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Dear Free Software Supporter,
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Licensing & Compliance Lab is
the central hub for licensing education and advocacy. Our work ranges
from evaluating software, operating systems, and physical devices
using our criteria for user freedom, to protecting free software
against proprietary developers, to teaching users, developers, and
lawyers about free software licensing. We have a large job to fulfill
in order to make sure freedom is maintained and protected for future
generations. With all that work going on, often behind the scenes, we
wanted to take a moment to highlight some of our recent achievements.
In April of this year, we welcomed the latest addition to the
Respects Your Freedom (RYF) family of devices, the Free Software
Wireless-N Mini Router v3, from ThinkPenguin. Every new device we
can certify as respecting the rights of users is a victory, but it
takes a lot of work. To streamline the RYF application process, the
Lab has been working on creating resources to help new applicants on
their first foray into certification. The criteria for the program are
quite robust, but improved tools and documentation should help move
things along. In the meantime, improvements to the process itself are
also underway, to speed things up and smooth away any sources of
friction.
The Lab also runs the FSF's copyright assignment program. Many GNU
Project packages have contributors assign the copyright on their code
to the FSF, so that we can handle license enforcement and deal with
any other legal issues that may arise. This critical work puts us in
the best position to ensure that free software always remains free,
and that we can deal with any threats that the future may pose. The
Lab is continually working on improving the assignment process. We've
made the paperwork easier to handle by offering paperless
assignment, and worked to improve the time it takes to complete an
assignment. We're currently developing a contributor guide to answer
common questions, as well.
We've also continued our work to uphold the GNU General Public
License when it is violated. We don't talk about the specifics,
because the Principles we follow commit us to confidentiality as
long as the parties involved are approaching the work that must be
done to remedy their errors seriously and constructively. With more
resources, we could do much more in this area, but you should know
that we continue to do this work to make sure software created with
the intention to always be free stays free.
The Lab's efforts in fighting back against the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA) anti-circumvention provisions are also
bearing fruit. A draft law offered by the United States Congress in
December of 2020 contains several provisions that we've demanded again
and again. While we were initially concerned with the focus of
the update to the decades-old law, it seems that our consistent
advocacy against the anti-circumvention provisions may be getting the
attention it deserves. However, even if all the currently proposed
changes were to pass, the fight would still not be over. Nothing short
of repealing these heinous provisions, which mandate legal penalties
for controlling your own computing or sharing the tools for others to
do likewise, will ensure that the rights of users are protected.
And while the pandemic put a damper on in-person events, we're still
working to put together our next continuing legal education
seminar. These events are a key way for us to teach the legal
community about the importance and use of free software licenses. We
also want to ensure that everyone can benefit from these events as
much as possible. Last year, we revamped our published materials
created for these events, to make them more accessible. Going forward,
we will be focusing on generating videos and documentation from these
events, so anyone can learn about licensing in depth at any time.
As of today, we're exactly halfway to our summer fundraising
goal of USD 50,000 before July 16. Any financial
contribution you can spare directly helps the Licensing and
Compliance Lab's important advocacy and education work. For only $10 a
month ($5 if you are a student) you can join us as an FSF
associate member. New members are critical to the cause, and for the
licensing team's ability to provide a solid foundation for the free
software movement.
Spreading the word is just as important: please take a moment to
publicly bring attention to the need for free software! Use the
hashtag #UserFreedom, and share this message and others to help us
build even further support.
While these highlights show the progress we're making, they only
scratch the surface of the work that we actually do. From our work on
the Free Software Directory, to answering licensing questions
from the community, to evaluating licenses to determine whether they
are free, we're working for freedom for users across the whole
spectrum of the legal landscape. We're working not only to educate
users and developers, but also striking back at those who oppose the
cause of software freedom. But there's only so much we can do
alone. To build on our success and push forward into the future, we
need your support.
Sincerely,
Donald Robertson, III
Licensing & Compliance Manager
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