The Free Software Pact

In Europe left and right for Free Software!

April — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:30:00 +0100

Paris, France and Firenze, Italy, Friday, January 8th, 2010. Press Release.

An intergroup^[1] on "New Media, Free Software and Open Information Society" was established in the European Parliament with the support of a wide range of political groups (EPP, ALDE/ADLE and Greens/EFA). Free Software promoters April (FR) and Associazione per il Software Libero (IT) welcome this decision that opens up the European Parliament to embracing the digital revolution.

Intergroups are places where MEPs can work on subjects and debate without considerations of political parties nor committee competence. For Free Software promoters, the creation of this intergroup enables naturally transversal information society issues to be more widely debated within the European Parliament.

"The attention and committment of many MEPs, especially Free Software Pact signatories^[2], made possible this important step towards the establishment of policies that foster free software, net neutrality and knowledge sharing in order to build an open information society" said Marco Ciurcina, president of Associazione per il Software Libero.

"This intergroup shows that MEPs' awareness of digital commons is growing. This encourages us to continue raising our representatives' awareness through the Free Software Pact" said Benoît Sibaud, president of April. "We are more than ever willing to support MEPs into helping the European Union embrace the digital revolution in the best interest of its people."

April and Associazione per il Software Libero invite all signatories of the Free Software Pact, and more generally all MEPs willing to support Free Software and an open information society, to join this intergroup.

About April

Pioneer of free software in France, April has been since 1996 a major player in the democratization and the spread of Free Software and open standards to the general public, professionals and institutions in the French-speaking world. In the digital era that is ours, it also aims to inform the public on the dangers of an exclusive appropriation of information an knowledge by private interests.

The association is made up of more than 5300 Free Software authors and users.

Contact: Alix Cazenave, public affairs | acazenave@april.org | +33 1 78 76 92 80

About Associazione per il Software Libero

Associazione per il Software Libero (Assoli) is a non-profit organization established in the year 2000 to promote freedom in the use of computer programs and to defend the rights of Free Software users. To achieve its goals, the Association promotes the development and use of Free Software in the Public Administration, schools, public and private companies, and in all domains of society.

In recent years the Association has performed some campaigns as well as legal proceedings, and it has interacted with the Public Administration to promote public policies in favour of Free Software.

Contact: email: info@softwarelibero.it | Phone: (+39) 06 99291342 | Telefax: (+39) 06 83391642

Notes

[1] Intergroups are established in application of rule of procedure #32. For further information on intergroups, please visit Intergroups: MEPs unite on single issues across party lines on the European Parliament's website.

[2] 34 elected signatories from 7 member states and belonging to 6 different political groups. View elected signatories. Read more about the Free Software Pact.

European Parliament: pluralistic entrance for the Free Software Pact

April — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:54:00 +0200

The Free Software Pact is now truly European! The Pact enters the Parliament in diversity, thanks to 34 elected signatories from 7 member states and belonging to 6 different political groups. Beyond the campaign, associations April, Associazione per il Software Libero, Hispalinux and all other EU Free Software advocacy groups will keep in touch with MEP's. They will collect more signatures for the Pact and continue to collaborate with them for the promotion and defense of Free Software.

The Free Software Pact campaign took place through the FreeSoftwarePact.eu initiative and related initiatives Candidats.fr^[1], Candidats.be^[2] and CaroCandidato.it^[3]. It got 232 candidates from 10 EU countries to sign the Pact^[4], and 34 elected signatories (from France, Italy, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece and the Netherlands) will seat in the European Parliament during the 2009-2014 legislature among six political groups (ALDE, PES, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL, EPP, Ind/Dem)^[5].

Associations April, Associazione per il Software Libero and Hispalinux first wish to thank all volunteers who got involved to have the Pact translated into 11 languages^[6] and signed by the candidates. They also thank all signatories for their support and congratulate elected signatories.

MEPs who have signed the Pact will be contacted by Free Software advocacy associations in Europe in order to deal with the main upcoming cases (EUCD revision, Telecoms Package, patents...). Moreover, the Free Software Pact will be proposed to all other MEPs these associations may meet.

"The Free Software Pact enables to implement lasting interactions with MEPs. It is all the more important that MEPs will have to deal with tricky cases such as the EUCD revision, patents and consumer protection. MEPs should get advice from advocacy groups along with multinational firms" association April's public affairs manager, Alix Cazenave, explains.

Notes

[1] http://candidats.fr/europarl2009

[2] http://candidats.be

[3] http://www.carocandidato.org/election/details/3 by Associazione per il Software Libero

[4] Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom. The list of signatories is available on http://www.freesoftwarepact.eu/signatories

[5] The list of elected signatories is available on http://www.freesoftwarepact.eu/elected

[6] Translations available on http://freesoftwarepact.eu/post/The-Free-Software-Pact

UK coordination

April — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:29:00 +0200

The Free Software Pact is a decentralized initiative with local coordination in European countries. In a press release the Free Software Pact initiative called upon UK citizens and MEP candidates to stand up for the principles of a free society by backing free software in the upcoming European Parliament elections on June 4, 2009.

A list of UK MEP candidates and their contact details can be found at http://www.bond.org.uk/pages/mep-candidate-contact-details.html. Candidates can support the Free Software Pact by signing a copy of the pact and faxing, mailing or emailing a copy by following the instructions at http://www.freesoftwarepact.eu/post/The-Free-Software-Pact.

To join this campaign, for media interviews please contact Mark Taylor, UK Coordinator for the Free Software Pact : contact-uk@freesoftwarepact.eu.

UK citizens and MEPs support Europe-wide Free Software Pact

April — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:00:00 +0200

London, UK - Friday May 22, 2009 - The Free Software Pact initiative calls upon UK citizens and MEP candidates to stand up for the principles of a free society by backing free software in the upcoming European Parliament elections on June 4, 2009.

New translations of the Free Software Pact

April — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:04:00 +0200

New translations of the Free Software Pact are available.

The Free Software Foundation spreads the Free Software Pact Initiative

April — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:31:00 +0200

The Free Software Foundation spreads the Free Software Pact Initiative by putting a link up on the front page of FSF web site and Gnu website and by including that in the Free Software Supporter newsletter issue 13, April 2009.

OSOR spreads the Free Software Pact initiative

April — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:22:00 +0200

OSOR.eu (a platform designed by the European commission for the exchange of FLOSS related information, experiences and FLOSS-based code, mainly targeting public administrations) spread information about the Free Software Pact initiative.

European Parliament 2009 elections : a pact to support Free Software

April — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:24:00 +0200

France, Italy, 31 March 2009. Free Software advocacy associations April (France) and Associazione per il software libero (Italy) have launched a joint campaign aimed at the European Parliament elections in early June. The campaign invites citizens to ask candidates to sign the Free Software Pact.

What is GPT?

April — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:35:00 +0100

GPT is a web program that helps coordinating a grassroot volunteer campaign based on the act of contacting political candidates before an election. Its aim is to act as a contact directory and to gather all information regarding the work of a decentralized volunteer campaign (who is in charge of which candidate or constituency, etc.). GPT also helps maintaining a numbering of candidates supports.

Inserting a map in GPT

April — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:02:00 +0100

This article explains how to configure a map in GPT so that you can show a live visual report of your campaign to your volunteers.

GPT user guide

April — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:07:00 +0100

This guide will detail the basic use of GPT as a volunteer. Coordinators looking for information on how to administrate GPT should refer to the GPT administration guide instead.

What is the Free Software Pact?

April — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:00:00 +0100

The Free Software Pact is a citizen initiative to coordinate a European scale campaign in favour of Free Software. We will provide material and software to any volunteer who want to contribute to the initiative.

Contributing to the Free Software Pact

April — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:58:00 +0100

So you want to contribute to the Free Software Pact ? Great! This article will explain how you can help us.

GPT translation guide

April — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:33:00 +0100

This document explains how to translate GPT into a new language. No particular technical knowledge is needed there.

GPT administration guide

April — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:26:00 +0100

This document is an administration guide of GPT. It assumes you already have a running instance of GPT ready to be configured and used. If this is not the case, please read the GPT Installation Guide. Also, this guide will only cover the administration part of GPT. For a guide on the user part, please read the GPT user guide.

The Free Software Pact Initiative

April — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:14:00 +0100

Sign the Free Software pact

Welcome to the Free Software Pact Initiative!

Free Software advocacy associations April (the main French advocacy association devoted to promote and protect Free/Libre Software) and "Associazione per il software libero" (Italy) have launched a joint campaign aimed at the European Parliament elections in early June 2009.

The campaign invites citizens to ask candidates to sign the Free Software Pact.

The Free Software Pact is a simple document with which candidates can inform the voting public that they favor the development and use of Free Software, and will protect it from possible threatening EU legislation.

Banners and logos

April — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 19:15:00 +0100

Banners

Here are some banners you are free to use to link to The Free Software Pact:

480x60 banner (English) (source)

480x60 banner (French) (source)

600x259 banner (French)

480x60 banner (Greek) (source)

Logos

Here are the logos of the various organization involved in the Free Software Pact in order to link to their websites.

April

April (click here for other formats/versions). April website is http://www.april.org/.

Assoli

Associazione per il software libero has no logo but you are encouraged to link to this URL : http://softwarelibero.it/

GPT installation guide

April — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:45:00 +0100

This article will basicaly explain how to install the Grassroot Platform Technology (GPT) on a web server. It assumes basic understanding of the functioning of a web server and of a web application.

The Free Software Pact

April — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:45:00 +0100

Protecting and developing a common.

I am a candidate in the 2009 European elections.

I am aware that:

The work of Free Software actors plays a role in the preservation of essential freedom in the digital era, the sharing of knowledge and the bridging of the "digital gap". It is also an opportunity for the general public, for our technological independence and competitiveness, in my country and in Europe;

Free Software is a "common", to be protected and developed. Its existence relies upon the right for an author to release their software along with the source code, and to grant everyone the right to use, copy, adapt and redistribute it, in its original or in a modified form.

I therefore undertake to:

Encourage all administrations, all public or local services to prefer Free Software and open standards in their choices, purchases and own developments;

Support active policies in favour of Free Software, and oppose any discrimination against it ;

Stand up for Free Software authors' and users' rights, especially by requiring the modification of any legal text currently weakening those rights, and opposing any legal project that would lead to such consequences.

Here are different versions of the Free Software Pact (the original version is the French version).

Free-Software-Pact_Hispalinux_CA.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_Hispalinux_CA.odt
Blank version in OpenDocument
Pacte del Programari Lliure (Catalan)

Free-Software-Pact_DE.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_DE.odt
April version in PDF - April version in OpenDocument
Der Freie Software Pakt (German)

Free-Software-Pact_EN.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_EN.odt
April version in PDF - April version in OpenDocument
The Free Software Pact (English)

Free-Software-Pact_Hispalinux_ES.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_Hispalinux_ES.odt
Blank version in OpenDocument
Pacto por el Software Libre (Spanish)

Free-Software-Pact_Hispalinux_EU.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_Hispalinux_EU.odt

Software Askarean Aldeko Akordioa (Basque)

FR: April version in PDF - April version in OpenDocument (France)
Free-Software-Pact_FR.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_April_FR-BE.odt (Belgium)
Le Pacte du Logiciel Libre (French) (blank source in OpenDocument Format)

Free-Software-Pact_Hispalinux_GL.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_GL.Hispalinux_odt
Blank version in OpenDocument
Pacto polo Software Libre (Galician)

Free-Software-Pact_GR.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_GR.odt
April version in PDF - April version in OpenDocument
Σύμφωνο Ελεύθερου Λογισμικού (Greek)

NL: April version in PDF - April version in OpenDocument (the Netherlands)
Free-Software-Pact_April_NL-BE.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_April_NL-BE.odt (Belgium)
Vrije Software Pact (Dutch)

Free-Software-Pact_PL.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_PL.odt
April version in PDF - April version in OpenDocument
Pakt Wolnego Oprogramowania (Polish)

Free-Software-Pact_PT.pdf - Free-Software-Pact_PT.odt
April version in PDF - April version in OpenDocument
Pacto Para o Software Livre (Portuguese)

Sign the Free Software Pact if you are a candidate

The Free Software Pact is a decentralized initiative with local coordination in European countries. Check if your country is listed on the top of this web site and visit local coordination website to sign the Free Software Pact.

If there is no local campaign in your country you can support the Free Software Pact by signing a copy of the pact (you can use the April version above) and emailing to contact@freesoftwarepact.eu or mailing to the following address :

April 
2 place Sainte Opportune
75001 Paris
France

Contribute to the Free Software Pact initiative

You can use the Free Software Pact to run a local campaign in your own country or to contact candidates so that they sign the Free Software Pact. Make your local candidatessigning a copy of the pact (you can use the April version above) and emailing to contact@freesoftwarepact.eu or mailing to the following address :

April 
2 place Sainte Opportune
75001 Paris
France

Translate the Free Software Pact into your language

We would like the "Free Software Pact" to be translated into as many languages as possible to ease the job for anyone would like to use it.

You can help us by translating the "Free Software Pact" into your language. Please contact us to check if a translation isn't already ongoing.

Advocacy documents

Find two advocacy documents aimed at briefing candidates to the European elections about Free Software :

Free Software - What is at a stake (PDF) - OpenDocument version

Free Software - The threats (PDF) - OpenDocument version

Contacting us

April — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:52:00 +0100

Here are various ways to contact us.

Email

contact AT freesoftwarepact DOT eu

Phone

+33 1 78 76 92 80 (France, English speaking)