From info at sfconservancy.org Mon Jan 16 21:07:03 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (info at sfconservancy.org) Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2023 13:07:03 -0800 Subject: Thanks for helping us meet our extended match! Message-ID: Thanks for helping us meet our extended match! $156,730.91 raised after extended match challenge URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/jan/16/2023-fundraiser-successful/ Social Media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/ARiEzbiE8oI4FaKoUq https://twitter.com/conservancy/status/1615092869576167425 Thanks to SFC's incredible base of Sustainers and supporters, our original fundraising match goal of $104,759 was met in just over a month, and we quickly met an extended goal of an additional $12,030 — for a total of $116,989 matched and $156,730.91 contributed by you! Thanks to your sustaining contributions to our organization, we'll be able to continue the community driven work we have become known for. **Our commitment to software rights and freedom remains as strong and ever. This support from individual contributors empowers and motivates us for the year to come.** This fundraising season has been incredibly uplifting for us to see that even in tough economic years, our donors continue to believe in the initiatives, advocacy and projects that we fund, develop and support. This year has marked a lot of growth and progress for us: SFC has raised, administered and/or facilitated $1.7 million to directly support free software for the second year in a row. Through these efforts of sustainable FOSS funding, we are working with users, developers and communities to grow and expand the reach of software freedom for all. Outreachy [0] — on track to complete their 1000th intern (we'll reach our “kilo-intern” as one Sustainer called it during our special video chat session 😂️). The Institute for Computing in Research [1] expanded to its third city this year with plans for expanding further! Denver Gingerich was appointed our first Director of Compliance [2]; Denver now leads our compliance work — including his continuing work for the past year to integrate copyleft compliance (the right to software repair) within the larger Right to Repair community. In 2023, we will bring a large, international FOSS event back to Portland, Oregon, USA — as we organize our conference, FOSSY [3] — July 13-16th 2023! Thank you again for supporting our organization. Thank you for empowering our software freedom advocacy, development and diversity efforts. We are so excited to continue to pursue that passion and mission — thanks to your generous contributions. [0] https://outreachy.org/ [1] https://computinginresearch.org/ [2] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/dec/05/director-of-compliance-denver-gingerich/ [3] https://fossy.us/ From info at sfconservancy.org Mon Jan 30 20:32:21 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2023 12:32:21 -0800 Subject: Karen Sandler to receive honorary doctorate & other big events in Belgium this week (some livestream also available)! Message-ID: <87sffrwyp6.fsf@ebb.org> OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR KAREN SANDLER TO RECEIVE HONORARY DOCTORATE FROM KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN Sandler commended by premier Belgian university for her outstanding work in software rights At their annual Patron Saint's Day celebration (“Patroonsfeest”), [1]the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) [2]will bestow SFC's Executive Director, Karen Sandler, with an honorary doctorate. Sandler was nominated by the student body in recognition of her outstanding work at Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC), her many years of FOSS leadership, and her advocacy and pursuit of software freedom and rights for all. Joining other scientists, artists and activists from across the world, Sandler is one of five honorary doctorate nominees for this years' “Patroonsfeest” at KU Leuven. Tomorrow, Sandler will deliver a [3]lecture at KU Leuven entitled Software Rights: Accountability and Autonomy In Our Technology. Those able to attend in person can [4]register now. [5]SFC Sustainers around the world can [6]watch the live stream (PINCode: 882021) — tomorrow, January 31, 2023 at 15:00 UTC (16:00 in Leuven). Sandler's lecture will focus on the intersection of software rights and the need for autonomy over our devices that we increasingly rely on in our lives. On Thursday, February 2, 2023, Sandler will accept the award at the “Patroonsfeest” event in Leuven. Her family and SFC Policy Fellow, Bradley M. Kuhn, will attend to witness this prestigious event. Following the annual academic procession and ceremony, the University will bestow the honorary degrees to Sandler and the four co-nominees in a Convocation at the Pieter De Somer Auditorium. For those in Belgium, [7]registration remains open for “Patroonsfeest” if you would like to join us in person in celebrating this honor. The “Patroonsfeest” will also be [8]livestreamed begining at 2023-02-02 at 07:45 UTC (08:45 in Lueven. If you're an early riser on the east cost of in the USA, note that the actual awards ceremony should begin on that link around 5AM US/Eastern). This special event coincides with the exciting return of in-person FOSS events in Belgium throughout the week — culminating in the return of in-person [9]Free and Open Source Software Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM) this weekend. We invite everyone around the world to attend Karen's lecture tomorrow via the live stream. For those already in Brussels for FOSDEM, note that Leuven is a short train ride from Brussels if you'd like to attend (IRL) Karen's [10] lecture tomorrow or [11]“Patroonsfeest” on Thursday. Meanwhile, Karen, Bradley, and SFC's Community Organizer, Daniel Pono Takamori, look forward to meeting you at FOSDEM! You can find Bradley and Karen in the [12]Legal and Policy DevRoom that they co-organize (with Tom Marble and Alexander Sander) on Saturday, or find us all weekend long at our [13]booth (aka stand) at the conference. BELGIAN EVENTS SUMMARY TUE 2023-01-31 15:00 UTC (16:00 in Leuven, 7AM US/Pacific, 10AM US/Eastern): Karen's Sandler's lecture, Software Rights: Accountability and Autonomy In Our Technology in the Promotiezaal at KU Lueven. [14]Registration required for in-person. [15]Live stream available (PINCode: 882021). THU 2023-02-02 07:45 UTC (08:45 in Leuven, 02:45 US/Eastern, 2023-02-01 23:45 US/Pacific): KU Lueven's “Patroonsfeest”, with honorary doctorate presentation beginning at 09:45 UTC (10:45 Lueven). [16]Registration required for in-person. [17]Live stream available. SAT 2023-02-04 10:30 — 18:50 local time [18]FOSDEM 2023 Legal and Policy Issues DevRoom in UB5.132 at the LB Solbosch Campus, Brussels, Belgium. (Sadly, no live stream is available but recordings should be available after the event.) SAT 2023-02-04 and SUN 2023-02-05 — All Day Software Freedom Conservancy Stand in Building K at the LB Solbosch Campus in Brussels. Please join us! References: [1] https://www.kuleuven.be/english/kuleuven [2] https://www.kuleuven.be/english/about-kuleuven/patron-saints-day/index.html#sandler [3] https://www.kuleuven.be/events/en/lecture-karen-sandler-softwarerights [4] https://www.kuleuven.be/communicatie/congresbureau/formulieren/guest-lecture-honorary-doctor-karen-sandler [5] https://sfconservancy.org/sustainers/ [6] https://livestream.kuleuven.be/ [7] https://www.kuleuven.be/over-kuleuven/patroonsfeest/inschrijving-patroonsfeest-2023 [8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKH4NTO6e1Y [9] https://fosdem.org/ [10] https://www.kuleuven.be/communicatie/congresbureau/formulieren/guest-lecture-honorary-doctor-karen-sandler [11] https://www.kuleuven.be/over-kuleuven/patroonsfeest/inschrijving-patroonsfeest-2023 [12] https://fosdem.org/2023/schedule/track/legal_and_policy_issues/ [13] https://fosdem.org/2023/stands/ [14] https://www.kuleuven.be/communicatie/congresbureau/formulieren/guest-lecture-honorary-doctor-karen-sandler [15] https://livestream.kuleuven.be/ [16] https://www.kuleuven.be/over-kuleuven/patroonsfeest/inschrijving-patroonsfeest-2023 [17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKH4NTO6e1Y [18] https://fosdem.org/2023/schedule/track/legal_and_policy_issues/ -- Become a Conservancy Supporter Now: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/ (And then ask a friend to become a Supporter, too! :) From info at sfconservancy.org Thu Feb 9 19:39:58 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2023 11:39:58 -0800 Subject: Policy Fellow Files Expert Report in Neo4j v. PureThink Message-ID: SFC's Policy Fellow Files Expert Report in Neo4j v. PureThink Case about the “further restrictions” removal provision of the AGPLv3 continues after counterclaim filing URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/feb/09/kuhn-neo4j-purethink-expert-report/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/ASVnYWHyflWw8Cy76G https://twitter.com/conservancy/status/1623756863614631936?s=20 In the ongoing litigation — Neo4j, Inc. v. PureThink, LLC and John Mark Suhy (5:18-cv-07182) [0] — in U.S. federal court in the Northern District of California, Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC)'s Policy Fellow, Bradley M. Kuhn, will serve as the Defendants' third-party expert on issues related to the AGPLv3. The Defendants' request for Kuhn's expertise [1] comes after months of public [2] discussion [3] of previous preliminary actions in the Neo4j litigation. As outlined in the Joint Case Management Statement [4], filed earlier this month, the key issue of concern in the FOSS community remains an unsettled controversy in this case. Specifically, the list of Legal and Factual Issues That Remain In Dispute filed with the Court [5] includes: “ whether removal of the Common’s [sic] Clause on Neo4J Sweden’s open source version of Neo4J software … was justified and authorized … based on the then standard application of the terms of the AGPL allowing removal of further restrictions&rdduo;. Furthermore, Defendants note in the same filing that Kuhn's expert report bears heavily on the question [6] of PureThink and Suhy's right to exercise the AGPLv3's “further restrictions” removal clause (found in AGPLv3§7¶4). As often happens with complex litigation, prior news on this case have led many in the FOSS community to incorrectly believe that the issue of the right to remove the so-called “Commons Clause” when it is attached to AGPLv3 is now a settled question. However, the issue is still not fully litigated. Two weeks ago, Defendants filed their updated counterclaim. In its eighth clause of action [7], Defendants “request a declaration [from the Court] that the Commons Clause does not prevent PureThink [et al] … from providing professional services to users of the open source versions of Neo4J where the AGPL has a Commons Clause”. SFC, which works to uphold users' rights with copyleft, gladly provides Kuhn's time to serve as an expert on this important issue of users' rights under the AGPLv3. While it is typical for outside experts to receive compensation, Kuhn will serve pro bono publico as an expert (with only travel expenses (to appear for depositions and trial) covered by the Defendants). SFC remains deeply concerned at the incorrect claims about AGPLv3§7¶4 that Neo4j has promulgated. SFC is happy to provide Kuhn's time and expertise in this matter. As always, SFC does its work as transparently as possible. As such, we release today the expert report that Kuhn provided in this case. This expert report [8] not only clears up past confusing and incorrect information promulgated on this matter in the media, but also provides an thorough summary of events leading up to the creation of the “further restrictions” removal provision found in AGPLv3 and GPLv3. SFC encourages everyone who cares about the rights and freedoms guaranteed by copyleft licenses to review the expert report available, and to follow the Neo4j case as it proceeds [9]. [0] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16272543/neo4j-inc-v-purethink-llc/ [1] https://sfconservancy.org/docs/kuhn_expert-report-in-neo4j_5-18-cv-07182.pdf [2] https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/mar/30/neo4j-v-purethink-open-source-affero-gpl/ [3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/02/court_neo4j_ruling/ [4] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.335295/gov.uscourts.cand.335295.169.0.pdf [5] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.335295/gov.uscourts.cand.335295.169.0.pdf#page=6 [6] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.335295/gov.uscourts.cand.335295.169.0.pdf#page=9 [7] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.335295/gov.uscourts.cand.335295.171.0.pdf#page=21 [8] https://sfconservancy.org/docs/kuhn_expert-report-in-neo4j_5-18-cv-07182.pdf [9] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16272543/neo4j-inc-v-purethink-llc/ From info at sfconservancy.org Mon Apr 24 19:45:27 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2023 12:45:27 -0700 Subject: FOSSY CFP is open - submit your talks and buy your ticket! Message-ID: FOSSY CFP is open - submit your talks and buy your ticket! CFP open until May 14th URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/apr/24/fossy-cfp-open/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/AUzFnACJTAiwnBbexk https://twitter.com/conservancy/status/1650585884071460864 Today is the day we open the FOSSY CFP and ticket sales! Our track organizers put together an incredible list of tracks [0] including **FOSS For Education**, **Open Source AI + Data**, **Science of Community**, **FOSS in Daily Life** and much much more. We are looking for speakers of all experience levels and backgrounds; whether you are just getting into technology and want to share your experience or have been developing free software for ages, we want to hear from you! For the first year of FOSSY we are excited at tracks out volunteer organizers have put together. You'll also find tracks curated by SFC staff including **Copyleft & Compliance** and SFC Member Projects [1]. Help us put together a program dedicated to showcasing how FOSS is used around the world to help cultivate community, innovate and let us live freely with technology. It's your expertise, knowledge and experience that will help make this conference a success. To submit a talk, please visit our Call for Proposals [2] page to make an account and enter your talk under a specific track. If you aren't sure which track you fit into, or feel you are a bit outside the scope for any of the listed tracks, use the **Wild card** track. Our CFP will be open until **May 14th** (with notice of acceptance the week of the 21st) so be sure to find us on IRC #conservancy on Libera.chat, XMPP or email conference at sfconservancy.org. We will start having office hours at **19:00 UTC on Wednesdays** in our chat room for anyone to come and ask questions. You can also purchase your ticket [4] for the conference today! We have tiered pricing to make the conference affordable to professionals, hobbyists and anyone with an interest in free software. Lunch will be provided all 4 days. References: [0] https://2023.fossy.us/pages/tracks/ [1] https://sfconservancy.org/members/current/ [2] https://2023.fossy.us/call-for-proposals/ [3] xmpp:general at chat.sfconservancy.org?joinXMPP [4] https://2023.fossy.us/attend/tickets/ From info at sfconservancy.org Mon May 15 18:09:30 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Mon, 15 May 2023 11:09:30 -0700 Subject: Sourceware, one of the longest standing Free Software hosting platforms, joins SFC Message-ID: Sourceware, one of the longest standing Free Software hosting platforms, joins SFC Important Free Software infrastructure project finds non-profit home URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/may/15/sourceware-joins-sfc/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/AVge1aeg2Vo3btrtDM https://twitter.com/conservancy/status/1658171545414688772 As a home for Free Software projects since 1998, Sourceware is a keystone in Free Software infrastructure. For almost 25 years Sourceware has been the long-time home of various core toolchain project communities. Projects like Cygwin, a UNIX API for Win32 systems, the GNU Toolchain, including GCC, the GNU Compiler Colection, two C libraries, glibc and newlib, binary tools, binutils and elfutils, debuggers and profilers, GDB, systemtap and valgrind. Sourceware also hosts standard groups like gnu-gabi and the DWARF Debugging Standard. See the full list project hosted and services provided on the Sourceware projects [0] page. Becoming an SFC member project will improve future operations carried out by dedicated volunteers to and furthering the mission of Free Software hosting. This will accelerate the Sourceware technical roadmap [1] to improve and modernize the infrastructure. As the fiscal host of Sourceware, Software Freedom Conservancy will provide a home for fundraising, legal assistance and governance that will benefit all projects under Sourceware's care. We share one mission: developing, distributing and advocating for Software Freedom. And to offer a worry-free, friendly home for Free Software communities. We see a bright future working together. With Conservancy as fiscal sponsor, Sourceware will also be able to fundraise and have the community of volunteers work together with paid contractors and enter into contracts for managed infrastructure where appropriate. SFC looks to Sourceware's years of experience in providing outstanding infrastructure as an inspiration for improving the Free Software ecosystem both for other SFC projects, and also in furthering SFC's mission around campaigns to promote Software Freedom Infrastructure. For decades, Sourceware has shown that hosting Free Software projects with Free Software infrastructure is not only possible, but helps create and fosters the growth of relationships and networks within the Free Software communities. SFC is thrilled to join the powerful history of demonstrable experience to grow hosting options that are 100% free software, in the future to bring in new ideas, communities, and projects! Projects hosted by Sourceware are part of the core toolchain for GNU/Linux distros, embedded systems, the cloud and, through Cygwin, Windows. Back in 1984 Ken Thompson's Reflections on Trusting Trust already described how making the source code for these tools available is essential to create what today we call secure software supply chains. Sourceware provides robust infrastructure and services for projects to adopt secure collaboration and release policies. We forsee future cooperation with other Conservancy member projects, such as the Reproducible Builds [2] project which provides an independently-verifiable path to supply chain security. Additionally, Sourceware will leverage Conservancy advisory role in how community projects are impacted by and can comply with regulations like NIST, CISA, USA Cyber Security Directives and the EU Cyber Resilience act. Each SFC member project is led by a Project Leadership Committee (PLC). Each individual member of the PLC participates in their own capacity, but nevertheless the majority of the PLC never includes a majority of people affiliated with the same organization. Sourceware's PLC includes various volunteers, past and present, from the Sourceware community. The founding PLC is: Frank Ch. Eigler, Christopher Faylor, Ian Kelling, Ian Lance Taylor, Tom Tromey, Jon Turney, and Mark J. Wielaard. Recent discussions have inspired the Sourceware volunteers to think carefully about the future and succession of the leadership for this important hosting project. By joining SFC, Sourceware gains access to strategic advice and governance expertise to recruit new volunteers and raise funds to support work on Sourceware infrastructure. As part of this governance improvement, Sourceware also announces today regular irc office hours for guest project admins to advise and discuss any needs and issues in hosting. The Sourceware mission page lists various other ways to contact and participate in the community. Sourceware will continue its long standing mission of providing free software infrastructure to the projects it supports, and this will not change moving forward. The affiliation with SFC will be transparent to the projects hosted on Sourceware. Project admins will keep being in charge of how they utilize the services Sourceware provides. To support the Software Freedom Conservancy, please become a Sustainer [3]. You can also donate [4] directly to Sourceware (mention Sourceware in the comment or memo line). See the donation page [5] for other ways to donate. Sourceware may be volunteer managed, but wouldn't be possible without the hardware, network resources and services provided by Red Hat and OSUOSL. Additionally build/CI testing machines [6] are provided by various individuals and the Brno University, Marist College, IBM, the Works on Arm initiative and the Gentoo Foundation. [0] https://sourceware.org/projects.html [1] https://inbox.sourceware.org/overseers/YrLdfDWzq1T4k5xg at wildebeest.org/ [2] https://reproducible-builds.org/ [3] https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/ [4] https://sfconservancy.org/donate/#wire [5] https://sfconservancy.org/donate/ [6] https://builder.sourceware.org/ From info at sfconservancy.org Mon Jun 19 19:12:08 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2023 12:12:08 -0700 Subject: FOSSY schedule announcement Message-ID: FOSSY schedule announcement URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/jun/19/fossy-schedule/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/AWr9rdNlkYDiIuSKaO https://twitter.com/conservancy/status/1670848991813332994 The FOSSY schedule has been set [0]! With four days of talks and workshops, we are looking forward to a fantastic conference. Thanks to all our incredible track organizers and speakers for working with us to create a jam packed weekend of FOSS. We look forward to building this conference with you all in Portland, OR this July 13-16th. Join us Thursday the 13th for registration and a welcome lunch, then there are 2 workshops and 3 tracks to choose from! Grow Your Project Workshop, Free BSD Workshop, AArch64/ARM64 Servers and Open Source, FOSS For Education, XMPP. Friday the 14th we'll begin with a keynote and coffee and continue with FOSS For Education, Sustainable Open Source Business, Community: Open Source in Practice, FOSS at Play: Games, creative development, and open technology, and 2 half day tracks for BSD Unix and Copyleft and Compliance. Saturday the 15th has continuations for FOSS For Education and Community: Open Source in Practice also FOSS in Daily Life, Diversity Equity and Inclusion and FOSS, Security, Issues in Open Work. Sunday the 16th rounds out the conference with day 2 of Diversity Equity and Inclusion and FOSS and Software Worker Coops, Open Source AI + Data, Container Days, Science of Community. Registration is open and ticket sales are ramping up. Be sure to buy your ticket [1] to give us time to accommodate food orders and dietary restrictions. And our hotel block at the Hyatt [2] still has rooms available that we want to fill. It's a great time to visit Oregon so make the most and see some sights while you are there. If you would like to volunteer, we are looking for people to help out with setup/ cleanup, room hosting, code of conduct enforcement and the other tasks listed on our volunteering page [3]. Volunteers will get a complimentary ticket, good for all 4 days of the conference. We are so thankful for all the effort and patience the community has shown us with our first time running a conference. As this first year will be a learning opportunity for us, we hope to gain experience from working cooperatively with all of you to find out how to best serve our community and provide a meaningful conference experience. Working with you all is a pleasure and thank you so much for building this conference with us! [0] https://2023.fossy.us/schedule/ [1] https://2023.fossy.us/attend/tickets/ [2] https://2023.fossy.us/travel/#hotels [3] https://2023.fossy.us/attend/volunteer/ From info at sfconservancy.org Thu Jul 6 22:32:10 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2023 15:32:10 -0700 Subject: One week till FOSSY in Portland, Oregon -- are you registered? Message-ID: One week till FOSSY in Portland, Oregon Are you registered? URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/jul/06/fossy-next-week/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/AXQmx0XdQnGNuATrNY https://twitter.com/conservancy/status/1677078355349483522 One week from today (July 13-16), we will be gathered at the Oregon Convention Center for the first ever Free and Open Source Software Yearly (FOSSY) conference, which will be an engaging, educational, inspiring four days of presentations and conversations. Whether you are a long time contributing member of a free software project, a recent graduate of a coding bootcamp or university, or just have an interest in the possibilies that free and open source software bring, FOSSY will have something for you. Are you coming? It's not too late to join us. Even walk-up registrations will be possible, *but* if you can register [0] online by tomorrow (July 7), you'll help us get accurate counts for the lunch we're providing and enable us to have your badge ready for you. We sell tickets because the event can't happen without funding, but please don't let that cost be a reason you can't attend -- see below about ways to volunteer, or email us at conference at sfconservancy.org. If you've been leaning toward coming but haven't booked yet, now is the time. If you're not sure which way you're leaning, please allow us to give you a push with the following updates on what we have planned for you: *Keynotes announced!* We have three timely keynote sessions, and they are all collaborative, to highlight what people in this movement can achieve by working and thinking together. Friday's will be an in-depth discussion about Red Hat's recent announcements concerning Red Hat Enterprise Linux led by Bradley M. Kuhn with of a panel of very special guests close to the situation. On Saturday, we'll talk with activists including Kyle Wiens of iFixit and Juan Muro of Free Geek about current topics in Right to Repair and how they impact free and open source software communities, from participating in the "1201 process" for Digital Millennium Copyright Act exemptions with the US Copyright Office, to strategies that might work to increase Right to Repair legislation and bringing lawsuits to compel companies to respect consumers' rights. Sunday's session will invite all FOSSY attendees to come celebrate an important milestone [1] thirteen years in the making: Outreachy surpassed 1,000 interns with its current round of internships! Members of the Outreachy organizers (Anna e só, Karen Sandler and Sage Sharp) will be on stage to reflect on the program's evolution, its successes and the people who have made it possible. FOSSY is a community conference so of course there is no connection between sponsorship and our keynote sessions. We are very grateful to our sponsors for supporting the event. *Schedule updated!* Please check the schedule again [2] to see updates we've made over the last couple weeks. We're very excited about the work our track and workshop organizers have done to assemble sessions on FreeBSD; BSD Unix; XMPP; FOSS for Education; Growing your Project; FOSS at Play; AArch64/ARM64 Servers; Sustainable Open Source Business; Community: Open Source in Practice; Copyleft and Compliance; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Science of Community; FOSS in Daily Life; Issues in Open Work; Right to Repair; Containers; Open Source AI + Data; Software Worker Coops; Security -- and more! The schedule is also available in the free mobile apps Giggity [3] and Confy [4]. *Thursday night social event (July 13)* Thursday night we will be hosting a social for all attendees at 7pm at Punch Bowl Social Portland, 340 SW Morrison St Suite 4305, Portland, OR 97204 (thanks Josh Berkus for donating part of the cost!) which is a quick ~15 minute Max ride from the convention center. We are providing appetizers, and the bar will be open to purchase your choice of beverages. All attendees and volunteers are invited! *Volunteers, we appreciate you* As a very small nonprofit, we can't make this event happen without volunteers. We have a good crew in place, but we really could use more! We appreciate our volunteers by thanking you profusely, and by providing a gratis ticket for all four days. Volunteering is also a great way to meet people and make connections. We're scheduling shifts so that you can still have plenty of time to enjoy other parts of the conference too. If you are able to pitch in a few hours to help make the first FOSSY awesome, please sign up [5] and let us know what you'd like to do. *Hotel discounts* There are still discounted rooms available at the conference hotel [6]. To be able to offer the discount, we committed to a block of rooms, so booking here is actually another way to support the conference. For additional travel and lodging info [7]. *Health and safety* In-person events bring so much positive energy and inspiration. They also do come with some risks. We are aiming to provide a welcoming and safer environment for people who are immunocompromised, disabled, elderly, have support needs, or are caregivers for children, and those of us who share households with or caretake for people in those groups. Face coverings will be required of everyone inside the conference venue. If you are feeling sick or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, or test positive for COVID-19, prior to the start of the conference, or on any day of the conference, please contact us at and we will issue you a refund. You can read our full policy [8]. *Exhibit Hall* We're proud to offer a carefully curated exhibit hall, which will feature: GNOME [9], FreeBSD Project and Foundation [10], Apereo Foundation [11], SeaGL [12], XMPP Software Foundation [13], Open Source Initiative [14], and CHAOSS [15]. *Sponsors, it's not too late* Thank you to the sponsors who have helped make the first FOSSY possible! It's not too late to invite your employer to sponsor. Please share our prospectus [17] with them, and email your commitment or questions to conference at sfconservancy.org. *If you can't make it* We really hope to see you in-person next week. But, this movement is all about sharing, and we want to share these valuable sessions as widely as we can. While we could not pull off livestreaming this year, we are working hard to make session recordings available after the event. You'll also be able to follow along during the event via our posts on Mastodon. **See you in a week!** [0] https://2023.fossy.us/attend/tickets/ [1] https://2023.fossy.us/schedule/presentation/160/ [2] https://2023.fossy.us/schedule/ [3] https://f-droid.org/packages/net.gaast.giggity/ [4] https://confy.kirgroup.net [5] https://nextcloud.sfconservancy.org/apps/forms/s/GF8gkmQfSFdyHoaNPiTWeCCx [6] https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/PDXRP/G-SFCC [7] https://2023.fossy.us/travel/ [8] https://2023.fossy.us/attend/health-and-safety/ [9] https://gnome.org/ [10] https://freebsdfoundation.org/ [11] https://www.apereo.org/ [12] https://seagl.org/ [13] https://xmpp.org/ [14] https://opensource.org/ [15] https://chaoss.community/ [16] https://2023.fossy.us/sponsorship/ [17] https://sfconservancy.org/docs/Fossy-Prospectus.pdf [18] https://social.sfconservancy.org/users/conservancy From info at sfconservancy.org Tue Aug 15 19:20:04 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2023 12:20:04 -0700 Subject: We Call on FOSS Contributors =?utf-8?Q?to_?= =?utf-8?B?4oCcRXhpdCBab29t4oCd?= Message-ID: We Call on FOSS Contributors to “Exit Zoom” SFC Announces Program to Help FOSS Enthusiasts Adopt Zoom Alternatives URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/aug/15/exit-zoom/ Social Media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/AYlROoYbglv5NbaUlM https://twitter.com/conservancy/status/1691528357438222336 Software Freedom Conservancy stands with concerned users and consumers; we too face difficult choices with respect to software rights and freedom. As part of our ongoing advocacy work, we educate and help people to choose more Free and Open Source Software (“FOSS”), and we aid developers to create and improve FOSS options for the general public. We also strive to “meet people where they are.” The industrialized world has changed since the advent of FOSS. Only the most privileged among us have the option to avoid proprietary software — from the grocery store coupons, to interacting with government agencies, to looking for a job, to attending mandatory meetings at our jobs. The pandemic accelerated the widespread adoption of new technologies, such as video chat. Quite quickly after the pandemic started, we noted that some of our colleagues began pressuring us to meet on Zoom. It was really hard in the early days of the pandemic to balance the need for human connection and a principled stance on video conferencing software. We want to acknowledge that we all make tradeoffs and negotiations with our ethics, and these are not cut and dry issues. The wider business and non-profit sectors beyond FOSS quickly standardized on wholly proprietary video chat software — and Zoom was, by far, the market leader. We considered completely avoiding those meetings in protest. However, we saw the same pressure that every individual feels when presented with a Zoom link: you miss the chance to even participate in the dialogue, and in some cases, you even risk losing your job! As a compromise for our situation, SFC staff took an activist approach. We insist on joining those meetings solely by phone — allowing us to use our mostly-FOSS LineageOS mobile devices. This strategy had benefits and downsides. Sometimes, being the only participant without video sparked interesting discussion about avoidance of proprietary and centralized platforms was an essential part of advocating for ethical technology. Participants on those calls, often acknowledged that on a high level the issues we raised were important, even if they weren't ready to make a change immediately. Other times, we were made to feel “othered” because we weren't appearing on video and had no visual clues about what was happening in the meeting. That feeling is difficult for anyone to endure, even while we stood steadfast in our principles. Throughout the pandemic and its widespread Zoom adoption, we warned that relying on proprietary, for-profit controlled technology as essential infrastructure is dangerous. Last week, Zoom demonstrated exactly why everyone must stop using their services without any further delay. Specifically, a March 2023 change to Zoom's terms and conditions was uncovered by the press. Namely, Zoom was revealed to be repurposing private user data to train machine learning models. After widespread push bash and negative press, Zoom amended their terms of service [0] to say they would not use any user participation in Zoom meetings or other user data to train their models. But as is so frustratingly common in the incredibly long and legal language laden terms of service, Zoom reserves the right to change the terms at any point. Only suggesting that users “regularly check” for updates to ensure their security and rights are not taken from them. This points to the constant struggle in the power dynamic between corporations and users. Zoom has abused their household name for profit, knowing that users will not be able to understand the change of terms of service or have an option to use any other software. Sadly, such corporate bullying by Big Tech is nothing new. Technology users are presented with complex terms and conditions constantly merely to engage in the most simple operations. A recent analysis showed that it could take up to 30 hours just to read the entirety of Zoom's terms and conditions [1]. And, if you haven't gotten some training in reading contracts, it's unlikely you'll be sure what you're really agreeing to, and even with such knowledge and training, we estimate it would take about 50-100 person hours to really understand every implication on rights, privacy, and freedom of Zoom's terms. It's thus no surprise that it took the press months (from March to August) [2] to realize that the clause granting Zoom a “perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license and all other rights” to use all Customer Content for “machine learning, artificial intelligence, training, testing,” and a variety of other product development purposes. At SFC, we invested, because our principles (to find or build FOSS solutions for our work) demanded it, in self-hosting alternative video chat platforms through the pandemic (as a parallel strategy to attending Zoom meetings by phone). It was complicated, difficult, and we got teased and sometimes insulted by colleagues who kept questioning why it was so important that we self-host FOSS to do the job of video conference calls. The proprietary and for-profit nature of Zoom also has made it subject to multiple cases of algorithmic bias [3]. The once esoteric seeming issues are now a stark reality. Without control over our basic infrastructure, we will become wholly reliant on companies who prioritize profits over consumer rights. And, like Lando Calrissian, consumers must worry that Darth Vader, at any time, may “alter our deal”. We can do little more than “pray they do not alter it further”. In response to this conundrum, SFC is working to mitigate the damage that Zoom is causing to our colleagues. Our FOSS member projects have had access to our BigBlueButton chat server for some time. Today we are making it an official part of our infrastructure that we provide to FOSS projects that are part of our organization. More importantly, we announce that we are welcoming anyone who contributes to FOSS who needs access to a video chat server they can trust to apply for access. Finally, we are welcoming anyone who becomes (or renews as) an SFC Sustainer [4] to also have access. Details on all this are below. Even more, in the coming months, we will run various online sessions that show how we set up and configured our own BBB server and publish tutorial information — in hopes that others can launch self-hosting collectives and Exit Zoom! We realize this is a small step in mitigating the damage that Zoom is doing and has done. Big Tech's classic strategy — going back to the 1970s — is to lock users into a specific technological workflow and software stack, and then manipulate the terms. Users become victims of Big Tech's control of their devices and technological needs. We are extremely concerned about individuals who run confidential support groups, doctors who practice telemedicine, and workers who Zoom is now telling “if your office uses Zoom, your choices now are to become a subject in our machine learning experiments, or lose your job for not showing up to mandatory meetings”. We hope that this action by Zoom will finally convince the industry and governments that funding FOSS solutions for key infrastructure is necessary — rather simply funding more and more proprietary solutions under the full control of for-profit companies. # How Sustainers Get Access Make your annual renewal using our online form [4], and (starting early next week), you'll receive instructions on how to set up your account. # How SFC Member Projects Get Access Contact your Project Leadership Committee (PLC) and ask them to send you the instructions they received. # How FOSS Community Members Get Access We will be providing limited access to other FOSS community members. As you know, we are a small non-profit and do not have the resources to provide unlimited access to our video conferencing software, but are working to expand that through donations [5]. If you are interested in applying for an account, you can sign up for a new account here [6] and once you've received the email verification link, please send us an email with the following information: What is the name and email you used to sign up? What FOSS communities are you a part of? What kinds of meetings do you expect you'll be hosting? Where do your meetings currently take place? How will using FOSS video conferencing help your community? [0] https://blog.zoom.us/zooms-term-service-ai/ [1] https://www.visualcapitalist.com/terms-of-service-visualizing-the-length-of-internet-agreements/ [2] https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/zoom-ai-privacy-tos-terms-of-service-data-rcna98665 [3] https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/21/twitter-and-zoom-algorithmic-bias-issues/ [4] https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/ [5] https://sfconservancy.org/donate [6] https://bbb.sfconservancy.org/b/signup From info at sfconservancy.org Thu Sep 14 16:41:40 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2023 09:41:40 -0700 Subject: FOSSY videos are out! Message-ID: FOSSY videos are out! URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/sep/14/fossy-videos/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/AZlP6ljahVyfyxq7jk https://twitter.com/conservancy/status/1702361353976160543 The recordings from FOSSY are now up! You can check them out on the Internet Archive [0]. We have over 100 talks from 19 tracks, from speakers coming from over 12 countries. It was such an incredible first year conference and we're so happy to share the presentations with you. We'll be highlighting specific talks over the comings days, so be on the lookout on our social media [1]. During the four days of the conference, there were a wide variety of talks from speakers with a range of experience and backgrounds, and amazing community focused discussions. Featuring wide ranging topics such as a panel discussion about software coops [2], what is life like without a smartphone [3], and thinking about FOSS from a systems theory perspective [4]. Our track organizers brought together communities from all over, and led by example choosing speakers, topics and setting up panels for important conversations. There is definitely a talk that will interest you, whether you are interested in nonprofit board structure [5], an introduction [6] to Reproducible Builds [7] or maybe you are looking to have more nature adventures with free software [8]. It was a privilege and honor to make space for the community to (safely!) come together and have the critical and community building discussions in real time. Our modest expectations for the conference were blown away by the passion, expertise and graciousness of the speakers and community. And while we cannot replicate the energy of the hallway track, there's plenty of video content to get your fill on until next year! If you want to get the hallway track experience, you can join us on xmpp:general at chat.sfconservancy.org?join which is also bridged to the IRC channel #conservancy on libera.chat Thank you to all the people that came out for our first conference and made it an incredible event. A special thanks to local Portland non-profits Open Signal PDX [9] and Friends of Noise [10] who provided AV for the conference. And a huge thanks to our sponsors! [11] If you are interested in sponsoring next years conference, please get in touch with us at conference at sfconservancy.org. [0] https://archive.org/details/@sfconservancy [1] https://social.sfconservancy.org/conservancy [2] https://archive.org/details/fossy2023_Panel_Lets_talk_about_coops [3] https://archive.org/details/fossy2023_You_dont_carry_a_phone_Improvi [4] https://archive.org/details/fossy2023_Thinking_about_FOSS_systemical [5] https://archive.org/details/fossy2023_Lets_talk_about_Nonprofit_Boar [6] https://archive.org/details/fossy2023_Breaking_the_Chains_of_Trustin [7] https://reproducible-builds.org/ [8] https://archive.org/details/fossy2023_Nature_adventures_with_FOSS [9] https://www.opensignalpdx.org/ [10] https://friendsofnoise.org/ [11] https://2023.fossy.us/sponsorship/ From info at sfconservancy.org Wed Oct 4 16:03:03 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2023 09:03:03 -0700 Subject: Policy Fellow to speak on FTC roundtable about "Creative Economy and Generative AI" Message-ID: Policy Fellow to speak on FTC roundtable about "Creative Economy and Generative AI" URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/oct/04/ftc-ai-panel/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/AaQniCHDCGkvqbr5ZA https://x.com/conservancy/status/1709598777605325281 Software Freedom Conservancy's Policy Fellow Bradley M. Kuhn, will participate the FTC's roundtable discussion about the “Creative Economy and Generative AI”. Bradley will represent the FOSS and technology communities on this panel, where he'll join artists, union activists, and other policy makers to discuss the pressing issue of how machine learning impacts the rights and livelihoods of artists, technologists and others. We thank the FTC for putting the issues of software freedom and rights front and center in this important mainstream issue. Given the increasing prevalence of machine learning technologies, SFC applauds the FTC's efforts to convene creatives, technologists and forward thinking policy makers concerned by the lack of regulation and oversight around deployment of machine learning platforms. There has been significant conversations and coverage representing the large corporate interests surrounding AI technologies, but we hope this panel highlights the needs and concerns of the labor force and general public surrounding these issues. This panel lifts voices affected by the overreach of corporations seeking to profit off of the labor existing works. SFC has written and spoken previously on the concerns around AI by creating a committee to examine AI assisted software creation [0], Executive Director Karen Sandler keynoted a conference about AI Law and Ethics [1], hosted a track [2] at the first annual FOSSY conference, and Policy Fellow Bradley M. Kuhn has written about the licensing and ethical concerns around GitHub's CoPilot [3]. You can watch the livestream [4] of the discussion at 19:00 UTC today — Wednesday 4 October 2023, and find more information about the panel on the FTC's events page [5]. [0] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/feb/23/committee-ai-assisted-software-github-copilot/ [1] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2021/mar/23/karen-lailec-2021/ [2] https://2023.fossy.us/pages/tracks/#ai-data [3] https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/feb/03/github-copilot-copyleft-gpl/ [4] https://kvgo.com/ftc/Creative-Economy-and-Generative-AI-October-4-2023 [5] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/events/2023/10/creative-economy-generative-ai From info at sfconservancy.org Thu Oct 12 19:32:39 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2023 12:32:39 -0700 Subject: Read the Transcript: Key Legal Issues Argued in Vizio's Summary Judgment Motion Message-ID: Read the Transcript: Key Legal Issues Argued in Vizio's Summary Judgment Motion URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/oct/12/transcript-msj-hearing/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/AahgDOuPxajz4HCWZM https://x.com/conservancy/status/1712549752209027477 Last Thursday, Software Freedom Conservancy took the next step in our ongoing litigation to liberate the complete, corresponding source code for Vizio televisions. Our lawyers argued on our behalf the core legal issues at the center of our case against VIzio. The motion and responses were filed in the weeks prior to the hearing and in-person oral arguments took place before Judge Sandy N. Leal of the Superior Court of California, County of Orange on Thursday, October 5, 2023. The motion, and consequently the hearing, focuses on two of the most critical issues of the case: (a) whether recipients of GPL'd software can enforce their rights to the corresponding source code themselves (under a legal theory known as “third-party beneficiary”) and (b) whether or not this contractual right is preempted by copyright law. The preemption issue was previously decided by a federal judge in SFC's favor [0] (a decision which “remanded” this case back to Judge Leal). However, the federal ruling is not necessarily binding on the state court; Vizio is within their legal rights to represent it to Judge Leal. In the courtroom, SFC was represented by leading California lawyers Naomi Jane Gray and Don Thompson. As immediate Past President of the Copyright Society, Naomi has spearheaded copyright law awareness and education. Naomi brings a wealth of knowledge to support our case and its focus on benefits to third parties, which, we argued, are not preempted by copyright law — but rather these contractual rights work in concert with the copyright rights to provide users with software freedom under the GPL Agreements. Naomi's colleague, Don Thompson, brings significant litigation experience is invaluable for making our case. They both excel in breaking down complicated concepts into simple explanations, which was extremely helpful in the hearing. Together, Naomi and Don were a powerhouse representing us on these important issues before Judge Leal. As Don stated in the courtroom: "Vizio does not dispute that the recipients of licensed software have a right to source code under the GPL's, and yet Vizio argues that as a matter of law those recipients of licensed software may not enforce the right that we indisputably enjoy, because somehow it would be inconsistent with the objectives of the contract and the reasonable expectations of the contracting parties. Nothing could be further from the truth," Naomi gave an excellent primer on the difference between valid copyright and contract claims and the reserved rights under copyright law. Here are two excerpts from her arguments: "Vizio now argues that it can breach this contract with impunity, because any claim for breach would be preempted by copyright law, and because the parties who are harmed by the breach lack standing to enforce their rights. That is not and cannot be the law." "Vizio is taking the position that enforcement by copyright holders ought to be sufficient, but copyright is a different right. Copyright holders are different plaintiffs. We are not asserting copyright in this case. What we are asserting is our right to source code, which exists under the terms of the contract." We were thrilled to hear in real-time our lawyers argue so passionately for the rights of consumers and users everywhere. They drove home the importance of having access to see and modify the source code we rely on, and that consumers are the ones who are truly hurt when company's don't comply with the terms of the GPL. As Naomi put it using the legal terms at issue, "In this case the party that is harmed is the party demanding the source code, denied the right to source code. And we need the source code to modify the software. That is our irreparable harm." We encourage those of you that care about the rights granted under the GPL Agreements to read the full transcript [1]. We also think you'll enjoy reading this blog post from our Director of Compliance, Denver Gingerich, talking about watching the hearing [2]. We expect a decision on this motion in the coming days, and will share news of the decision with the FOSS community quickly thereafter. Public policy litigation like this is expensive. We urge you to support our efforts in this case by becoming an SFC Sustainer urgently [3]. We rely upon donations like yours to fund the important work of defending the GPL Agreements, and all the other important work that our organization does to advance software freedom and rights. [0] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/may/16/vizio-remand-win/ [1] https://sfconservancy.org/docs/Transcript_Full_Vizios_MSJ_HearingDeptC-33.231005.pdf [2] https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/oct/12/how-i-watched-motion-summary-judgment-hearing/ [3] https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/ From info at sfconservancy.org Wed Nov 1 15:11:40 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2023 08:11:40 -0700 Subject: SFC Submits comments to US Copyright Office on Generative AI and Copyleft; SFC warns that =?utf-8?Q?=E2=80=9Ccompulsory_licensing=E2=80=9D?= undercuts goal of copyleft Message-ID: <87il6lzexf.fsf@ebb.org> URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/nov/01/us-copyright-office-generative-ai-machine-learning/ SFC Submits comments to US Copyright Office on Generative AI and Copyleft SFC warns that “compulsory licensing” undercuts goal of copyleft This week, Software Freedom Conservancy responded to the United States Copyright Office's request for comments to better understand how so-called generative AI systems present new challenges and concerns to copyright. SFC's comments [0], prepared primarily by our Policy Fellow, Bradley M. Kuhn and Director of Compliance, Denver Gingerich, addressed the unique issues raised in relation to copyleft-licensed materials and the implications of their use in training set materials. This week, Software Freedom Conservancy responded to the United States Copyright Office's request for comments to better understand how so-called generative AI systems present new challenges and concerns to copyright. SFC's comments, prepared primarily by our Policy Fellow, Bradley M. Kuhn and Director of Compliance, Denver Gingerich, addressed the unique issues raised in relation to copyleft-licensed materials and the implications of their use in training set materials. SFC's submitted comments highlight how copyleft truly “promote[s] Progress in Science and the Useful Arts" (the phrase used in the United States Constitution that established copyright) and that copyleft licensing should be specifically considered in any rulemaking or legislation. Copylefted Free and Open Source Software (“FOSS”) uniquely creates a collaborative environment for creative production; SFC's comments call on policymakers to carefully consider how these conditions differ from typical corporate and business contexts for policymaking. Because copyleft licensing requires reciprocity, SFC asked the Copyright Office to understand that financial compensation for copyright holders does not properly advance the policy goals of copyleft, and by extension, the policy motivation of“promot[ing] Progress" . Furthermore, SFC's comments draw attention to the power imbalance between Big Tech and the actual producers of labor that has filled their trained models. SFC drew specific attention to the questions regarding financial-focused “compulsory licensing”. Compulsory licensing has been used for automatic permissions on copyrighted works, such as musical compositions, using royalty payments to compensate copyright holders. SFC's comments specifically explain that when, as with copyleft, the policy goals of licensors are principled and encompass more than mere financial compensation, compulsory licensing fails as a remedy. SFC fears that, either through Congress or industry “self regulation”, compulsory licensing of software may become a tool to eviscerate copyleft. As pointed out in the comments, this is also among the reasons that SFC does not support finanically-motivated class action litigation against Big Tech [1]. You can view SFC's submitted comments in their entirety on our site [2], and they will be made public by the Copryight Office once processing of the comments is complete. If you are interested in other writings and programs about AI from the SFC staff we have convened an expert group on code generation tools [3], written about the harms and concerns of Generative AI for software development [4]. SFC was also invited to speak alongside many activists in a broad area of creative fields at a recent FTC panel regarding “Creative Economy and Generative AI“ [5]. You can support work like this by becoming a Sustainer [6] or making a donation [7]. References: [0] https://sfconservancy.org/docs/2023-10-30_Software-Freedom-Conservancy-Copyright-Office-Generative-AI-Comments-Docket-2023-6.pdf [1] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/nov/04/class-action-lawsuit-filing-copilot/ [2] https://sfconservancy.org/docs/2023-10-30_Software-Freedom-Conservancy-Copyright-Office-Generative-AI-Comments-Docket-2023-6.pdf [3] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/feb/23/committee-ai-assisted-software-github-copilot/ [4] https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/feb/03/github-copilot-copyleft-gpl [5] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/oct/04/ftc-ai-panel/ [6] https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/ [7] https://sfconservancy.org/donate/ -- Become a Conservancy Supporter Now: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/ (And then ask a friend to become a Supporter, too! :) From info at sfconservancy.org Tue Nov 21 22:35:26 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2023 14:35:26 -0800 Subject: 2023 Fundraiser Kicks Off With Historic $161,729 Match Fund! Message-ID: 2023 Fundraiser Kicks Off With Historic $161,729 Match Fund! Double your contribution to software freedom before January 15th URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/nov/21/2023-fundraiser/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/Ac2r0NVlWAT8hqIfVA https://x.com/conservancy/status/1727091506048291176 We at Software Freedom Conservancy are proud to be supported by individuals who find the mission of providing ethical technology for all worth investing in. Your support is what lets us develop free and open source alternatives to proprietary technologies like being the home to Inkscape [0], OpenWrt [1], Git [2] and many others, support copyleft compliance [3], and run Outreachy [4], which just hosted its 1000th intern this year! It's the continued support of individuals which enables our work to protect us all from incursion of our digital rights and freedoms. Our annual match drive of an historic $161,729 is provided this year by a group of passionate individual donors, giving all different levels of support to make sure we can continue to achieve our mission. For every dollar you give during the match challenge period and up to that overall amount, they will match to make your contributions to software freedom double! Over the next few weeks we'll be talking with some of our matchers like: Alison Chaiken, Ben Kero, Vipul Siddharth, Lucy and Eli Voigt, and Justin Vreeland, to see what they are most excited about our work and the future of software freedom. This has been an exciting year for our organization, from hiring new staff, to running the first FOSSY conference, to seeing our projects continue to grow and develop. You can read all about this years exciting developments on our Year In Review page [5]. We urge you to become a Sustainer [6], renew your existing membership or donate [7] before January 15th to maximize your contribution to furthering the goals of software freedom! [0] https://inkscape.org/ [1] https://openwrt.org/ [2] https://git-scm.org/ [3] https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/ [4] https://outreachy.org/ [5] https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/#YearInReview [6] https://sfconservancy.org/sponsors/#sustainers [7] https://sfconservancy.org/donate/ From info at sfconservancy.org Thu Dec 7 05:31:54 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2023 21:31:54 -0800 Subject: SFC joins amicus curiae in Green v. Department of Justice Message-ID: SFC joins amicus curiae in Green v. Department of Justice Large coalition against DMCA among right to repair, digital rights and advocacy groups speaks out URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/dec/06/sfc-amicus-curiae-in-dmca-suit/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/AcY5ZT8YXIVn6lGWbQ https://x.com/conservancy/status/1732551917212176726 In the case of Green v. Department of Justice, filed in 2016 concerning section 1201 of the DMCA, Software Freedom Conservancy — along with Public Knowledge, The Digital Right to Repair Coalition, iFixit, The Open Source Hardware Association, and Jonathan Askin, Aaron Perzanowski, and Anthony Rosborough — all joined an amicus curiae brief led by Charles Duan in support of the defendant. The DMCA includes many incredibly harmful policies. In particular, for almost 20 years, the DMCA has allowed overbroad corporate control of our technology in the name of copyright. Particularly harmful are the Draconian §1201-backed TPMs (“technological protection measures”) — which have curtailed and nearly eliminated these core rights of ownership: * The right to repair: TPMs block third-party parts or fixes — allowing monopolies in the repair market, or forcing consumers to harm our environment by discarding otherwise repairable devices. * The right to exclude: TPMs spy on consumers and open insecure backdoors on their computers — allowing malicious software to enter from anywhere. * The right to use: TPMs prevent consumers from using their devices as they wish. For example, some coffee machines' TPMs prohibit the brewing of other companies’ coffee pods. * The right to possess: Device manufacturers have leveraged TPMs to dispossess consumers of their purchases (without legal justification). The amicus brief expresses its support for Green's position that, as a matter of free speech under the Constitution, Green should have permission to share information on circumventing TPMs with other consumers. Quoting from the brief: "When consumers seek to circumvent TPMs to protect their property interests, fight back against anticompetitive monopolization, or preserve their privacy, their efforts have everything to do with protecting individual consumer rights and virtually nothing to do with copyright." §1201 gives corporations power over us. The amici believe that §1201 “… advanc[es] not copyright policy but rather corporate interests in denying consumers their rights to use and enjoy what they own.“ Seeking to empower people through policy change and promotion of free and open source software, SFC pushes for ethical technology standards and through coalition building like has been done for this brief. We stand with other organizations doing adjacent work and in doing so, show that there is near universal support for consumer and user focused rights advocacy. Also, SFC's Executive Director, Karen Sandler, shared her compelling story of real-world negative healthcare impacts of TPMs in the brief: "A software malfunction on the device misinterpreted her pulse, causing it to shock her heart unnecessarily while she was pregnant. Yet the defibrillator’s TPM kept [her] from even finding the bug in the software, let alone repairing it, leaving her at the mercy of the device’s manufacturer to stop the erroneous shocks." Free and open source software is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition to ensure our rights are protected and is key in making policy changes that empower all users of technology while restricting corporate control over our hardware and software. Software Freedom Conservancy provides a critical viewpoint to contribute with the other organizations joining us in support of this brief. By working with other advocacy groups, we broaden our own viewpoints and spread the ideas of software freedom to other organizations. This has a twofold benefit of enabling us to bring more people into the software freedom movement who are left out by our rhetoric and simultaneously bring the software freedom movement to other organizations and people by sharing our perspective. It's work like this that makes us hopeful for the future of all our digital rights. You can read the whole brief [0] with the official court document subject to change. Also please consider supporting our organization by becoming a Sustainer [1] or making a donation [2]. Now is an especially good time because your donation goes towards our matching fund, so all donations until January 15th are doubled up to our match amount! [0] https://sfconservancy.org/docs/brief-green-doj-cadc3.pdf [1] https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/#annual [2] https://sfconservancy.org/donate/ From info at sfconservancy.org Mon Dec 11 22:24:52 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2023 12:24:52 -1000 Subject: SFC Responds to Big Tech's =?utf-8?Q?Disen?= =?utf-8?Q?genous_Arguments_in_Copyright_Office's_=E2=80=9CArtificial_Inte?= =?utf-8?Q?lligence_Study=E2=80=9D?= Message-ID: SFC Responds to Big Tech's Disengenous Arguments in Copyright Office's “Artificial Intelligence Study” URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/dec/11/response-to-bigtech-arguments-copyright-office/ Social media: https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/AciISjyi7h9R7NR1rk https://x.com/conservancy/status/1734336605882835300 After filing our initial comments [0] in the Copyright Office's request for comments [1], SFC staff have remained engaged in the process — we've given particular attention to comments related to software freedom and rights as assured through copyleft licenses like the GPL. We advocate for your software rights and freedoms in many ways — including participation on public policy discussion of relevant issues, such as this Copyright Office study. In this case, we're particularly glad to stay engaged. We discovered that we were the only charity to bring up issues of copyleft and the GPL with the Copyright Office. We appreciate so much the support of our donors so that we can show up to defend your rights regarding copyleft licenses. Meanwhile, Big Tech was all over this comment process undermining software rights. We were able to address, in particular, serious attacks on software rights from Microsoft — who dismissed as irrelevant copyright holders' rights with respect to copyleft licenses and the GPL. As we stated in our reply comment, directed primarily at Microsoft's attacks: "To concede Microsoft’s “fair use” claims would be the first step in eviscerating the copyleft licenses that protect the primary commons of software source code, which, in turn, comprise much of the software in Training Sets already in use for these Generative AI systems." Microsoft seeks maximalist copyright protections, but only when convenient to their proprietary software business model and none in the providing the basis for creating ever more proprietary software. We stand for the users — to protect against corporations who unduly extract labor and profit from copyleft-licensed works. As our Policy Fellow Bradley M. Kuhn has previously written [2], community-led efforts must lean even stronger into the judo move of copyleft in the age of Generative AI; copyleft works because it reverses the power of copyright maximalism that Microsoft and other large corporations created to liberate users: "While we and other FOSS activists might support a full reconsideration of copyright rules for software from the ground-up, we do not think a piecemeal reworking of some rules in some contexts, particularly to merely serve the interests of large corporations, is in the interest of authors who do not have Big Tech’s resources. Such changes would be particularly toxic to those of us who have chosen to license our copyrights under copyleft licenses, which were specifically designed to assure full transparency and the complete sharing of source code." Finally, our comments reiterated our timely concern: “compulsory licensing” for use in generative AI systems for copyrighted work such as copylefted software. Compulsory licensing typically finanically compensates authors for a use of their works, but we believe no amount of money should be sufficient to buy Big Tech “out of” their copyleft obligations to users and consumers. You can read our full comments on our website [3] — we'll update with the published link on the Copyright Office's site when available. Please consider becoming a Sustainer [4] of our organization to support work like this. If you donate before January 15th, your donation with be double while our matched fundraiser is going on, so your contribution will go twice as far! [0] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/nov/01/us-copyright-office-generative-ai-machine-learning/ [1] https://www.regulations.gov/comment/COLC-2023-0006-0036 [2] https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/feb/03/github-copilot-copyleft-gpl/ [3] https://sfconservancy.org/docs/2023-12-06_Software-Freedom-Conservancy-Copyright-Office-Generative-AI-Comments-Docket-2023-6_reply.pdf [4] https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/#annual From info at sfconservancy.org Tue Dec 19 02:47:31 2023 From: info at sfconservancy.org (Software Freedom Conservancy) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2023 18:47:31 -0800 Subject: Exclusive Q&As w/ SFC leadership: 4 opportunities to ask them anything in real time! Message-ID: <87a5q6ewn0.fsf@ebb.org> Over the next 2 weeks, SFC will host four exclusive opportunities to learn more about SFC's work and ask questions of our leadership. Our Executive Director, Karen M. Sandler, and our Policy Fellow, Hacker-in-Residence (and Treasurer), Bradley M. Kuhn, will host Q&A sessions with the FOSS community. This is your chance to “ask them anything” — in real time! Come learn about how Software Freedom Conservancy has stood up for your software freedom and digital rights in 2023. This video chat will provide an opportunity to ask any questions you have about our organization, hear plans for the future of the software freedom movement, and about the incredible work that we've already done in that regard! Please, join us on our BigBlueButton instance at any (or all!) of these four datetimes: $ date -d 'Dec 21 15:00 UTC' # best accommodates the European afternoon: 16:00 CET $ date -d 'Dec 22 03:00 UTC' # best accommodates the Australian east coast afternoon: 14:00 AEDT on Dec 23rd $ date -d 'Dec 28 00:00 UTC' # best accommodates the US/Pacific afternoon & US/Eastern evening: 16:00 PST on Dec 27th $ date -d 'Dec 29 21:00 UTC' # best accommodates the US/Eastern afternoon: 16:00 EST https://bbb.sfconservancy.org/b/pon-nxm-psh-pek Access code: 603997 If you have trouble joining BBB, drop by our XMPP chat: https://chat.sfconservancy.org/ to ask for support and assistance joining. Hoping to talk to you at one of the Q&A's, — Software Freedom Conservancy -- Become a Conservancy Sustainer Now: https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/