>We arrived at these decisions through our organizational proc… |
|
1366 toward members of the staff and volunteers of both organizations, each… |
|
1367 Eben Moglen and not invite him to our events and fora. (Examples of r… |
|
1368 behavior &mdash; towards <a href="https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabv… |
|
1369 have been (with reluctance) documented publicly in the proceedings of … |
|
1370 ongoing <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2017/nov/03/sflc-le… |
|
1371 cancellation petition that SFLC filed against SFC</a> in |
|
1372 the <a href="https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92066968">U… |
|
1373 States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board</a>.) |
|
1374 </p> |
|
1375 |
|
1376 <p>Today, we share &mdash; with the community at large &md… |
|
1377 work with Eben Moglen or SFLC. We have |
|
1378 chosen to speak publicly on this matter because we feel we have an obl… |
|
1379 volunteers and activists in software freedom that this pattern of repo… |
|
1380 behavior exists. Of course, everyone should read the |
|
1381 publicly available source materials and make their own decisions regar… |
|
1382 these matters. While we are loathe to publicly speak of these unfortun… |
|
1383 reports of abusive behavior &mdash; and the risk that behavior cr… |
|
1384 quiet on this issue.</p> |
|
1385 |
|
1386 <p>Abusive behavior is a distraction from the |
|
1387 mission of any activist organization. We urge everyone to separate the… |
|
1388 as best they can from such behavior (and from those who tolerate and/or |
|
1389 employ it), and focus on the important work of increasing software fre… |
|
1390 |
|
1391 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
1392 |
|
1393 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/oct/04/ftc-ai-panel/</… |
|
1394 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
1395 |
|
1396 |
|
1397 |
|
1398 |
|
1399 <div class="picture-small right"> <a href="https://kvgo.com/ft… |
|
1400 <p>Click the thumbnail for a link to the recording which includes … |
|
1401 |
|
1402 <p>Software Freedom Conservancy's Policy Fellow Bradley M. Kuhn, p… |
|
1403 <p>Given the increasing prevalence of machine learning technologie… |
|
1404 |
|
1405 <p>SFC has written and spoken previously on the concerns around AI… |
|
1406 |
|
1407 <p>You can <a href="https://kvgo.com/ftc/Creative-Economy-and-G… |
|
1408 |
|
1409 <br> |
|
1410 |
|
1411 <p>Below, we include in their entirety Bradley's open statement at… |
|
1412 |
|
1413 <br> |
|
1414 |
|
1415 <blockquote> |
|
1416 First, I'd like to thank the FTC for organizing this panel. It's humbli… |
|
1417 be here among these key individuals from such a broad range of important |
|
1418 creative endeavors. |
|
1419 |
|
1420 <br> |
|
1421 <br> |
|
1422 |
|
1423 Folks will notice that I'm not appearing by video today, and I again tha… |
|
1424 the FTC for providing a method for me to join you today without requiring |
|
1425 that I agree to Zoom's proprietary terms and conditions. As a matter of |
|
1426 principle, I avoid using any proprietary software, but in this case, it … |
|
1427 merely esoteric principle. Zoom is among the many Big Tech companies |
|
1428 that have sought to cajole users into allowing their own user data as |
|
1429 training input for machine learning systems. If consumers take away any… |
|
1430 from my comments today, I hope they remember to carefully read the terms… |
|
1431 conditions of all software platforms they use, as they may have already |
|
1432 agreed for their own creative works to be part of the company's machine … |
|
1433 data sets. It may take you a week to read all those terms, but it's sad… |
|
1434 the only way you'll know what rights you've given away to Big Tech. |
|
1435 |
|
1436 <br> |
|
1437 <br> |
|
1438 |
|
1439 The creative works that I focus on, however, is the source code of softw… |
|
1440 itself. Software is unique among creative endeavors because it is so ea… |
|
1441 separate the work that's created by humans (which is the source code), f… |
|
1442 the form of the work that's enjoyed day-to-day by consumers (which is the |
|
1443 compiled binary). I'm an activist in the area of software freedom and r… |
|
1444 specifically because I believe every consumer deserves the right to exam… |
|
1445 how their software works, to modify, improve and change it — be it |
|
1446 altruistically or commercially. Free and Open Source software (abbrevia… |
|
1447 FOSS) aims to create, through licensing and other means, an equal field … |
|
1448 all software professionals and hobbyists alike, and to grant rights to |
|
1449 consumers so they have true control of their own tools. |
|
1450 |
|
1451 <br> |
|
1452 <br> |
|
1453 |
|
1454 For 30 years, our community has created FOSS and made it publicly availa… |
|
1455 Big Tech, for its part, continues to refuse to share most of its own sof… |
|
1456 in the same way. So, as it turns out, nearly all the publicly available |
|
1457 source code in the world today is FOSS, and most of it is licensed under |
|
1458 terms that are what we call copyleft: a requirement that anyone who furt… |
|
1459 improves or modifies the work must give similar permissions to its downs… |
|
1460 users. |
|
1461 |
|
1462 <br> |
|
1463 <br> |
|
1464 |
|
1465 This situation led FOSS to become a canary in the coal mine of Big Tech's |
|
1466 push for machine learning. Hypocritically, we've seen Big Tech gladly t… |
|
1467 their machine learning models with our publicly available FOSS, but not … |
|
1468 their own proprietary source code. Big Tech happily exploits FOSS, but … |
|
1469 believe they've found a new way to ignore the key principles and require… |
|
1470 that FOSS licenses dictate. It's clear Big Tech ignore any rules that s… |
|
1471 in the way of their profits. |
|
1472 |
|
1473 <br> |
|
1474 <br> |
|
1475 |
|
1476 Meanwhile, Big Tech has launched a campaign to manufacture consent about |
|
1477 these systems. Big Tech claims that the rules, licensing, and legislati… |
|
1478 that has applied to creative works since the 1800s in the United States … |
|
1479 suddenly moot simply because machine learning is, in their view, too imp… |
|
1480 to be bogged down by the licensing choices of human creators of works. … |
|
1481 the FOSS community, we see this policy coup happening on every level: fr… |
|
1482 propaganda to consumers, to policy papers, to even law journal articles. |
|
1483 |
|
1484 <br> |
|
1485 <br> |
|
1486 |
|
1487 I realize that I sound rather pessimistic about the outcomes here. I'm |
|
1488 nevertheless hopeful sitting here in this panel today, because I see tha… |
|
1489 many of my colleagues in other fields are similarly skeptical about Big |
|
1490 Tech's self-serving rhetoric in this regard, and I hope we can work toge… |
|
1491 to counter that rhetoric fully. |
|
1492 </blockquote> |
|
1493 |
|
1494 <br> |
|
1495 |
|
1496 <p>The FTC asked Bradley this question:</p> |
|
1497 |
|
1498 <blockquote> |
|
1499 What kind of insight do you feel like you have now into how your work |
|
1500 or likeness is being used by generative AI systems, and what kind… |
|
1501 transparency do you feel is needed? |
|
1502 </blockquote> |
|
1503 |
|
1504 <br> |
|
1505 |
|
1506 <p>to which Bradley responded:</p> |
|
1507 |
|
1508 <blockquote> |
|
1509 First of all, there is now no question that the body of copylefted FOSS … |
|
1510 huge part of the software-assisted development machine learning systems.… |
|
1511 Tech are also playing cat-and-mouse, by simply excluding on the back-end… |
|
1512 most egregious examples of copyright infringement that are found. |
|
1513 |
|
1514 <br> |
|
1515 <br> |
|
1516 |
|
1517 We now know Big Tech has disturbingly found a way to take a transparent … |
|
1518 of freely shared information on the Internet and exploit it in secret. … |
|
1519 simply shouldn't accept that as legitimate, and there is no reason that … |
|
1520 Tech shouldn't be regulated to make these systems transparent — end to… |
|
1521 |
|
1522 <br> |
|
1523 <br> |
|
1524 |
|
1525 In my view, the public should have access to the input set, have access … |
|
1526 the source code of the software that does the training and generation, a… |
|
1527 most importantly, access to the source code that does these forms of bac… |
|
1528 exclusion, which will hopefully expose the duplicity of Big Tech's polic… |
|
1529 here. |
|
1530 |
|
1531 <br> |
|
1532 <br> |
|
1533 |
|
1534 Finally, I expect that once we have real transparency, it will bear out … |
|
1535 many of the other speakers today also noted: that the issues with these |
|
1536 machine learning systems can't be solved merely with a financial compens… |
|
1537 model to creators. FOSS shows this explicitly: since most FOSS is writt… |
|
1538 altruistically and the compensation that authors seek is the requirement… |
|
1539 future improvement of the commons, not financial compensation. We really |
|
1540 need full transparency in these systems to assure that essential non-mon… |
|
1541 policy license terms and the consumers' rights are upheld. |
|
1542 |
|
1543 </blockquote> |
|
1544 |
|
1545 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
1546 |
|
1547 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/sep/14/fossy-videos/</… |
|
1548 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
1549 |
|
1550 |
|
1551 |
|
1552 |
|
1553 <p>The recordings from FOSSY are now up! You can check them out on… |
|
1554 <div class="picture-small right"> <a href="https://commons.wik… |
|
1555 <p><a href="https://archive.org/details/fossy2023_You_dont_carr… |
|
1556 |
|
1557 <p>During the four days of the conference, there were a wide varie… |
|
1558 |
|
1559 <p>It was a privilege and honor to make space for the community to… |
|
1560 |
|
1561 <p>Thank you to all the people that came out for our first confere… |
|
1562 |
|
1563 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
1564 |
|
1565 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/aug/15/exit-zoom/</lin… |
|
1566 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
1567 |
|
1568 |
|
1569 |
|
1570 <p><strong>SFC Announces Program to Help FOSS Enthusiasts Ad… |
|
1571 <p>Software Freedom Conservancy stands with concerned users and co… |
|
1572 of our ongoing advocacy work, we educate and help people to choose more … |
|
1573 FOSS options for the general public. We also strive to &ldquo;meet … |
|
1574 <p>The industrialized world has changed since the advent of FOSS. … |
|
1575 |
|
1576 <p>We considered completely avoiding those meetings in protest. H… |
|
1577 |
|
1578 <p>This strategy had benefits and downsides. Sometimes, being the… |
|
1579 |
|
1580 <p>Throughout the pandemic and its widespread Zoom adoption, we wa… |
|
1581 |
|
1582 <p>After widespread pushback and negative press, Zoom <a href="… |
|
1583 |
|
1584 <p>Sadly, such corporate bullying by Big Tech is nothing new. Tec… |
|
1585 constantly merely to engage in the most simple operations. |
|
1586 A <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/terms-of-service-visual… |
|
1587 analysis showed that it could take up to 30 hours just to read the ent… |
|
1588 Zoom's terms and conditions</a>. And, if you haven't gotten som… |
|
1589 in reading contracts, it's unlikely you'll be sure what you're really |
|
1590 agreeing to, and even with such knowledge and training, we estimate it… |
|
1591 that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/zoom-ai-priva… |
|
1592 took the press <em>months</em> (from March to August)</… |
|
1593 the clause granting Zoom a &ldquo;perpetual, worldwide, non-exclus… |
|
1594 royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license and all other |
|
1595 rights&rdquo; to use all Customer Content for &ldquo;machine l… |
|
1596 artificial intelligence, training, testing,&rdquo; and a variety o… |
|
1597 product development purposes. |
|
1598 </p> |
|
1599 |
|
1600 <p>At SFC, we invested, because our principles (to find or build F… |
|
1601 self-hosting alternative video chat platforms through the pandemic (as… |
|
1602 difficult, and we got teased and sometimes insulted by colleagues who … |
|
1603 it was so important that we self-host FOSS to do the job of video |
|
1604 conference calls. The proprietary and for-profit nature of Zoom also … |
|
1605 can do little more than &ldquo;pray they do not alter it further&a… |
|
1606 mitigate the damage that Zoom is causing to our colleagues.</p> |
|
1607 |
|
1608 <p> Our FOSS member projects have had access to |
|
1609 our BigBlueButton chat server for some time. Today we are making it a… |
|
1610 part of our infrastructure that we provide to FOSS projects that are p… |
|
1611 we announce that we are welcoming anyone who contributes to |
|
1612 FOSS who needs access to a video chat server they can trust to apply f… |
|
1613 access. Finally, we are welcoming anyone who becomes (or renews as) |
|
1614 an <a href="/sustainer/">SFC Sustainer</a> to also have ac… |
|
1615 all this are below.</p> |
|
1616 |
|
1617 <p>Even more, in the coming months, we will run various online ses… |
|
1618 show how we set up and configured our own BBB server and publish |
|
1619 tutorial information &mdash; in hopes that others can launch self-… |
|
1620 collectives and Exit Zoom!</p> |
|
1621 |
|
1622 <p>We realize this is a small step in mitigating the damage that Z… |
|
1623 Big Tech's classic strategy &mdash; going back to the 1970s &mda… |
|
1624 into a specific technological workflow and software stack, and then mani… |
|
1625 Users become victims of Big Tech's control of their devices and technolo… |
|
1626 We are extremely concerned about individuals who run confidential suppor… |
|
1627 who practice telemedicine, and workers who Zoom is now telling &ldqu… |
|
1628 Zoom, your choices now are to become a subject in our machine learning e… |
|
1629 lose your job for not showing up to mandatory meetings&rdquo;. We h… |
|
1630 this action by Zoom will finally convince the industry and governments t… |
|
1631 infrastructure is necessary &mdash; rather simply funding more and m… |
|
1632 the full control of for-profit companies.</p> |
|
1633 |
|
1634 <h4 id="sustainers">How Sustainers Get Access</h4> |
|
1635 |
|
1636 <p>Make your annual renewal using our <a href="/sustainer">o… |
|
1637 and (starting early next week), you'll receive instructions on how to … |
|
1638 up your account.</p> |
|
1639 |
|
1640 <h4 id="members">How SFC Member Projects Get Access</h4> |
|
1641 |
|
1642 <p>Contact your Project Leadership Committee (PLC) and ask them to… |
|
1643 the instructions they received.</p> |
|
1644 |
|
1645 <h4 id="community">How FOSS Community Members Get Access</h4> |
|
1646 |
|
1647 <p>We will be providing limited access to other FOSS community mem… |
|
1648 <ul> |
|
1649 |
|
1650 <li>What is the name and email you used to sign up?</li> |
|
1651 |
|
1652 <li>What FOSS communities are you a part of?</li> |
|
1653 |
|
1654 <li>What kinds of meetings do you expect you'll be hosting?<… |
|
1655 |
|
1656 <li>Where do your meetings currently take place?</li> |
|
1657 |
|
1658 <li>How will using FOSS video conferencing help your community… |
|
1659 |
|
1660 </ul> |
|
1661 |
|
1662 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
1663 |
|
1664 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/jul/27/trademark-histo… |
|
1665 |
|
1666 |
|
1667 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
1668 |
|
1669 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich</strong… |
|
1670 <p>When it comes to the law, people working on software freedom ar… |
|
1671 |
|
1672 <p>However, trademark law can have a significant impact on what pe… |
|
1673 |
|
1674 <p>Practical software freedom (the right to use, study, modify, an… |
|
1675 |
|
1676 <p>For non-copylefted works, which do not have additional terms in… |
|
1677 |
|
1678 <p>Trademarks have value for FOSS; they do reduce confusion betwee… |
|
1679 |
|
1680 <p>We explore below three historical examples — each of which p… |
|
1681 |
|
1682 <p>Let's start with Java. As early as 1996, Sun Microsystems was … |
|
1683 |
|
1684 <p>Next, consider PHP. Starting in 2000, the PHP authors decided … |
|
1685 |
|
1686 <p>Finally, and perhaps most importantly, consider the historical … |
|
1687 |
|
1688 <p>With all these examples of trademark policies gone wrong in the… |
|
1689 |
|
1690 <p>With this in mind, we turn our attention to Rust, a programming… |
|
1691 |
|
1692 <p>The Rust Foundation's draft trademark policy may require substa… |
|
1693 |
|
1694 <p>After reaching out to someone who is involved with the Rust com… |
|
1695 |
|
1696 <p>To keep our software freedom communities vibrant, communication… |
|
1697 |
|
1698 </description><author>[email protected] (Denver Gingerich)</autho… |
|
1699 |
|
1700 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/jul/19/rhel-panel-foss… |
|
1701 |
|
1702 |
|
1703 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
1704 |
|
1705 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Bradley M. Kuhn</strong&… |
|
1706 <p>This past weekend, July 13-16th, 2023, Software Freedom Conserv… |
|
1707 hosted and ran a new conference, FOSSY (Free and Open Source Software … |
|
1708 the keynote panel discussion on the recent change made by Red Hat (now… |
|
1709 subsidiary of IBM) regarding the public source code releases for Red H… |
|
1710 Enterprise Linux (RHEL).</p> |
|
1711 |
|
1712 <video class="small-right" controls="" poster="/videos/2023-07-14_FOS… |
|
1713 <source src="/videos/2023-07-14_FOSSY-2023_RHEL-Keynote-Panel.mp4"&… |
|
1714 <a href="/videos/2023-07-14_FOSSY-2023_RHEL-Keynote-Panel.mp4">D… |
|
1715 or <a href="https://youtu.be/PFMPjt_RgXA">watch on YouTube</a… |
|
1716 </video> |
|
1717 |
|
1718 |
|
1719 |
|
1720 |
|
1721 <p> The panelists included (in alphabetical order) Jeremy Alison,… |
|
1722 co-founder, myself, Bradley M. Kuhn, policy |
|
1723 fellow at SFC, benny Vasquez, the Chair of the |
|
1724 AlmaLinux OS Foundation, and James (Jim) Wright, who is Oracle’s Chi… |
|
1725 Architect for Open Source Policy, Strategy, Compliance, and Alliances.… |
|
1726 |
|
1727 <p>Red Hat themselves did not reply to our repeated requests to jo… |
|
1728 but we were able to gather the key organizations impacted by Red Hat's |
|
1729 recent decision to cease public distribution of RHEL sources. SUSE was |
|
1730 also invited but let us know they were unable to send someone on short… |
|
1731 the panel.</p> |
|
1732 |
|
1733 <p>We're very glad to make the video available to everyone who has… |
|
1734 following this evolving story. FOSSY is a new event, and we've hopefu… |
|
1735 shown how running a community-led FOSS event here in Portland each sum… |
|
1736 environment where these kinds of important discussions can be held to … |
|
1737 issues impacting FOSS users around the world.</p> |
|
1738 |
|
1739 <p>I thank our panelists again for booking last-minute travel to b… |
|
1740 for this exciting panel and thank all the FOSSY attendees for their |
|
1741 excellent questions during the panel.</p> |
|
1742 |
|
1743 <p>I hope to see all of you at next years' FOSSY!</p> |
|
1744 |
|
1745 </description><author>[email protected] (Bradley M. Kuhn)</author>… |
|
1746 |
|
1747 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/jul/06/fossy-next-week… |
|
1748 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
1749 |
|
1750 |
|
1751 |
|
1752 <p><strong>Are you registered?</strong></p> |
|
1753 <p>One week from today (July 13-16), we will be gathered at the Or… |
|
1754 Whether you are a long time contributing member of a free software proje… |
|
1755 <p>Are you coming? It's not too late to join us. Even walk-up regi… |
|
1756 |
|
1757 <div class="picture-small right"> <img width=480px src="https:… |
|
1758 <p>If you register by tomorrow, you'll have a printed badge just… |
|
1759 |
|
1760 <p>If you've been leaning toward coming but haven't booked yet, no… |
|
1761 |
|
1762 <h3>Keynotes announced!</h3> |
|
1763 |
|
1764 <p>We have three timely keynote sessions, and they are all collabo… |
|
1765 |
|
1766 <p>Friday's will be an in-depth discussion about Red Hat's recent … |
|
1767 |
|
1768 <p>On Saturday, we'll talk with activists like Kyle Wiens of iFixi… |
|
1769 |
|
1770 <p>Sunday's session will invite all FOSSY attendees to come <a … |
|
1771 |
|
1772 <p>FOSSY is a community conference so of course there is no connec… |
|
1773 |
|
1774 <h3>Schedule updated!</h3> |
|
1775 |
|
1776 <p>Please <a href="https://2023.fossy.us/schedule/">check th… |
|
1777 |
|
1778 <p>The schedule is also available in the free mobile apps <a hr… |
|
1779 |
|
1780 <h3>Thursday night social event</h3> |
|
1781 |
|
1782 <p>Thursday night we will be hosting a social for all attendees at… |
|
1783 |
|
1784 <h3>Volunteers, we appreciate you</h3> |
|
1785 |
|
1786 <p>As a very small nonprofit, we can't make this event happen with… |
|
1787 |
|
1788 <h3>Hotel discounts</h3> |
|
1789 |
|
1790 <p>There are still discounted rooms available at the <a href="h… |
|
1791 To be able to offer the discount, we committed to a block of rooms, so b… |
|
1792 |
|
1793 <p>For additional travel and lodging info, see <a href="https:/… |
|
1794 |
|
1795 <h3>Health and safety</h3> |
|
1796 |
|
1797 <p>In-person events bring so much positive energy and inspiration.… |
|
1798 |
|
1799 <h3>Exhibit Hall</h3> |
|
1800 |
|
1801 <p>We're proud to offer a carefully curated exhibit hall, which wi… |
|
1802 |
|
1803 <h3>Sponsors, it's not too late</h3> |
|
1804 |
|
1805 <p>Thank you to the <a href="https://2023.fossy.us/sponsorship/… |
|
1806 |
|
1807 <p>It's not too late to invite your employer to sponsor. Please sh… |
|
1808 |
|
1809 <h3>If you can't make it</h3> |
|
1810 |
|
1811 <p>We really hope to see you in-person next week. But, this moveme… |
|
1812 |
|
1813 <h4>See you in a week!</h4> |
|
1814 |
|
1815 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
1816 |
|
1817 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/jun/23/rhel-gpl-analys… |
|
1818 |
|
1819 |
|
1820 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
1821 |
|
1822 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Bradley M. Kuhn</strong&… |
|
1823 <p>This article was originally published primarily as a response |
|
1824 to <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/furthering-evolution-cen… |
|
1825 Red Hat's change</a> to no longer publish complete, correspondin… |
|
1826 (CCS) for <acronym title="Red Hat Enterprise Linux">RHEL</acr… |
|
1827 prior <a href="https://www.centos.org/centos-linux-eol/">discont… |
|
1828 described below). We hope that this will serve as a comprehensive |
|
1829 document that discusses the history of Red Hat's RHEL business model, |
|
1830 the related source code provisioning, and the GPL compliance issues wi… |
|
1831 <hr/> |
|
1832 <p>For approximately twenty years, Red Hat (now a fully owned subs… |
|
1833 IBM) has experimented with building a business model for operating sys… |
|
1834 distribution that looks, feels, and acts like a proprietary one, but |
|
1835 nonetheless complies with the GPL and other standard copyleft |
|
1836 terms. Software rights activists, |
|
1837 including SFC, have spent decades talking to Red Hat and its |
|
1838 attorneys about how the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) business model… |
|
1839 disaster and is actively unfriendly to |
|
1840 community-oriented Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). These pleadi… |
|
1841 discussions, and encouragements have, as far as we can tell, been hear… |
|
1842 seriously listened to by key members of Red Hat's legal and OSPO |
|
1843 departments, and even by key C-level executives, but they have ultimat… |
|
1844 and ignored &mdash; sometimes even with a &ldquo;fine, then su… |
|
1845 violations&rdquo; attitude. Activists have found this discussion |
|
1846 frustrating, but kept the nature and tenure of these discussions as an |
|
1847 &ldquo;open secret&rdquo; until now because we all had hoped t… |
|
1848 would improve. Recent events show that the behavior has simply gotten… |
|
1849 worse.</p> |
|
1850 |
|
1851 <h4>What Exactly <em>Is</em> the RHEL Business Model?&… |
|
1852 |
|
1853 <p>The most concise and pithy way to describe RHEL's business mode… |
|
1854 &ldquo;if you exercise your rights under the GPL, your money is no… |
|
1855 here&rdquo;. Specifically, IBM's Red Hat offers copies of RHEL to… |
|
1856 customers, and each copy comes with a support and automatic-update |
|
1857 subscription contract. As we understand it, this contract |
|
1858 <a href="https://www.redhat.com/licenses/Appendix_1_Global_English… |
|
1859 that the terms do not intend to contradict any rights to copy, modify, |
|
1860 redistribute and/or reinstall the software</a> as many times and… |
|
1861 as the customer likes (see &sect;1.4). Additionally, though, the … |
|
1862 if the customer engages in these activities, that Red Hat reserves the |
|
1863 right to cancel that contract and make no further contracts with the |
|
1864 customer for support and update services. In essence, Red Hat require… |
|
1865 to choose between (a) their software freedom and rights, and (b) remai… |
|
1866 customer. In some versions of these contracts that we have reviewed, … |
|
1867 Hat even <a href="https://www.redhat.com/licenses/Enterprise_Agreem… |
|
1868 many copies of RHEL are actually installed (see &sect;10) &mda… |
|
1869 purpose of Red Hat getting the information they need to decide |
|
1870 whether to &ldquo;fire&rdquo; the customer.</p> |
|
1871 |
|
1872 <p>Red Hat's lawyers clearly take the position that this business … |
|
1873 keep a business relationship with any other entity. They have further… |
|
1874 relationships can be terminated based on any behaviors &mdash; inc… |
|
1875 exercising rights guaranteed by the GPL agreements. Whether that |
|
1876 analysis is correct is a matter of intense debate, and likely only a c… |
|
1877 case that disputed this particular issue would yield a definitive answ… |
|
1878 on whether that disagreeable behavior is permitted (or not) under the … |
|
1879 in copyleft expert circles, whether this |
|
1880 model <em>itself</em> violates GPL. There is, however, no… |
|
1881 provision is not in the spirit of the GPL agreements. The RHEL business |
|
1882 model is unfriendly, captious, capricious, and cringe-worthy.</p> |
|
1883 |
|
1884 <p>Furthermore, this <acronym title="Red Hat Enterprise Linux"&… |
|
1885 business model remains, to our knowledge, rather unique in the software |
|
1886 industry. IBM's Red Hat definitely deserves credit for so carefully |
|
1887 constructing their business model such that it has spent most of the l… |
|
1888 two decades in murky territory of &ldquo;probably not violating the |
|
1889 GPL&rdquo;. </p> |
|
1890 |
|
1891 <h4>Does The RHEL Business Model Violate the GPL Agreements?</h… |
|
1892 |
|
1893 <p>Perhaps the biggest problem with a murky business model that sk… |
|
1894 line of GPL compliance is that violations can and do happen &mdash… |
|
1895 even a minor deviation from the business model clearly violates the GPL |
|
1896 agreements. Pre-IBM Red Hat deserves a certain amount of credit, as |
|
1897 SFC is aware of only two documented incidents of GPL violations that h… |
|
1898 occurred since 2006 regarding the RHEL business model. We've decided … |
|
1899 share some general details of these violations for the purpose of |
|
1900 explaining where this business model can so easily cross the line.<… |
|
1901 |
|
1902 <p>In the first violation, a large Fortune 500 company (which we'll |
|
1903 call <em>Company A</em>), who both used RHEL internally an… |
|
1904 public-facing Linux-based products, decided to create a consumer-facing |
|
1905 product (which we'll call <em>Product P</em>) based primar… |
|
1906 but <em>P</em> included a few packages built from RHEL sou… |
|
1907 did not seek nor ask for support or update services for this separate |
|
1908 <em>Product P</em>. Red Hat later became aware that <e… |
|
1909 some part of RHEL, and Red Hat demanded royalty payments for <em>… |
|
1910 P</em>. Red Hat threatened to revoke the support and update |
|
1911 services on <em>Company A</em>'s internal RHEL servers if … |
|
1912 not paid.</p> |
|
1913 |
|
1914 <p>Since <em>Company A</em> was powerful and had good … |
|
1915 business development staff, they did not acquiesce. <em>Company… |
|
1916 continued (to our knowledge) on as a RHEL customer for their internal |
|
1917 servers and continued selling <em>Product P</em> without r… |
|
1918 demand for royalties for distribution is clearly a violation as that d… |
|
1919 &ldquo;further restriction&rdquo; on the permissions granted b… |
|
1920 stated in GPLv3: |
|
1921 <blockquote> |
|
1922 You may not impose any further restrictions on the exercise of the |
|
1923 rights granted or affirmed under this License. For example, <strong… |
|
1924 not impose a license fee, royalty, or other charge for exercise of |
|
1925 rights granted</strong> under this License.</blockquote&g… |
|
1926 |
|
1927 <p> Red Hat tried to impose a further restriction in this situati… |
|
1928 violated the GPL. The violation was resolved since no royalty was paid |
|
1929 and <em>Company A</em> faced no consequences. SFC learned… |
|
1930 the incident later, and informed Red Hat that the past royalty demand … |
|
1931 a violation. Red Hat did not dispute nor agree that it was a violatio… |
|
1932 such demands would not be made in future.</p> |
|
1933 |
|
1934 <p>In another violation incident, we learned that Red Hat, in a sp… |
|
1935 non-USA country, was requiring that any customer who lowered the numbe… |
|
1936 RHEL machines under service contract with Red Hat sign an |
|
1937 additional agreement. This additional agreement promised that the cus… |
|
1938 had deleted every copy of RHEL in their entire organization other than… |
|
1939 copies of RHEL that were currently contracted for service with Red Hat. |
|
1940 Again, this is a &ldquo;further restriction&rdquo;. The GPL a… |
|
1941 give everyone the unfettered right to make and keep as many copies of … |
|
1942 software as they like, and a distributor of GPL'd software may not req… |
|
1943 a user to attest that they've deleted these legitimate, licensed copie… |
|
1944 third-party-licensed software under the GPL. SFC informed Red Hat's l… |
|
1945 of this violation, and we were assured that this additional agreement … |
|
1946 be presented to any Red Hat customers in the future.</p> |
|
1947 |
|
1948 <p>In both these situations, we at SFC were worried they were mere… |
|
1949 &ldquo;tip of the proverbial iceberg&rdquo;. For years, we ha… |
|
1950 Red Hat customers who are truly confused. It's common in the industry… |
|
1951 talk about RHEL &ldquo;seat licenses&rdquo;, and many software… |
|
1952 specialists in the industry are not aware of the nuances of the RHEL |
|
1953 business model and do not understand their rights. We remain very |
|
1954 concerned that RHEL salespeople purposely confuse customers to sell mo… |
|
1955 &ldquo;seat licenses&rdquo;. It's often led us to ask: &l… |
|
1956 violation happens in the woods, and everyone involved doesn't hear it,… |
|
1957 does anyone know that software rights have indeed been trampled upon in |
|
1958 those woods?&rdquo;. As we do for as many GPL violation reports a… |
|
1959 are reported to us, and if you're aware of one, please |
|
1960 do <a href="mailto:[email protected]">email us at |
|
1961 &lt;[email protected]&gt;</a> immediately. W… |
|
1962 be it through incompetence or malice, many RHEL salespeople and busine… |
|
1963 development professionals may regularly violate GPL and no one knows a… |
|
1964 it. That said, the business model <em>as described</em> b… |
|
1965 may well comply with the GPL &mdash; it's just so murky that any t… |
|
1966 the model in any direction seems to definitely violate, in our experie… |
|
1967 |
|
1968 <p> Furthermore, Red Hat exploits the classic &ldquo;caveat em… |
|
1969 approach &mdash; popular in many a shady business deal throughout … |
|
1970 technically speaking, a careful reader of the GPL and the RHEL agreeme… |
|
1971 understands the bargain they're making, we suspect most small business… |
|
1972 just don't have the FOSS licensing acumen and knowledge to truly under… |
|
1973 that deal. </p> |
|
1974 |
|
1975 <h4>Why Was an Independent CentOS So Important?</h4> |
|
1976 |
|
1977 <p>Until <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/about/press-release… |
|
1978 Hat's &ldquo;aquisition&rdquo; of CentOS in early 2014</a… |
|
1979 provided an excellent counterbalance to the problems with the RHEL |
|
1980 business model. Specifically, CentOS was a community-driven project, |
|
1981 with many volunteers, supported by some involvement from small |
|
1982 businesses, to re-create RHEL releases using the |
|
1983 <acronym title="complete, corresponding source">CCS</acronym&… |
|
1984 made for RHEL. Our pre-2014 view was that CentOS was the &ldquo;c… |
|
1985 the murky coalmine&rdquo; of the RHEL business. If CentOS seemed … |
|
1986 usable, and a viable alternative to RHEL for those who didn't want to |
|
1987 purchase Red Hat's updates and services, the community could rest easy. |
|
1988 Even if there were GPL violations by Red Hat on RHEL, CentOS' vibrancy |
|
1989 assured that such violations were having only a minor negative impact … |
|
1990 the FOSS community around RHEL's codebase.</p> |
|
1991 |
|
1992 <p>Red Hat, however, apparently knew that this vibrant community w… |
|
1993 into their profits. Starting in 2013, Red Hat engaged in a series of … |
|
1994 that increased their grip. First, they &ldquo;acquired&rdquo; |
|
1995 CentOS. This was initially couched as a cooperation agreement, but Re… |
|
1996 systematically made job offers that key CentOS volunteers couldn't re… |
|
1997 acquired the small businesses who might ultimately build CentOS into a |
|
1998 product, and otherwise integrated CentOS into Red Hat's own operations… |
|
1999 |
|
2000 <p>After IBM acquired Red Hat, the situation got worse. Having go… |
|
2001 to the CentOS brand as part of the &ldquo;aquisition&rdquo;, R… |
|
2002 began to change what CentOS was. CentOS Linux quickly ceased to be a |
|
2003 check-and-balance on RHEL, and just became a testing ground for RHEL. |
|
2004 Then, in 2020, when most of us were distracted by the worst of the COV… |
|
2005 pandemic, Red Hat unilaterally terminated all CentOS Linux development… |
|
2006 the Delta variant portion of the pandemic in late 2021) <a href="h… |
|
2007 IBM's Red Hat |
|
2008 then used the name &ldquo;CentOS Stream&rdquo; to refer to exp… |
|
2009 source packages related to RHEL. These were (and are) not actually th… |
|
2010 source releases &mdash; rather, they appear to be primarily a test… |
|
2011 ground for what might appear in RHEL later.</p> |
|
2012 |
|
2013 <p>Finally, Red Hat announced two days ago |
|
2014 that <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/23/red_hat_centos… |
|
2015 CCS will no longer be publicly available in any way</a>. Now, t… |
|
2016 <acronym title="complete, corresponding source">CCS</acronym&… |
|
2017 available to everyone. This is a common misconception about GPL's |
|
2018 requirements. While the details of CCS provisioning vary in the diffe… |
|
2019 versions of the GPL agreements, the general principle is that CCS need… |
|
2020 be provided either (a) along with the binary distributions to those who |
|
2021 receive, or (b) to those who request pursuant to a written offer for |
|
2022 source. In a normal situation, with no mitigating factors, the fact t… |
|
2023 a company moved from distributing CCS publicly to everyone to only giv… |
|
2024 it to customers who received the binaries already would not raise |
|
2025 concerns.</p> |
|
2026 |
|
2027 <p>In this situation, however, this completes what appears to be a |
|
2028 decade-long plan by Red Hat to maximize the level of difficulty of |
|
2029 those in the community who wish to &ldquo;trust but verify&rdq… |
|
2030 complies with the GPL agreements. Namely, Red Hat has badly thwarted |
|
2031 efforts by entities such |
|
2032 as <a href="https://rockylinux.org/news/2023-06-22-press-release/"&… |
|
2033 Linux</a> |
|
2034 and <a href="https://almalinux.org/blog/impact-of-rhel-changes/">… |
|
2035 Linux</a>. These entities are de-facto the intellectual success… |
|
2036 CentOS Linux project that Red Hat carefully dismantled over the last d… |
|
2037 sought to build Linux-based distributions that mirrored RHEL |
|
2038 releases, and it is now unclear if they can do that effectively, since… |
|
2039 |
|
2040 <h4>What Should Those Who Care About Software Rights Do About RHEL… |
|
2041 |
|
2042 <p>Due to this ongoing bad behavior by IBM's Red Hat, the situatio… |
|
2043 become increasingly complex and difficult to face. No third party can |
|
2044 effectively monitor RHEL compliance with the GPL agreements, since |
|
2045 customers live in fear of losing their much-needed service contracts. |
|
2046 Red Hat's legal department |
|
2047 has systematically refused SFC's requests in recent years to set up so… |
|
2048 form of monitoring by SFC. (For example, we asked to review the train… |
|
2049 materials and documents that RHEL salespeople are given to convince |
|
2050 customers to buy RHEL, and Red Hat has not been willing to share these |
|
2051 materials with us.) Nevertheless, since SFC serves as the global watc… |
|
2052 GPL compliance, we <a href="mailto:[email protected]"&g… |
|
2053 |
|
2054 <p>We finally express our sadness that this long road has led the … |
|
2055 personally remember standing with Erik Troan in a Red Hat booth at a U… |
|
2056 conference in the late 1990s, and meeting Bob Young around the same ti… |
|
2057 Both expressed how much they wanted to build a company that respected, |
|
2058 collaborated with, engaged with, and most of all treated as equals the… |
|
2059 spectrum of individuals, hobbyists, and small businesses that make the |
|
2060 plurality of the FOSS community. We hope that the |
|
2061 modern Red Hat can find their way back to this mission under IBM's con… |
|
2062 |
|
2063 </description><author>[email protected] (Bradley M. Kuhn)</author>… |
|
2064 |
|
2065 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/jun/19/fossy-schedule/… |
|
2066 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
2067 |
|
2068 |
|
2069 |
|
2070 |
|
2071 <p>The <a href="https://2023.fossy.us/schedule/">FOSSY sched… |
|
2072 <p>Join us Thursday the 13th for registration and a welcome lunch,… |
|
2073 |
|
2074 <p>Friday the 14th we'll begin with a keynote and coffee and conti… |
|
2075 |
|
2076 <p>Saturday the 15th has continuations for FOSS For Education and … |
|
2077 |
|
2078 <p>Sunday the 16th rounds out the conference with day 2 of Diversi… |
|
2079 |
|
2080 <p>Registration is open and ticket sales are ramping up. Be sure t… |
|
2081 |
|
2082 <p>If you would like to volunteer, we are looking for people to he… |
|
2083 |
|
2084 <p>We are so thankful for all the effort and patience the communit… |
|
2085 |
|
2086 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
2087 |
|
2088 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/may/15/sourceware-join… |
|
2089 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
2090 |
|
2091 |
|
2092 |
|
2093 <p><strong>Important Free Software infrastructure project fi… |
|
2094 <p>As a home for Free Software projects since 1998, Sourceware is a |
|
2095 keystone in Free Software infrastructure. For almost 25 years |
|
2096 Sourceware has been the long-time home of various core toolchain |
|
2097 project communities. Projects like Cygwin, a UNIX API for Win32 |
|
2098 systems, the GNU Toolchain, including GCC, the GNU Compiler Colection, |
|
2099 two C libraries, glibc and newlib, binary tools, binutils and |
|
2100 elfutils, debuggers and profilers, GDB, systemtap and valgrind. |
|
2101 Sourceware also hosts standard groups like gnu-gabi and the DWARF |
|
2102 Debugging Standard. See the full list project hosted and services provi… |
|
2103 on the <a href="https://sourceware.org/projects.html">Sourceware p… |
|
2104 <p>Becoming an SFC member project will improve future |
|
2105 operations carried out by dedicated volunteers to and furthering the |
|
2106 mission of Free Software hosting. This will accelerate the Sourceware |
|
2107 <a href="https://inbox.sourceware.org/overseers/YrLdfDWzq1T4k5xg@wild… |
|
2108 to improve and modernize the infrastructure.</p> |
|
2109 |
|
2110 <p>As the fiscal host of Sourceware, Software Freedom Conservancy … |
|
2111 provide a home for fundraising, legal assistance and governance that |
|
2112 will benefit all projects under Sourceware's care. We share one mission: |
|
2113 developing, distributing and advocating for Software Freedom. And |
|
2114 to offer a worry-free, friendly home for Free Software communities. |
|
2115 We see a bright future working together. With Conservancy |
|
2116 as fiscal sponsor, Sourceware will also be able to fundraise and have |
|
2117 the community of volunteers work together with paid contractors |
|
2118 and enter into contracts for managed infrastructure where appropriate.&l… |
|
2119 |
|
2120 <p>SFC looks to Sourceware's years of experience in providing outs… |
|
2121 infrastructure as an inspiration for improving the Free Software |
|
2122 ecosystem both for other SFC projects, and also in furthering SFC's |
|
2123 mission around campaigns to promote Software Freedom Infrastructure. |
|
2124 For decades, Sourceware has shown that hosting Free Software projects |
|
2125 with Free Software infrastructure is not only possible, but helps |
|
2126 create and fosters the growth of relationships and networks within the |
|
2127 Free Software communities. SFC is thrilled to join the powerful |
|
2128 history of demonstrable experience to grow hosting options that are |
|
2129 100% free software, in the future to bring in new ideas, communities, |
|
2130 and projects!</p> |
|
2131 |
|
2132 <p>Projects hosted by Sourceware are part of the core toolchain for |
|
2133 GNU/Linux distros, embedded systems, the cloud and, through Cygwin, |
|
2134 Windows. Back in 1984 Ken Thompson's Reflections on Trusting Trust |
|
2135 already described how making the source code for these tools available is |
|
2136 essential to create what today we call secure software supply |
|
2137 chains. Sourceware provides robust infrastructure and services for |
|
2138 projects to adopt secure collaboration and release policies. |
|
2139 We forsee future cooperation with other Conservancy member projects, suc… |
|
2140 <a href="https://reproducible-builds.org/">Reproducible Builds<… |
|
2141 provides an independently-verifiable path to supply chain security. |
|
2142 Additionally, Sourceware will leverage Conservancy advisory role in how … |
|
2143 comply with regulations like NIST, CISA, USA Cyber Security Directives |
|
2144 and the EU Cyber Resilience act.</p> |
|
2145 |
|
2146 <p>Each SFC member project is led by a Project Leadership Committee |
|
2147 (PLC). Each individual member of the PLC participates in their own |
|
2148 capacity, but nevertheless the majority of the PLC never includes a |
|
2149 majority of people affiliated with the same organization. |
|
2150 Sourceware's PLC includes various volunteers, past and present, from |
|
2151 the Sourceware community. The founding PLC is: Frank Ch. Eigler, |
|
2152 Christopher Faylor, Ian Kelling, Ian Lance Taylor, Tom Tromey, Jon |
|
2153 Turney, Mark J. Wielaard and Elena Zannoni.</p> |
|
2154 |
|
2155 <p>Recent discussions have inspired the Sourceware volunteers to t… |
|
2156 carefully about the future and succession of the leadership for this |
|
2157 important hosting project. By joining SFC, Sourceware gains access to |
|
2158 strategic advice and governance expertise to recruit new |
|
2159 volunteers and raise funds to support work on Sourceware |
|
2160 infrastructure. As part of this governance improvement, Sourceware |
|
2161 also announces today regular irc office hours for guest project admins |
|
2162 to advise and discuss any needs and issues in hosting. |
|
2163 The <a href="https://sourceware.org/mission.html">Sourceware missi… |
|
2164 lists various other ways to contact and participate in the community.<… |
|
2165 |
|
2166 <p>Sourceware will continue its long standing mission of providing… |
|
2167 infrastructure to the projects it supports, and this will not change |
|
2168 moving forward. The affiliation with SFC will be transparent to the |
|
2169 projects hosted on Sourceware. Project admins will keep being in charge … |
|
2170 |
|
2171 <p>To support the Software Freedom Conservancy, please become a |
|
2172 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/">Sustainer</a>… |
|
2173 |
|
2174 <p>You can also <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/donate/#wire… |
|
2175 |
|
2176 <p>See <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/donate/">the donat… |
|
2177 |
|
2178 <p>Sourceware may be volunteer managed, but wouldn't be possible w… |
|
2179 the hardware, network resources and services provided by Red Hat |
|
2180 and OSUOSL. Additionally <a href="https://builder.sourceware.org/">… |
|
2181 are provided by various individuals and the Brno University, Marist |
|
2182 College, IBM, the Works on Arm initiative and the Gentoo Foundation.<… |
|
2183 |
|
2184 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
2185 |
|
2186 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/apr/24/fossy-cfp-open/… |
|
2187 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
2188 |
|
2189 |
|
2190 |
|
2191 <p><strong>CFP open until May 14th</strong></p> |
|
2192 <p>Today is the day we open the FOSSY CFP and ticket sales! Join u… |
|
2193 <p>For the first year of FOSSY we are excited at tracks out volunt… |
|
2194 |
|
2195 <p>To submit a talk, please visit our <a href="https://2023.fos… |
|
2196 |
|
2197 <p>You can also <a href="https://2023.fossy.us/attend/tickets/"… |
|
2198 |
|
2199 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
2200 |
|
2201 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/mar/16/john-deere-gpl-… |
|
2202 |
|
2203 |
|
2204 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2205 |
|
2206 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich</strong… |
|
2207 <p>I grew up on a farm. My parents worked hard to grow crops and … |
|
2208 the farm business. My parents also found additional jobs to make ends |
|
2209 meet. As farmers have done for millennia, my family used tools to farm. |
|
2210 Some of those tools were tractors. Farmers now, as they have for |
|
2211 thousands of years, rely on their ability and right to fix their tools. |
|
2212 Perhaps that's bending a hand rake back into shape. Maybe they need to |
|
2213 weld a broken three-point hitch back together. Agriculture was |
|
2214 humanity's first truly revolutionary technological advancement. Since |
|
2215 its inception, each generation of farmers exercised their right to |
|
2216 repair their tools. This has allowed agriculture to grow and improve |
|
2217 immeasurably. We take for granted the benefits that this has given us, |
|
2218 and the abundance of food it provides.</p> |
|
2219 |
|
2220 <p>The right to repair farm tools is now in serious jeopardy, not … |
|
2221 farmers haven't fought to maintain this right, and not even because |
|
2222 farmers haven't chosen to use tools that guarantee their right to repair |
|
2223 their tools. In fact, most farmers are still buying tools that have a |
|
2224 right to repair built into them, not by their intrinsic nature, but by |
|
2225 the software that the toolmakers have chosen to include as part of the |
|
2226 tools they sell to the farmers.</p> |
|
2227 |
|
2228 <p>Sadly, farm equipment manufacturers, who benefit immensely from… |
|
2229 readily-available software that they can provide as part of the farming |
|
2230 tools (tractors, combines, etc.) they sell to farmers, are not complying |
|
2231 with the right to repair licenses of the software they have chosen to |
|
2232 use in these farming tools. As a result, farmers are cut off from their |
|
2233 livelihood if the farm equipment manufacturer does not wish to repair |
|
2234 their farming tools when they inevitably fail, even when the farmer |
|
2235 could easily perform the repairs on their own, or with the help of |
|
2236 someone else they know.</p> |
|
2237 |
|
2238 <p>In particular, John Deere, the largest manufacturer of farm equ… |
|
2239 North America and one of the largest worldwide, has been failing to meet |
|
2240 the requirements of the software right to repair licenses they use for |
|
2241 some time. While we have worked for years with John Deere to try and |
|
2242 resolve their compliance problems, they have still not complied with |
|
2243 these licenses for the software that they use, which would give farmers |
|
2244 the right, and technical details, to repair their own farm tools if |
|
2245 Deere complied. This is a serious issue that goes far beyond one person |
|
2246 wanting to fix their printer software, or install an alternative |
|
2247 firmware on a luxury device. It has far-reaching implications for all |
|
2248 farmers' livelihoods, for food security throughout the world, and for |
|
2249 how we as a society choose to reward those who make our lives better, or |
|
2250 stand in the way of empowering everyone to improve the world.</p> |
|
2251 |
|
2252 <p>As we have been doing privately for multiple years, we now publ… |
|
2253 on John Deere to immediately resolve all of its outstanding GPL |
|
2254 violations, across all lines of its farm equipment, by providing |
|
2255 complete source code, including "the scripts used to control compilation |
|
2256 and installation of the executable" that the GPL and other copyleft |
|
2257 licenses require, to the farmers and others who are entitled to it, by |
|
2258 the licenses that Deere chose to use. What Deere has provided to SFC as |
|
2259 of today falls far short of the requirements of the GPL, with respect to |
|
2260 both this quoted text, and many other parts of the license. And that |
|
2261 speaks only of the products for which Deere has started to engage with |
|
2262 us about - for many of almost a dozen requests we've made (each for a |
|
2263 different product) Deere has yet to provide anything to us at all. In |
|
2264 addition to failing to respond at all to others who have requested |
|
2265 source code, Deere's inability to provide complete corresponding source |
|
2266 to us for all requested products more than 2 years after our first |
|
2267 request is beyond unacceptable, which is why we are making this public |
|
2268 statement today - to more strongly encourage Deere to do the right thing |
|
2269 and comply with the licenses they use, and to let others know about |
|
2270 these serious problems so they have a more complete picture of Deere's |
|
2271 attempts to stifle farmers' right to repair their farm equipment.</p&… |
|
2272 |
|
2273 <p>We stand with all the other organizations that are taking John … |
|
2274 task for its various violations of other agreements and laws, including |
|
2275 antitrust, and we hope these organizations succeed in bringing fairness |
|
2276 to farmers. We each help in our own ways, which is the true strength of |
|
2277 the right to repair movement.</p> |
|
2278 |
|
2279 <p>If you are a farmer concerned by Deere's practices, or personal… |
|
2280 affected by them, please reach out to us at |
|
2281 <a href="mailto:[email protected]">compliance@sfconserv… |
|
2282 back their rights, allowing them to repair their own farm tools again, |
|
2283 by themselves or using their friend or shop of choice, improving their |
|
2284 lives and the lives of everyone on earth who depends on them every day.&… |
|
2285 |
|
2286 </description><author>[email protected] (Denver Gingerich)</autho… |
|
2287 |
|
2288 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/feb/09/kuhn-neo4j-pure… |
|
2289 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/">news… |
|
2290 |
|
2291 |
|
2292 |
|
2293 <p><strong>Case about the &ldquo;further restrictions&am… |
|
2294 <p><strong>Update (2023-11-14):</strong> Unfortunately… |
|
2295 text of the AGPLv3, or the trademark holder of the license's name, we wo… |
|
2296 Since the SFC did not create the AGPLv3 (our employees were involved in … |
|
2297 was the only action that SFC could take to assist in this matter. Howeve… |
|
2298 <p>(Original announcement follows:)</p> |
|
2299 |
|
2300 <hr/> |
|
2301 |
|
2302 <p>In the ongoing |
|
2303 <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16272543/neo4j-inc-v-pu… |
|
2304 litigation &mdash; Neo4j, Inc. v. PureThink, LLC and John Mark Suhy |
|
2305 (5:18-cv-07182)</a> &mdash; in U.S. federal court in the Nor… |
|
2306 of California, Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC)'s Policy Fellow, Bra… |
|
2307 M. Kuhn, will serve as the Defendants' third-party expert on issues re… |
|
2308 for <a href="/docs/kuhn_expert-report-in-neo4j_5-18-cv-07182.pdf"&g… |
|
2309 of <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/mar/30/neo4j-v-pure… |
|
2310 <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/02/court_neo4j_ruling/… |
|
2311 about previous preliminary actions in the Neo4j litigation.</p> |
|
2312 <p>As outlined in |
|
2313 the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.c… |
|
2314 Case Management Statement</a>, filed earlier this month, the key… |
|
2315 concern in the FOSS community remains an unsettled controversy in this |
|
2316 case. Specifically, |
|
2317 the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.c… |
|
2318 of <em>Legal and Factual Issues That Remain In Dispute</em>… |
|
2319 Court</a> includes: &ldquo;whether removal of the Common’s… |
|
2320 Neo4J Sweden’s open source version of Neo4J software &hellip; wa… |
|
2321 and authorized &hellip; based on the then standard application of … |
|
2322 of the AGPL allowing removal of further restrictions&rdquo;. Furt… |
|
2323 Defendants note in the same filing that Kuhn's expert |
|
2324 report <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourt… |
|
2325 heavily on the question</a> of PureThink and Suhy's right to exe… |
|
2326 AGPLv3's &ldquo;further restrictions&rdquo; removal clause (fo… |
|
2327 AGPLv3&sect;7&para;4).</p> |
|
2328 |
|
2329 <p>As often happens with complex litigation, prior news on this ca… |
|
2330 community to incorrectly believe that the issue of the right to remove… |
|
2331 so-called &ldquo;Commons Clause&rdquo; when it is attached to … |
|
2332 a settled question. However, the issue is still |
|
2333 not fully litigated. Two weeks ago, Defendants |
|
2334 <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.… |
|
2335 their updated counterclaim. In its eighth clause of action</a>,… |
|
2336 &ldquo;request a declaration [from the Court] that the Commons Cla… |
|
2337 not prevent PureThink [et al] &hellip; from providing professional… |
|
2338 to users of the open source versions of Neo4J where the AGPL has a Com… |
|
2339 Clause&rdquo;.</p> |
|
2340 |
|
2341 <p>SFC, which works to uphold users' rights |
|
2342 with copyleft, gladly provides Kuhn's time to serve as an expert on this |
|
2343 important issue of users' rights under the AGPLv3. While it is typical … |
|
2344 outside experts to receive compensation, Kuhn will serve <em>pro b… |
|
2345 publico</em> as an expert (with only travel expenses (to appear fo… |
|
2346 Defendants). SFC remains deeply concerned at the incorrect claims about … |
|
2347 that Neo4j has promulgated. SFC is happy to provide Kuhn's |
|
2348 time and expertise in this matter.</p> |
|
2349 |
|
2350 <p>As always, SFC does its work as transparently as possible. As |
|
2351 such, we release today the expert report that Kuhn provided in this |
|
2352 case. <a href="/docs/kuhn_expert-report-in-neo4j_5-18-cv-07182.pdf… |
|
2353 only clears up past confusing and incorrect information promulgated on… |
|
2354 thorough summary of events leading up to the creation of the |
|
2355 &ldquo;further restrictions&rdquo; removal provision found in … |
|
2356 GPLv3.</p> |
|
2357 |
|
2358 <p>SFC encourages everyone who cares about the rights and freedoms… |
|
2359 by copyleft licenses to review |
|
2360 the <a href="/docs/kuhn_expert-report-in-neo4j_5-18-cv-07182.pdf"&g… |
|
2361 here</a>, and |
|
2362 to <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16272543/neo4j-inc… |
|
2363 the Neo4j case as it proceeds</a>. </p> |
|
2364 |
|
2365 </description><author>[email protected] (Software Freedom Conservan… |
|
2366 |
|
2367 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/jan/31/fossy-call-for-… |
|
2368 |
|
2369 |
|
2370 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2371 |
|
2372 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Daniel Takamori</strong&… |
|
2373 <p>Today Software Freedom Conservancy is officially opening <a … |
|
2374 |
|
2375 <p>We're looking for organizers who can give us a really good idea… |
|
2376 <p>You'll note that we ask for two people to be listed as organize… |
|
2377 <p>We'd like you to tell us why the organizers are the right ones … |
|
2378 <p>Given that this is the first FOSSY, we will be creating this sp… |
|
2379 <p>How long will your track be? Are you planning a quick and deep … |
|
2380 <p>Anything that gives us a sense of the organization and spirit o… |
|
2381 |
|
2382 <p>Please use our <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/fossy/comm… |
|
2383 |
|
2384 <p><b>The deadline for application is Sunday March 19th</… |
|
2385 |
|
2386 <p>We're very excited to hear from you about how we can shape this… |
|
2387 |
|
2388 </description><author>[email protected] (Daniel Takamori)</author><… |
|
2389 |
|
2390 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/dec/21/energyguide-sof… |
|
2391 |
|
2392 |
|
2393 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2394 |
|
2395 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich</strong… |
|
2396 <p>Software Freedom Conservancy has today submitted <a href="ht… |
|
2397 |
|
2398 <p>We are very happy to see the FTC requesting comments on how rep… |
|
2399 |
|
2400 <p>By making a lot more people aware that software repair informat… |
|
2401 |
|
2402 <p>We recommend those interested in this issue <a href="https:/… |
|
2403 |
|
2404 <p>For those that do <a href="https://downloads.regulations.gov… |
|
2405 <ul> |
|
2406 <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221122213125/https:/… |
|
2407 <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210511013856/https:/… |
|
2408 <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221101151942/https:/… |
|
2409 </ul> |
|
2410 |
|
2411 <p>You may notice that SFC has suggested the FTC require manufactu… |
|
2412 |
|
2413 <p>With our reply to the FTC, we were trying to make the best argu… |
|
2414 |
|
2415 <p>Although we have much work to do to ensure that people purchasi… |
|
2416 |
|
2417 </description><author>[email protected] (Denver Gingerich)</autho… |
|
2418 |
|
2419 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/dec/12/supporter-inter… |
|
2420 |
|
2421 |
|
2422 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2423 |
|
2424 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Daniel Takamori</strong&… |
|
2425 <div class="picture right" style="width: 12em;"> |
|
2426 <img src="/img/jondale.jpg" alt="Portrait of Jondale Stratton" styl… |
|
2427 <p>Photo CC-BY-NC-SA Jondale Stratton</p> |
|
2428 </div> |
|
2429 |
|
2430 <p>Next in our interview series, we have Jondale Stratton, a long … |
|
2431 |
|
2432 <p><b>Software Freedom Conservancy</b>: Why do you ca… |
|
2433 <br> |
|
2434 <b>Jondale Stratton</b>.: From a consumer standpoint, I like… |
|
2435 |
|
2436 |
|
2437 <p><b>SFC</b>: How do you use free software in your li… |
|
2438 <br> |
|
2439 <b>JS</b>: Linux runs every server I administer and every de… |
|
2440 |
|
2441 |
|
2442 <p><b>SFC</b>: How do you see our role amongst the var… |
|
2443 <br> |
|
2444 <b>JS</b>: Most FLOSS organizations seem to be focused on le… |
|
2445 I really like the SFC's support of member projects. I learned of SFC th… |
|
2446 |
|
2447 |
|
2448 <p><b>SFC</b>: What's got you most excited from the pa… |
|
2449 <br> |
|
2450 <b>JS</b>: I'm happy that you are willing to litigate in def… |
|
2451 The stance on Github is logical but tough. They have positioned themsel… |
|
2452 |
|
2453 |
|
2454 <p><b>SFC</b>: Do you think we are doing a good job re… |
|
2455 expect? (COVID has made this difficult) |
|
2456 <br> |
|
2457 <b>JS</b>: I believe there is room for improvement here. I … |
|
2458 |
|
2459 |
|
2460 <p><b>SFC</b>: Have you been involved with any of our … |
|
2461 <br> |
|
2462 <b>JS</b>: Only as an end user for a few of the projects. I… |
|
2463 |
|
2464 |
|
2465 <p><b>SFC</b>: What other organizations are you suppor… |
|
2466 <br> |
|
2467 <b>JS</b>: I support SFC and the EFF.</p> |
|
2468 |
|
2469 </description><author>[email protected] (Daniel Takamori)</author><… |
|
2470 |
|
2471 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/nov/30/interview-justi… |
|
2472 |
|
2473 |
|
2474 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2475 |
|
2476 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Daniel Takamori</strong&… |
|
2477 <div class="picture right" style="width: 12em;"> |
|
2478 <img src="/img/jwf-headshot.jpg" alt="Portrait of Justin W. Flory" … |
|
2479 <p>Photo CC-BY Justin W. Flory</p> |
|
2480 </div> |
|
2481 |
|
2482 <p>This year for our fundraising season, we are highlighting some … |
|
2483 |
|
2484 |
|
2485 |
|
2486 <p><b>Software Freedom Conservancy</b>: Why do you car… |
|
2487 <br> |
|
2488 <b>Justin W. Flory</b>: My trajectory in life and career for… |
|
2489 |
|
2490 |
|
2491 <p><b>SFC</b>: How do you use free software in your li… |
|
2492 <br> |
|
2493 <b>JF</b>: I run Fedora Linux since 2014. It began with my f… |
|
2494 |
|
2495 |
|
2496 <p><b>SFC</b>: On the spectrum on developer to end use… |
|
2497 <br> |
|
2498 <b>JF</b>: Somewhere in the middle. Today I work as a Commun… |
|
2499 |
|
2500 |
|
2501 <p><b>SFC</b>: What is it that you see Software Freedo… |
|
2502 <br> |
|
2503 <b>JF</b>: The SFC are the hidden heroes of the Software Fre… |
|
2504 <br> |
|
2505 For a lover and supporter of Free Software, I do not see any charity or … |
|
2506 |
|
2507 |
|
2508 <p><b>SFC</b>: How do you see our role amongst the var… |
|
2509 <br> |
|
2510 <b>JF</b>: The SFC does both the hidden labor that strengthe… |
|
2511 |
|
2512 |
|
2513 <p><b>SFC</b>: What's got you most excited from the pa… |
|
2514 <br> |
|
2515 <b>JF</b>: I participated as an Outreachy mentor for the fir… |
|
2516 |
|
2517 |
|
2518 <p><b>SFC</b>: Do you think we are doing a good job re… |
|
2519 <br> |
|
2520 <b>JF</b>: I think COVID has made this difficult, and the mo… |
|
2521 |
|
2522 |
|
2523 <p><b>SFC</b>: Have you been involved with any of our … |
|
2524 <br> |
|
2525 <b>JF</b>: I have not participated directly, but I am the us… |
|
2526 |
|
2527 |
|
2528 <p><b>SFC</b>: What other organizations are you suppor… |
|
2529 <br> |
|
2530 <b>JF</b>: I am also supporting two other organizations, <… |
|
2531 <br> |
|
2532 Green Card Voices is a U.S. non-profit organization dedicated to build i… |
|
2533 |
|
2534 <p>Justin W. Flory is one of our individual matchers this year. He… |
|
2535 |
|
2536 </description><author>[email protected] (Daniel Takamori)</author><… |
|
2537 |
|
2538 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/nov/29/giving-tuesday-… |
|
2539 |
|
2540 |
|
2541 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2542 |
|
2543 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Daniel Takamori</strong&… |
|
2544 <p>Today is Giving Tuesday, and I'd like to share part of my story… |
|
2545 |
|
2546 <p>I've been using software for close to 30 years; I wrote my firs… |
|
2547 |
|
2548 <p>Having worked in technical roles as a systems administrator, si… |
|
2549 |
|
2550 <p>There are a few differences between non-technical and technical… |
|
2551 |
|
2552 <p>The first is bugs. There are bugs you learn to live with (scree… |
|
2553 |
|
2554 <p>While in the technical context, I would often think of communit… |
|
2555 |
|
2556 <p>Most starkly, the thing I never truly had to worry about in oth… |
|
2557 |
|
2558 <p>So how can we work around the absence of a meritocracy to fund … |
|
2559 |
|
2560 <p>The human side of open source is complex and requires deliberat… |
|
2561 |
|
2562 <p>We at SFC do this work with your help. We are able to pursue a … |
|
2563 |
|
2564 </description><author>[email protected] (Daniel Takamori)</author><… |
|
2565 |
|
2566 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/jul/11/app-store-clone… |
|
2567 |
|
2568 |
|
2569 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2570 |
|
2571 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Bradley M. Kuhn</strong&… |
|
2572 <p>Suppose you go to your weekly MyTown market. The market runs S… |
|
2573 Sunday, and vendors set up booths to sell locally made products and lo… |
|
2574 grown and produced food. On Saturday, you buy some delicious almond m… |
|
2575 from a local vendor &mdash; called Al's Awesome Almond Milk. You … |
|
2576 that Al's Awesome would make an excellent frozen dessert, so you make … |
|
2577 new frozen dessert, which you name Betty's Best Almond Frozen Dessert.… |
|
2578 get a booth for Sunday for yourself, and you sell some, but not as muc… |
|
2579 |
|
2580 <p>The next week, you realize you might sell more if you call it A… |
|
2581 Almond Frozen Dessert instead of your own name. Folks at the market k… |
|
2582 Al, but not you. So you change the name. Is this a morally and legal… |
|
2583 |
|
2584 <p>This is a question primarily regarding trademarks. We spend a … |
|
2585 in the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community talking about |
|
2586 copyrights and patents, but another common area of legal issues that |
|
2587 face FOSS projects (in addition to copyright and patent) is trademark.… |
|
2588 |
|
2589 <p>In fact, <acronym title="Free and Open Source Software">F… |
|
2590 their trademark. Nearly ten years ago, Pam |
|
2591 Chestek &mdash; a lawyer and expert in trademark law as it relates… |
|
2592 an excellent talk at FOSDEM (2013)</a>, wherein <a href="http… |
|
2593 FOSS projects can use trademarks better and to ensure rights of |
|
2594 consumers</a> &mdash; particularly when dealing with bad act… |
|
2595 |
|
2596 <p>Specifically, last week, we learned that the Microsoft Store wa… |
|
2597 their policies</a>, ostensibly to deal with folks (probably some… |
|
2598 are unscrupulous) rebuilding binaries for well-known FOSS projects and |
|
2599 uploading them to the Microsoft Store. Yet, this is a longstanding is… |
|
2600 </p> |
|
2601 |
|
2602 <p>The problem Microsoft faces here is the same problem that the M… |
|
2603 market folks face if you show up trying to sell Al's Awesome Almond Fr… |
|
2604 Dessert. The store/market can set rules that you will no longer be ab… |
|
2605 if you are found to infringe the trademark of another seller. The mar… |
|
2606 could simply require the trademark holder to take trademark action |
|
2607 themselves, or it could offer some form of assistance, arbitration, or |
|
2608 other-extra-legal resolution |
|
2609 mechanism<sup><a id="return-company-controlling-legal-process… |
|
2610 href="#footnote-company-controlling-legal-process-ill… |
|
2611 |
|
2612 <p>There is often temptation in FOSS to give special status to mai… |
|
2613 or the original developer, or the copyright holder, or some other enti… |
|
2614 that is considered &ldquo;official&rdquo;. In FOSS, though, t… |
|
2615 mechanism of officialness is the trademark &mdash; the <em>n… |
|
2616 upstream project (or the fork). The entire point of FOSS is that for … |
|
2617 itself</em>, everyone should have equal rights to the original d… |
|
2618 to the maintainers, or to any other entity.</p> |
|
2619 |
|
2620 <p>We have faced this with our member project, Inkscape. While th… |
|
2621 Project Leadership Committee has |
|
2622 chosen <a href="https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/inkscape/9P… |
|
2623 to charge</a> for the version of Inkscape that they upload on Mi… |
|
2624 Store, we did see this very problem for many years before these app st… |
|
2625 even existed. Namely, it was common for third-parties to sell Windows |
|
2626 binaries on CD's for Inkscape in an effort to make a quick buck. We d… |
|
2627 trademark enforcement in these cases &mdash; not forbidding these … |
|
2628 from selling &mdash; but simply requiring the vendors to clearly s… |
|
2629 the product was a modified version of Inkscape. Or, if it was unmodif… |
|
2630 redistribution of Inkscape's own binaries, we required the vendor to n… |
|
2631 that the Inkscape project's website was the official source for these |
|
2632 binaries.</p> |
|
2633 |
|
2634 <p>I have often written to complain about copyright and patent law… |
|
2635 my complaints about trademark law (and |
|
2636 I've seen |
|
2637 trademark grossly abused, even), but trademark laws tenets are really |
|
2638 reasonable and solid: to ensure consumers know the source and quality … |
|
2639 the products they receive.</p> |
|
2640 |
|
2641 <p>The problem of concern here is one well handled by trademark. … |
|
2642 need excessive app store rules; we don't need FOSS licenses to be usur… |
|
2643 or superseded by Draconian policy. And, this solution to this particu… |
|
2644 problem has been long-known by FOSS. Pam's talk in 2013 explained it … |
|
2645 well!</p> |
|
2646 |
|
2647 <p>The MyTown Market doesn't need to create a policy that forbids … |
|
2648 buying Al's Awesome Almond Milk on Saturday and reselling a product ba… |
|
2649 on it on Sunday. They just need to let Al know his rights under trade… |
|
2650 and <em>maybe</em> offer a lightweight provisional suspens… |
|
2651 if the trademark complaint seems primia facie valid. But, most |
|
2652 importantly, before it announces new rules with a 30 day clock, MyTown… |
|
2653 leadership really should discuss it with the citizens first to find a … |
|
2654 takes into account concerns of the people. Even if they fail to do th… |
|
2655 MyTown's elected officials whose actions are accountable to the people… |
|
2656 are accountable only to their shareholders, not the authors of the app… |
|
2657 learning that the FOSS community prioritizes respecting authors, prote… |
|
2658 |
|
2659 <hr class="footnote-separator"/><br/> |
|
2660 <h4>Footnotes</h4> |
|
2661 <p> |
|
2662 <sup><a href="#return-company-controlling-legal-process-ill-adv… |
|
2663 id="footnote-company-controlling-legal-process-ill-advised">0… |
|
2664 I hesitate to even suggest that an app store should create an |
|
2665 extra-legal process regarding trademark enforcement beyond the |
|
2666 typical governmental mechanisms &mdash; lest they decide the… |
|
2667 do it. A major problem with app stores is that they create rule… |
|
2668 software distribution that are capricious, and arbitrary. |
|
2669 We all do want FOSS available on Microsoft, Apple, and Google-ba… |
|
2670 platforms &mdash; and as such are forced to negotiate (or, r… |
|
2671 try to negotiate) for FOSS-friendly terms. Ultimately, though, … |
|
2672 story of major vendor-controlled app stores is always the story … |
|
2673 &ldquo;just barely&rdquo; being able to put FOSS on them… |
|
2674 goal of these entities is to profit themselves, not serve the |
|
2675 community. We prefer app stores like F-Droid that are |
|
2676 community-organized and are not run for-profit.</p> |
|
2677 |
|
2678 </description><author>[email protected] (Bradley M. Kuhn)</author>… |
|
2679 |
|
2680 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/jul/07/microsoft-bans-… |
|
2681 |
|
2682 |
|
2683 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2684 |
|
2685 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich and Bradle… |
|
2686 <h4>Microsoft Will Even Prohibit Charitable FOSS Fundraising Thro… |
|
2687 |
|
2688 <p>A few weeks ago, Microsoft quietly <a href="https://docs.mic… |
|
2689 <p> |
|
2690 <blockquote> |
|
2691 all pricing &hellip; must &hellip; [n]ot attempt to profit from … |
|
2692 </blockquote></p> |
|
2693 |
|
2694 <p>Yesterday, a number of Microsoft Store users discovered this an… |
|
2695 |
|
2696 <p>For decades, Microsoft spent great effort to scare the commerci… |
|
2697 |
|
2698 <p>Sadly, these days, companies like Microsoft have set up these a… |
|
2699 |
|
2700 <p>This is first and foremost an affront to all efforts to make a … |
|
2701 |
|
2702 <p>Microsoft <a href="https://twitter.com/gisardo/status/154474… |
|
2703 |
|
2704 <p>Selling open source software has been a cornerstone of open sou… |
|
2705 |
|
2706 <p>Finally, this is a known pattern of Microsoft's behavior. Roll… |
|
2707 |
|
2708 <p>Nevertheless, we're cognizant that Microsoft probably planned a… |
|
2709 <hr class="footnote-separator"/><br/> |
|
2710 |
|
2711 <p id="microsoft-policy-update"><strong>Update</strong>… |
|
2712 via Twitter that they would &ldquo;delay enforcement&rdquo; of t… |
|
2713 |
|
2714 <p> Given the tight timetable (just five days!) until the problem… |
|
2715 officially publish a corrected policy now that addresses this point and … |
|
2716 |
|
2717 </description><author>[email protected] (Denver Gingerich… |
|
2718 |
|
2719 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/jun/30/give-up-github-… |
|
2720 |
|
2721 |
|
2722 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2723 |
|
2724 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich and Bradle… |
|
2725 <p>Those who forget history often inadvertently repeat it. Some of… |
|
2726 site called SourceForge, <a href="https://lwn.net/Articles/17822/"&g… |
|
2727 SourceForge since it was now, itself, a proprietary system, and antithe… |
|
2728 software company to become the dominant FOSS collaborative development … |
|
2729 and today, SourceForge still refuses to solve these problems<sup>… |
|
2730 FOSS communities to its own ends. We now must learn the SourceForge l… |
|
2731 |
|
2732 <div class="picture-small right"> |
|
2733 <img src="https://sfconservancy.org/img/GiveUpGitHub.svg" alt="A paro… |
|
2734 </div> |
|
2735 |
|
2736 <p>GitHub has, in the last ten years, risen to dominate FOSS deve… |
|
2737 software development. Yet, GitHub comes out again and again |
|
2738 <em>seeming</em> like a good actor &mdash; because they… |
|
2739 learned from the many gratis offerings in Big Tech: if you aren't the c… |
|
2740 you're the product. The FOSS development methodology is GitHub's produ… |
|
2741 |
|
2742 <p>FOSS developers have been for too long the proverbial frog in … |
|
2743 and we've excused, ignored, or otherwise acquiesced to cognitive disson… |
|
2744 even we'd become too comfortable, complacent, and complicit with GitHub… |
|
2745 sacrifice and may take a long time, even for us: we at Software Freedo… |
|
2746 avoid GitHub (and all proprietary software development services and inf… |
|
2747 migrate away from GitHub.</strong> While we will not mandate our … |
|
2748 |
|
2749 <p>There are so many good reasons to give up on GitHub, and we lis… |
|
2750 |
|
2751 <p>Specifically, we at Software Freedom Conservancy have been acti… |
|
2752 committee of experts to consider the moral implications of AI-assisted s… |
|
2753 Microsoft and GitHub representives to the public discussion, and they ig… |
|
2754 them to answer and (b) of their refusal to join public discussion on the… |
|
2755 change your policy position to theirs. But, Microsoft and GitHub will l… |
|
2756 |
|
2757 <p>Nevertheless, we were previously content to leave all this low … |
|
2758 last week when <a href="https://github.blog/2022-06-21-github-copilot… |
|
2759 |
|
2760 <p>Our three primary questions for Microsoft/GitHub (i.e., the que… |
|
2761 <ol id="questions-for-github"> |
|
2762 |
|
2763 <li> <p>What case law, if any, did you rely on in Microsoft… |
|
2764 |
|
2765 <li> <p>If it is, as you claim, permissible to train the mod… |
|
2766 refusal to answer also hints at the real answer to this question, too: W… |
|
2767 |
|
2768 <li> <p>Can you provide a list of licenses, including names … |
|
2769 </p> |
|
2770 |
|
2771 <p>As a result of GitHub's bad actions, today we call on all FOSS … |
|
2772 a strong message to GitHub and Microsoft about their bad behavior. GitH… |
|
2773 &ldquo;proprietary vendor lock-in&rdquo;. That's the very behav… |
|
2774 need their proprietary infrastructure. Alternatives exist, albeit with … |
|
2775 a website, <a href="https://GiveUpGitHub.org">GiveUpGitHub.org<… |
|
2776 |
|
2777 <p>Most importantly, we are committed to offering alternatives to … |
|
2778 on the challenge now and give up GitHub <strong>today</strong&g… |
|
2779 on (for example) how to deploy a self-hosted instance of the GitLab Comm… |
|
2780 |
|
2781 <p>Meanwhile, the work of <a href="/news/2022/feb/23/committee-… |
|
2782 was that <a href="https://lists.copyleft.org/pipermail/ai-assist/2022… |
|
2783 of research. While Microsoft's GitHub was the first mover in this area,… |
|
2784 |
|
2785 <p>This harkens to long-standing problems with GitHub, and the cen… |
|
2786 service, and in nearly every area of endeavor, <em>GitHub's behavi… |
|
2787 any other for-profit hoster are perfect actors. However, a relative com… |
|
2788 |
|
2789 <p><em>We expect this particular blog post will generate a l… |
|
2790 |
|
2791 <hr class="footnote-separator"/> |
|
2792 <h3>Footnotes</h3> |
|
2793 <p> |
|
2794 <p><sup><a href="#return-footnote-sourceforge-still-not-f… |
|
2795 <p> |
|
2796 <sup><a href="#return-footnote-amazon-codewhisperer-not-yet-vet… |
|
2797 |
|
2798 </description><author>[email protected] (Denver Gingerich… |
|
2799 |
|
2800 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/may/11/vizio-update-1/… |
|
2801 |
|
2802 |
|
2803 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2804 |
|
2805 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Bradley M. Kuhn</strong&… |
|
2806 <h4>Possible Opportunity for the Public To Hear Oral Arguments in … |
|
2807 <p>In <a href="/blog/2021/dec/28/vizio-update-1/">our previo… |
|
2808 enforcement lawsuit against Vizio</a>, we talked about how Vizio |
|
2809 &ldquo;removed&rdquo; the case to USA federal court (namely, t… |
|
2810 District of California), and how we filed a motion to &ldquo;reman… |
|
2811 the case back to state court. While this all seems like minor legal |
|
2812 wrangling early in a case, this very first skirmish in our case goes t… |
|
2813 very heart of the right for software repair for consumers. While it w… |
|
2814 be a final decision in the case, this motion will be the first indicat… |
|
2815 whether the federal courts view the GPL as purely a copyright license,… |
|
2816 as a contract, or as both. That question has been central to legal de… |
|
2817 about the GPL for decades, and, thanks to our case, for the first time… |
|
2818 federal Court will directly consider this question.</p> |
|
2819 |
|
2820 <p>Our view (and the view of many attorneys whose opinions we trus… |
|
2821 GPL functions as both a copyright license and a contract, and that thi… |
|
2822 parties who receive distribution of GPL'd (and LGPL'd) software are |
|
2823 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/glossary.htm… |
|
2824 contract-based enforcement, and both have their advantages. Contract-… |
|
2825 ability to ask the Court directly for the <em>most |
|
2826 important</em> thing that copyleft assures: a right to receive t… |
|
2827 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/glossary.htm… |
|
2828 compilation and installation of the executable&rdquo;. Indeed, in … |
|
2829 </p> |
|
2830 |
|
2831 <p>Our case |
|
2832 now is the first of its kind to adjudicate the third-party beneficiary |
|
2833 contractual theory. We are excited that a federal district Court is p… |
|
2834 to give its first answer to the central question to this endeavor, nam… |
|
2835 &ldquo;Are the GPL and LGPL <em>merely</em> copyright … |
|
2836 preempted and only subject matter for the US federal courts, or can a |
|
2837 third-party bring a contract claim in state court?&rdquo; If this |
|
2838 question intrigues you, we encourage you to read our <a href="https… |
|
2839 for remand</a>, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/re… |
|
2840 and <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.c… |
|
2841 |
|
2842 <p>Most importantly, clear your calendar for this Friday 13 May 20… |
|
2843 US/Pacific! While Judge Staton may chose to rule on this motion stric… |
|
2844 based on those paper filings, the judge <em>has</em> sched… |
|
2845 that date and time. What's more, anyone in the world can attend this … |
|
2846 listen! Instructions for how to |
|
2847 attend <a href="https://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/honorable-josephine-l… |
|
2848 found on Judge Staton's |
|
2849 website</a><a href="#footnote-do-not-record-vizio-hearing" |
|
2850 id="return-footnote-do-not-record-vizio-hearing"><sup>0</s… |
|
2851 |
|
2852 <p>While, as FOSS activists, we're very sad that the Judge has |
|
2853 chosen to use a proprietary videochat platform, we're glad that |
|
2854 <acronym title="Public Switched Telephone Network">PSTN</acro… |
|
2855 is provided, and we'll be dialing in and encourage you to do so as wel… |
|
2856 Watch our microblog for live updates!</p> |
|
2857 |
|
2858 |
|
2859 <hr class="footnote-separator"/> |
|
2860 |
|
2861 <p><a id="footnote-do-not-record-vizio-hearing" |
|
2862 href="#return-footnote-do-not-record-vizio-hearing"><sup>0<… |
|
2863 take careful note of the warning on the Judge's website: <q>Recor… |
|
2864 copying, photographing and rebroadcasting of court proceedings is prohi… |
|
2865 by federal law.</q> Remember: you can take as many notes as you … |
|
2866 even live blog/microblog what you hear, but take great care to follow t… |
|
2867 directives on Judge Staton's website.</p> |
|
2868 |
|
2869 </description><author>[email protected] (Bradley M. Kuhn)</author>… |
|
2870 |
|
2871 </title><link>https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/may/02/copyright-assig… |
|
2872 |
|
2873 |
|
2874 <p><i>A <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blog… |
|
2875 |
|
2876 <p><i>Blog post by <strong>Denver Gingerich</strong… |
|
2877 <p>Defending your right to modify and repair the software on your … |
|
2878 |
|
2879 <p>In the rare cases where Software Freedom Conservancy has been f… |
|
2880 |
|
2881 <p>Since we began enforcing the GPL fifteen years ago, the landsca… |
|
2882 |
|
2883 <p>The best approach, in our view, is to continue to bring a varie… |
|
2884 as a last resort, but we've reached that point with dozens of companies.… |
|
2885 |
|
2886 <p>As a contributor to copyleft projects, one way that you can hel… |
|
2887 copyright claims are ideal. By assigning your copyrights to us, you can… |
|
2888 those who haven't already assigned copyright to their employer to assign… |
|
2889 those employers to give them back their copyrights immediately. (See ou… |
|
2890 |
|
2891 <p>Today, we launch our self-service <a href="https://sfconserv… |
|
2892 meetings to discuss our enforcement efforts.</p> |
|
2893 |
|
2894 <p>Through the various software freedom lawsuits we have filed ove… |
|
2895 |
|
2896 <p>We are very happy for all the support we've received from softw… |
|
2897 |
|
2898 |
