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Read and share online: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2022/march
Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software
Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update -- being read
by you and 227,644 other activists. That's 190 more than last month!
This month's highlight: My appointment as the FSF's new executive director
From March 1
"As a free software activist, like many of you, each day, I am
presented with almost innumerable choices between freedom and
convenience, and each day I choose freedom wherever I can. I have
learned to do this by questioning my tools, by joining this community,
and by learning more and more about the ways that I can stand up for
myself. If I can do that, I firmly believe we can reach anyone. I hope
that you'll join me in rejecting the ways that Big Tech tries to
deprive us of our freedoms, and to help set a positive example for
computer users around the globe." -- Zoë Kooyman, Executive Director
of the Free Software Foundation
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Free Software Foundation announces new executive director, Zoë Kooyman
- My appointment as the FSF's new executive director
- The LibrePlanet 2022: "Living Liberation" schedule is here for 19 & 20 March
- Publication of the FSF-funded white papers on questions around Copilot
- Intel SGX proves Blu-ray DRM is defective by design
- This year, take some time to reflect on why you love free software
- Trisquel 10 release announcement
- How cheap ink cartridges can cost you dear
- Apple v. Corellium demonstrates a clear example of fair use
- The worst timeline: A printer company is putting DRM in paper now
- A network of fake test answer sites is trying to incriminate students
- History of women in computing: GNU Girls
- IRS backs away from facial recognition
- Reps. Mondaire Jones and Victoria Spartz introduce Freedom to Repair Act
- March GNU Emacs news
- Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
- LibrePlanet featured resource: Copilot Watch Group
- February GNU Spotlight with Mike Gerwitz: Nineteen new GNU releases!
- FSF and other free software events
- Thank GNUs!
- GNU copyright contributions
- Translations of the Free Software Supporter
- Take action with the FSF!
View this issue online here: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2022/march
Encourage your friends to subscribe and help us build an audience by
adding our subscriber widget to your Web site.
Miss an issue? You can catch up on back issues at
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter.
Want to read this newsletter translated into another language? Scroll
to the end to read the Supporter in French and Spanish.
Free Software Foundation announces new executive director, Zoë Kooyman
From March 1
Kooyman was appointed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) board
following a careful selection process that included a review by a FSF
staff committee and evaluation criteria such as management,
fundraising, business and finance, legal, and technical skills. She
succeeds John Sullivan, who served as executive director for twelve
years. Read more about the FSF's new executive director and the
transition.
My appointment as the FSF's new executive director
From March 1
This morning, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) announced my
appointment as its new executive director with the press release
below. I am excited to take on this new role and thrilled about the
opportunities that the FSF has to move the fight for free software
forward.
The LibrePlanet 2022: Living Liberation schedule is here for 19 & 20 March
From February 25
The schedule for this year's LibrePlanet has been announced. Read more
about the speakers, talks, and topics for this year's conference.
Publication of the FSF-funded white papers on questions around Copilot
From February 24
In our call for papers, we set forth several areas of interest. Most
of these areas centered around copyright law, questions of ownership
for AI-generated code, and legal impacts for GitHub authors who use a
GNU or other copyleft license(s) for their works. We are pleased to
announce the community-provided research into these areas, and much
more.
Intel SGX proves Blu-ray DRM is defective by design
From February 15
Proceeding the deprecation of the SGX in processors, the DRM
implemented by Intel will cause 4K streams to be downgraded to
lower-quality 1080p. This is bad news for anyone affected by this
change, but also the inevitable outcome of a defective design. Contact
Intel to let them know they should show respect to their users by
never implementing features designed for DRM.
This year, take some time to reflect on why you love free software
From February 11
February 14 is I Love Free Software Day, started by Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE), and this year we took time to reflect upon
why we love free software. We also asked others to do the same, and
our fellow free software supporters told us how they enjoy computing
in freedom. We also shared steps for how to create a fun image to
share with friends and family.
Trisquel 10 release announcement
From February 1 by Trisquel
Read about the latest updates to the newest release of Trisquel, one
of the GNU/Linux distributions fully endorsed by the FSF.
How cheap ink cartridges can cost you dear
From February 19 by Miles Brignall
For years, Hewlett-Packard (HP) has been using firmware updates to
force users to purchase their ink. HP claims that ink created by other
manufacturers infringes its copyright, and utilizes Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM) to prevent users from using other
ink.
Apple v. Corellium demonstrates a clear example of fair use
From February 16 by John Bergmayer
Is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) compatible with fair
use? Apple's lawsuit against Corellium is testing the boundaries. Read
the article to learn how the courts are viewing fair use arguments
that have an immediate impact on students and researchers.
The worst timeline: A printer company is putting DRM in paper now
From February 15 by Cory Doctorow
New printers by Dymo use radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips
to implement DRM, restricting what label-rolls can be used. This
company is trying to leverage its unjust power to generate profit at
users' expense.
A network of fake test answer sites is trying to incriminate students
From February 15 by Colin Lecher
A company called "Honorlock," according to its materials, provides a
way to track cheating students through what it calls “seed sites” or
others call “honeypots” -- fake Web sites that remotely tattle on
students who visit them during exams. Read more about the implications
to student privacy.
History of women in computing: GNU Girls
From February 9 by Cesar Brod
Did you know about GNU Girls, GNUrias, and how they changed the
history of computing? This article details the beginnings of the GNU
Girls and how they, among other things, "hosted an IT nursery for the
children of the landless, homeless workers, and other movements, when
their parents were attending meetings in the forums."
IRS backs away from facial recognition
From February 7 by Ron Wyden
US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced an end to its plans to
implement facial recognition, via third party company ID.me, on its
Web site. The IRS's decision to reverse its decision is due to public
outcry. Opposition came from Republicans and Democrats alike, as well
as civil liberty groups, who expressed worries about the privacy of
uploading sensitive data, historical biases in facial recognition,
susceptibility to cyberattacks, inaccessibility to people without
broadband and a lack of audits and other forms of accountability.
Reps. Mondaire Jones and Victoria Spartz introduce Freedom to Repair Act
From February 2 by Mondaire Jones
New US legislation was introduced to legalize repairing your own
devices. Currently, some companies, ranging from Big Tech to Big Ag,
are abusing copyright law to deny people the right to repair their own
devices or take them to locally-owned repair shops, which can subject
these small businesses to civil or criminal penalties. To guarantee
the freedom to repair, this legislation would legalize repairing what
you own or taking it to the repair shop of your choice.
February GNU Emacs news
From February 28 by Sacha Chua
In these issues: Doom Emacs, Emacs Ninja, "I want to give up Vim," and more!
Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
Tens of thousands of people visit https://directory.fsf.org each
month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains
a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions
to version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing. The
Free Software Directory has been a great resource to software users
over the past decade, but it needs your help staying up-to-date with
new and exciting free software projects.
To help, join our weekly IRC meetings on Fridays. Meetings take place
in the #fsf channel on Libera.Chat, and usually include a handful of
regulars as well as newcomers. Libera.Chat is accessible from any IRC
client -- Everyone's welcome!
The next meeting is Friday, March 4 from 12pm to 3pm EST (17:00 to
20:00 UTC). Details here:
LibrePlanet featured resource: Copilot Watch Group
For this month, we are highlighting Copilot Watch Group, which
provides information about the implications of autogenerated code,
generated by way of machine learning, trained on software (mostly
free/libre and copyleft) hosted on GitHub. You are invited to adopt,
spread, and improve this important resource.
Do you have a suggestion for next month's featured resource? Let us
know at [email protected].
February GNU Spotlight with Mike Gerwitz: Nineteen new GNU releases!
19 new GNU releases in the past month (as of February 27, 2022):
For announcements of most new GNU releases, subscribe to the info-gnu
mailing list: https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu.
To download: Nearly all GNU software is available from
https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/, or preferably one of its mirrors from
https://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html. You can use the URL
https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/ to be automatically redirected to a
(hopefully) nearby and up-to-date mirror.
A number of GNU packages, as well as the GNU operating system as a
whole, are looking for maintainers and other assistance: please see
https://www.gnu.org/server/takeaction.html#unmaint if you'd like to
help. The general page on how to help GNU is at
https://www.gnu.org/help/help.html.
If you have a working or partly working program that you'd like to
offer to the GNU project as a GNU package, see
https://www.gnu.org/help/evaluation.html.
FSF and other free software events
- March 3, 2022, Copilot IRC Q&A with Robert F.J. Seddon
- March 3, 2022, Binary Tools Summit
- March 7, 2022, General IRC discussion on the papers selected as part of our Copilot call for whitepapers
- March 19-20, 2022, online, LibrePlanet 2022
- July 22-24, 2022, St. John's University in Queens, New York, HOPE 2022
- September 26-30, 2022, Capital Hilton Washington DC, GRCon 2022
Thank GNUs!
We appreciate everyone who donates to the Free Software Foundation,
and we'd like to give special recognition to the folks who have
donated $500 or more in the last month.
This month, a big Thank GNU to:
- David Bruce
- Emin Martinian and Esme Baker
- Evan Klitzke
- Jason Compton
- Jim Meyering
- Nicholas Butterworth
- René Genz
- Sam Ritchie
You can add your name to this list by donating at
https://donate.fsf.org/.
GNU copyright contributions
Assigning your copyright to the Free Software Foundation helps us
defend the GNU GPL and keep software free. The following individuals
have assigned their copyright to the FSF (and allowed public
appreciation) in the past month:
- Andrei Tropin (GNU Emacs)
- Erik Auerswald (GNU Inetutils)
- Trey Jamal Peacock (GNU Emacs)
Want to see your name on this list? Contribute to GNU and assign your
copyright to the FSF.
Translations of the Free Software Supporter
El Free Software Supporter está disponible en español. Para ver la
versión en español haz click aqui: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2022/marzo
Para cambiar las preferencias de usuario y recibir los próximos
números del Supporter en español, haz click aquí:
https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?reset=1&gid=34&id=3095323&cs=cbbceaa29ce3fa21ba2b466a12df04cb_1646276853_168
Le Free Software Supporter est disponible en français. Pour voir la
version française cliquez ici: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2022/mars
Pour modifier vos préférences et recevoir les prochaines
publications du Supporter en français, cliquez ici:
https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?reset=1&gid=34&id=3095323&cs=cbbceaa29ce3fa21ba2b466a12df04cb_1646276853_168
Take action with the FSF!
Contributions from thousands of individual associate members enable
the FSF's work. You can contribute by joining at
https://my.fsf.org/join. If you're already a member, you can help
refer new members (and earn some rewards) by adding a line with your
member number to your email signature like:
I'm an FSF member -- Help us support software freedom!
https://my.fsf.org/join
The FSF is always looking for volunteers
(https://www.fsf.org/volunteer). From rabble-rousing to hacking,
from issue coordination to envelope stuffing -- there's something here
for everybody to do. Also, head over to our campaigns section
(https://www.fsf.org/campaigns) and take action on software
patents, Digital Restrictions
Management, free
software adoption,
OpenDocument,
and more.
Do you read and write Portuguese and English? The FSF is looking
for translators for Free Software Supporter. Please send an email to
[email protected] with your interest and a list of your experience
and qualifications.
Copyright © 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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