Conservancy Announces New Strategy for GPL Enforcement and Related Work, Receives Grant from ARDC

[Software Freedom Conservancy]

URL: <https://sfconservancy.org/news/2020/oct/01/new-copyleft-strategy-launched-with-ARDC-grant/>

Software Freedom Conservancy, the only organization actively engaged
in General Public License (GPL) enforcement and compliance work for
Linux, announces today a new strategy toward improving compliance and
the freedom of users of devices that contain Linux-based systems. The
new work has received an initial grant from Amateur Radio Digital
Communications (ARDC).

Copyleft enforcement ensures software freedom for all. Copyleft
licenses require distributors to provide complete source code —
including installation instructions. Without this, we do not control
the software that surrounds us. Whether we want to fix simple bugs,
remove functionality to protect our privacy, or completely replace
device firmware, we need the ability to modify and reinstall the
software on our devices. Today, Conservancy announces it is
undertaking a new, multi-pronged approach to our copyleft compliance
work.

Our new initiative features:

* [Litigation to enforce against license violators][1] that do not
  voluntarily comply in a timely manner
* [Coordinating the development of alternative firmware for
  devices][2] where none currently exists
* Collaborating with other organizations to promote copyleft
  compliance as a feature for consumers to protect their privacy and
  get more out of their devices

We take this holistic approach because compliance is not an end in
itself, but rather a lever to help people advance technology for
themselves and the world. Bradley Kuhn, Conservancy's Policy Fellow
and Hacker-in-Residence remarked: "GPL enforcement began as merely an
education process more than twenty years ago. We all had hoped that
industry-wide awareness of copyleft's essential role in spreading
software freedom would yield widespread, spontaneous compliance. We
were simply wrong about that. Today, we observe almost universal
failure in compliance throughout the (so-called) Internet of Things
(IoT) market. *Only* unrelenting enforcement that holds companies
accountable can change this abysmal reality. ARDC, a visionary
grant-maker, recognizes the value of systemic enforcement that
utilizes the legal system to regain software freedom. That process
also catalyzes community-led projects to build liberated firmware for
many devices."

ARDC has long served the amateur radio community who were early
adopters of Internet communication. These roots have grown from the
deeper soils of wireless and digital communication and open access to
technical information. Amateur radio operators have long practiced the
tradition of individual technical experimentation that benefited the
general public. These traditions also form the basis of software
freedom. Hobbyists and volunteers built, modified and improved Free
and Open Source Software (FOSS) first. Conservancy defends the rights
of software developers to examine the code in their devices and
assists their work to improve the platforms they rely on and to
understand our communication technologies. Copyleft compliance enables
this work to continue and expand to new kinds of devices.

Rosy Wolfe, ARDC's Executive Director commented: "GPL enforcement is
notoriously difficult, and yet it is necessary to deter self-serving
actors who want the benefits of community software but won't follow
the rules. Thus Conservancy's efforts in this arena are critical, and
we are honored to support them in this work."

When companies prevent us from actually modifying the software on our
devices, software freedom remains only theoretical. In this new
chapter of compliance work, Conservancy will leverage its technical
and legal resources to help the public take control of the software on
which they rely. This generous grant from ARDC is a first step. Please
help in the next step through support of Conservancy's work [with a
donation][3]. You can also email <compliance at sfconservancy.org> to let
us know about GPL violations or to discuss volunteering on these
projects.

[1]: https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/enforcement-strategy.html
[2]: https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/firmware-liberation.html
[3]: https://sfconservancy.org/donate

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