DOCSLIB.ORG

Bulletin Issue 26

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bulletin Issue 26 How to Contribute Associate Membership: Become an associate member of the FSF. Members will receive Issue 26 Bulletin June 2015 a bootable USB card, e-mail for- warding, and an account on the FSF’s Jabber/XMPP server. To Free software, privacy, sign up or get more information, Contents visit member.fsf.org or write to and activism [email protected]. by John Sullivan Free software, privacy, 1 Executive Director and activism Donate to the FSF with Bitcoin. Online: Use your credit card GPG key ID: 61A0963B GNU IceCat and the 3 or PayPal account to make a wo years ago, when Edward Free Software Directory donation at my.fsf.org/donate TSnowden revealed a massive US Copyright c 2015 Free OntheroadwithRMS 5 or contact [email protected] for National Security Agency (NSA) bulk Software Foundation, Inc. Demystifying copyleft 6 more information on supporting surveillance program covering the com- Support the FSF by 7 the FSF. munications of US citizens unsus- The articles in this bulletin are shopping at GNU Press pected of any crime, a popular ex- individually licensed under the Jobs: List your job offers on our Interview: Graphic 8 pectation in our community was that Creative Commons Attribu- jobs page: fsf.org/jobs. designer Reda Lazri Richard Stallman and the FSF would tion No Derivative Works Found in translation 9 Free Software Directory: scream, “We told you so! We’ve been 3.0 United States License. Our CiviC[RM] duty 10 To view a copy of this license, Browse and download from thou- telling you about these dangers for visit http://creativecommons. sands of different free software 30 years!” Snowden even used GNU org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/ projects: directory.fsf.org. software — specifically GnuPG en- or send a letter to Creative Com- cryption — to safely communicate his Volunteer: To learn more, visit whistleblower information to the me- mons, 171 Second Street, Suite fsf.org/volunteer. 300, San Francisco, California, dia. As additional revelations about 94105, USA. LibrePlanet: Find local groups bulk surveillance around the world in your area or start your own at piled up, it was indeed a concrete op- libreplanet.org! portunity to explain the importance of free software for our freedom, and of Free Software Supporter: Re- freedom in relation to privacy. ceive our monthly email newslet- Since then, we’ve launched some ter: fsf.org/fss. important initiatives promoting the use of related pieces of free software. Published twice yearly by the Our Email Self-Defense Guide, launched Free Software Foundation, 51 one year ago, has been used by tens Franklin Street, 5th Floor, of thousands of people to set up email Boston, MA 02110-1301, (617) encryption using free software.1 The 542-5942. [email protected], S´ebastien Jodogne received the Award past two LibrePlanet conferences fea- fsf.org for the Advancement of Free Software for his Orthanc medical imaging project at tured talks focused on encryption and LibrePlanet 2015. 1emailselfdefense.fsf.org 12 1 resisting bulk surveillance, most no- be restricted by a society’s laws — we When organizing for a social move- ing” option for event-specific or general tably a keynote (itself delivered over a don’t defend the right of anyone to use ment, as the FSF does, keeping track volunteering. In addition to record- free software, encrypted, anonymized software to kill another person in or- of your constituents, supporters, and ing volunteer interest, it lets organi- video link) by Tor developer and jour- der to rob them. That is illegal and members is crucial. With CiviCRM, zations record data about volunteers: nalist Jacob Appelbaum.2 wrong, but restrictions on the software organizations can get to know their whether they arrived on time, stayed But this issue has also exposed dis- itself, which cannot be implemented community by creating events and beyond their scheduled time slot or left agreements within the free software without restricting expressive speech, tracking responses to petitions or sur- early, and even a review of the vol- movement. Not all FSF members math, and creative thought, are not veys. I have implemented CiviCRM in- unteer. That data is associated with agree about what level, if any, of gov- an ethical way to achieve other social stances for various organizations, so I the volunteer’s contact record, allow- ernment surveillance is appropriate, or purposes. This is a major reason why was delighted to see that it is used here ing the organization to better track about which methods, if any, are okay. we do not have a term in the GNU at the FSF, too! We use CiviCRM to volunteering within their community. Some are concerned about terrorism General Public License (GPL) saying manage member, donor, and supporter I want to explore using CiviVolunteer more than others (and disagree about “This software cannot be used for bulk data, to send emails, for event registra- for LibrePlanet 2016. Extension devel- what, if anything, should be called ter- surveillance.” tion, and to manage donations — it is opment is a great way to expand Civi- rorism), some think that surveillance is But is bulk surveillance an indepen- at the core of our work. CRM’s features without modifying the ineffective against such threats, some dent core issue for the free software I had two goals for CiviCON: to core code directly, and can be added prioritize citizens’ privacy within their movement? While we are continually build a stronger relationship between to civicrm.org/extensions for oth- own nations, and others view it as an listening to feedback and evaluating the FSF and the CiviCRM community, ers to use or contribute to. international human rights issue. this question, the FSF has set a posi- and to bring back ideas for improving There is also the uncomfortable tion in this debate that we think is the the FSF’s CiviCRM instance. likelihood that the NSA is using free right one. As an organization with a This was my first time meeting the software to conduct its surveillance op- human rights agenda that discomforts CiviCRM community in person. Prior erations. Free software is defined by many established powers, both govern- to CiviCon, most of my communica- the Four Freedoms, the first of which is ment and corporate, we cannot accept tion with CiviCRM people was via the freedom to run the software for any bulk surveillance at a level that im- IRC, so an in-person meeting in meat purpose. This is not to say that the pedes or deters necessary anonymous (or tofu) space was a great opportu- Along with the excitement of Civi- FSF agrees with all purposes for which communications with our allies. nity to strengthen relationships. When Con itself, I did some community or- free software is used. FSF staff hold People take real risks when they I was not in a session, I was getting to ganizing in the form of an FSF mem- a variety of political opinions, and his- communicate to us that their company know many of CiviCRM’s core devel- ber and supporter gathering held after torically, our staff has included Marx- is knowingly violating the GPL. A hy- opers and figuring out ways to further the conference. I was expecting around ists and libertarians, liberal democrats pothetical Microsoft employee takes a connect with the community. twenty people, but after the CiviCon and fiscal conservatives, and every- real risk when disclosing to us that A few sessions shared some great folks promoted the event, nearly eighty thing in between. In this way, the FSF the company is secretly making patent ideas in progress, such as the work by people showed up. I met some great staff is a microcosm of the free software threats against free software competi- Leukemia and Lymphoma Research of FSF members and some folks became movement; our supporters don’t all tors, or when leaking elements of a con- the UK to expand a fundraising fea- members for the first time. agree on these issues either, and they certed campaign against GNU/Linux. ture called Personal Campaigns from All in all, I did my CiviC[RM] duty let us know when they feel that the People writing and distributing free individual fundraising pages into Team and I look forward to representing the FSF has taken a public position that software to work around Digital Re- Campaigns, in which multiple Personal FSF at another conference. If you hap- goes outside the scope of supporting strictions Management (DRM) even Campaigns connect to a Team Goal. pen to be in the Boston area and want free software and computer user free- for legal purposes can become targets This is being developed into a Civi- to learn more about CiviCRM, every dom. of interest to the government. CRM extension to expand CiviCRM’s month on the third Tuesday the FSF What we do agree on is the impor- For the free software movement to core functionality. hosts the Boston CiviCRM meetup in tance of free software. The ends to succeed, we need whistleblowing and Another great extension I discov- our office. Contact me at [email protected] which any software can be used may communication around free software ered is CiviVolunteer. This extension for more information, and check out development to be safe. The levels expands CiviCRM’s events capability, the FSF’s CiviCRM instance at my. 2u.fsf.org/lpja of surveillance that Snowden revealed, adding an “Interested in Volunteer- fsf.org. 2 11 eration video,23 was created by en- help us maintain an international per- and the many stories since from around We have been in existence for thirty thusiastic volunteers from around the spective — something that can be chal- the world, show that bulk surveillance years come October.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Walled Gardens of Ebook Surveillance: a Brief Set of Arguments Against DRM in Libraries
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Publications and Research CUNY Graduate Center 2015 The Walled Gardens of Ebook Surveillance: A Brief Set of Arguments Against DRM in Libraries Alycia Sellie Graduate Center, CUNY How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_pubs/162 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] The Walled Gardens of Ebook Surveillance: A Brief Set of Arguments Against DRM in Libraries There are three claims I will make in this article about including electronic books with DRM restrictions in library collections. These arguments center upon what the presence of restricted ebooks signifies to patrons about libraries. The first argument outlines how providing books with DRM encourages library users to adopt low expectations for how their personal information will be shared and collected. Second, when users encounter DRM within library collections, not only are they frustrated by the ways that these systems restrict their use of a text, but they become more broadly disappointed in their library. Finally, I will show how the current technological landscape that allows third party surveillance via DRM threatens the professional standing of librarians as protectors of patron information. What is DRM? To me, DRM stands for Digital Restrictions Management. But choosing to call it such is a political choice.1 Others refer to DRM as Digital Rights Management. In a nutshell, DRM controls access to digital content and restricts the functionality a devices, such as an ebook reader or computer.
    [Show full text]
  • HTTP Cookie - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia 14/05/2014
    HTTP cookie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 14/05/2014 Create account Log in Article Talk Read Edit View history Search HTTP cookie From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Navigation A cookie, also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser HTTP Main page cookie, is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored in a Persistence · Compression · HTTPS · Contents user's web browser while the user is browsing that website. Every time Request methods Featured content the user loads the website, the browser sends the cookie back to the OPTIONS · GET · HEAD · POST · PUT · Current events server to notify the website of the user's previous activity.[1] Cookies DELETE · TRACE · CONNECT · PATCH · Random article Donate to Wikipedia were designed to be a reliable mechanism for websites to remember Header fields Wikimedia Shop stateful information (such as items in a shopping cart) or to record the Cookie · ETag · Location · HTTP referer · DNT user's browsing activity (including clicking particular buttons, logging in, · X-Forwarded-For · Interaction or recording which pages were visited by the user as far back as months Status codes or years ago). 301 Moved Permanently · 302 Found · Help 303 See Other · 403 Forbidden · About Wikipedia Although cookies cannot carry viruses, and cannot install malware on 404 Not Found · [2] Community portal the host computer, tracking cookies and especially third-party v · t · e · Recent changes tracking cookies are commonly used as ways to compile long-term Contact page records of individuals' browsing histories—a potential privacy concern that prompted European[3] and U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Jaromil's Research 2009
    Jaromil’s Research 2009 Jaromil’s Journal of Musings November 12, 2010 Almost every day I dedicate 2 good hours to research: nothing in particular, just looking around for inspirations, tools, publications and what not. Thanks go to the NIMk1 employing me in research and development. This diary is still in fieri: some links are scattered and still lacking comments, while it will grow complete over time, you might be also interested to read the research diary 20082. : Mon, 5 Jan 2009 John Maddog Hall: http://www.linux-magazine.com/online/blogs/paw_prints_writings_of_the_ maddog/campus_party_brazil_maddog_s_challenge_multimedia_and_free_software : Wed, 7 Jan 2009 uscito zeitgeist final ??? Not quite in the zone Fri, 9 Jan 2009 http://www.metamute.org/en/content/not_quite_in_the_zone Ben Watson http://www.militantesthetix. co.uk/ Politics in Israel Tue, 13 Jan 2009 Just before the elections in Israel and right after the massacre of civilians in Gaza, which also included bombing of UN headquarters and public incitations to murder peace activists3, it’s maybe time to have a look at how reasonable people are doing over there. One impressive campaign is December 18th4: at the motto of FREE THE SHMINISTIM“ young conscious objectors (among them also the daughter of a former deputy head of Mossad) stepped forward and refused to serve the omnipresent militarization of Israel, the country where they are born and that still forces them to serve IDF for 2 to 3 years. Since 20 years now (and finally) we had abolition of coercive military service for youth in Europe: this is definitely one of the most important political standpoints for Israel to work on, if it intends to get closer to Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • Open Source Software
    Open Source Software Agenda ● Definitions of different “types” of software ● Key characteristics of each type ● Key points of difference ● Cost of free/open source software ● Historical overview ● Licenses ● Examples of free/open source alternatives in a few domains Agenda (cont.) ● Extensions of the “open source” philosophy to other domains ● The anti-open-source brigade ● Reasons for using OSS Open source software ● Software whose source code can be viewed, modified and re-distributed in its modified form after it meets certain licensing restrictions, e.g., – indicating the authorship of various components – requiring that the modified version of the product also be open-sourced Free software ● As defined by Richard Stallman, affords the following freedoms to its users: – Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose. – Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish. – Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor. – Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Source: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html Differences between open source and free software ● “The term 'open source' software is used by some people to mean more or less the same category as free software. It is not exactly the same class of software: they accept some licenses that we consider too restrictive, and there are free software licenses they have not
    [Show full text]
  • Free Software Foundation, Inc
    Comment Regarding a Proposed Exemption Under 17 U.S.C. 1201 Item 1. Commenter Information Donald Robertson, III Free Software Foundation, Inc. 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor Boston, MA 02110-1335 [email protected] This comment is filed by the Free Software Foundation, a charitable corporation founded in 1985. The Foundation is the largest single contributor to the GNU operating system (used widely today in its GNU/Linux variant). The Foundation's GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, covering major components of the GNU operating system and tens of thousands of other computer programs used on hundreds of millions of computers around the world. Item 2. Proposed Class Addressed Class 7: 7(a) Motion Pictures—Text and Data Mining 7(b) Literary Works—Text and Data Mining Item 3. Statement Regarding Proposed Exemption The GNU/Linux operating system has become one of the most widely used operating systems on the planet. The GNU System and the kernel Linux are called free software because users are free to study, share, and improve the software. Those who promote free software believe that controlling one’s own computing should be a universal right. Digital restrictions interfere with the ability to enjoy these freedoms. Circumventing such restrictions for any use should not come with the threat of legal sanction. The process of continually applying for exemptions under 17 U.S.C. 1201 is onerous and instead any circumvention for a non-infringing purpose should be permitted. However, where exemptions are used to safeguard the public from these laws, it must be the case that exemptions should cover the sharing and distribution of software and instructions for circumventing access control technologies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ethical Visions of Copyright Law
    GRIMMELMANN FINAL 3/30/2009 10:08:14 PM View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Digital Commons @ UM Law THE ETHICAL VISIONS OF COPYRIGHT LAW James Grimmelmann* INTRODUCTION All of intellectual property law is an act of imagination. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to call it “property,” the tree still exists. But the objects of intellectual property have no existence apart from what we give them. You can’t copyright an unwritten novel; you have no trademark rights in a word the consuming public has never heard of. We must imagine these things into being before we can make them the subject of legal rights and obligations. Nor is the work of imagination done at the moment of creation. We must constantly play a game of practical metaphysics to grant legal rights over things that can’t be seen or touched. When the legal system says that this assembly of gears and levers infringes on that set of marks on a piece of paper, it’s calling an abstraction into being. The “invention” that connects the two is itself a creation of the legal mind no less than the arrangement of parts is a creation of the engineering mind. Lawyers must decide whether a given abstraction is an invention at all (most of us would agree that a short story isn’t one); whether it has attributes like “new,” “useful,” “obvious,” and so on; and what exactly its limits are. None of these distinctions come ready-made in nature; they require continuous, purposeful, collective imagination.
    [Show full text]
  • Annex I Definitions
    Annex I Definitions Free and Open Source Software (FOSS): Software whose source code is published and made available to the public, enabling anyone to copy, modify and redistribute the source code without paying royalties or fees. Open source code evolves through community cooperation. These communities are composed of individual programmers and users as well as very large companies. Some examples of open source initiatives are GNU/Linux, Eclipse, Apache, Mozilla, and various projects hosted on SourceForge1 and Savannah2 Web sites. Proprietary software -- Software that is distributed under commercial licence agreements, usually for a fee. The main difference between the proprietary software licence and the open source licence is that the recipient does not normally receive the right to copy, modify, redistribute the software without fees or royalty obligations. Something proprietary is something exclusively owned by someone, often with connotations that it is exclusive and cannot be used by other parties without negotiations. It may specifically mean that the item is covered by one or more patents, as in proprietary technology. Proprietary software means that some individual or company holds the exclusive copyrights on a piece of software, at the same time denying others access to the software’s source code and the right to copy, modify and study the software. Open standards -- Software interfaces, protocols, or electronic formats that are openly documented and have been accepted in the industry through either formal or de facto processes, which are freely available for adoption by the industry. The open source community has been a leader in promoting and adopting open standards. Some of the success of open source software is due to the availability of worldwide standards for exchanging information, standards that have been implemented in browsers, email systems, file sharing applications and many other tools.
    [Show full text]
  • Bulletin Issue 25
    Issue 25 Bulletin November 2014 Contents Free software needs your vote Free software needs your 1 by John Sullivan vote Executive Director What would a free 3 t the Free Software Foundation, software world look like? Awe want to empower all computer GNU Guix and GNU’s 4 users everywhere to do everything they 31st Birthday might need or want to do on any com- Appropriate legal 5 puter, using only free software, with- notices out having to ask permission. Free tools for the FSF 6 By definition, proprietary software Common misconceptions 7 does not empower users in this way. in licensing It places limits on what they can do, Volunteer opportunities 9 such as preventing sharing of the soft- at the FSF ware, or looking at its code to see how See you at LibrePlanet 10 it works. 2015! Proprietary software enables users Around the world in (a 11 to pursue everything they might need hundred and) eighty or want to do, only as long as the soft- days ware distributor approves. The four freedoms that define free software — to run the program (0), to study and modify it (1), to share it (2), and to share modifications (3) — are meant for everyone, in their inter- actions with any program. Free soft- ware is a means to protect the individ- ual freedom of computer users. But why would someone who has Register for LibrePlanet at u.fsf.org/14w. no intention of ever reading the source code of programs running on their computer, much less in modifying it, care about Freedom 1, or Freedom 3? Why do they need or want the freedom to do things they might never need or want to do? 1 One reason is that any computer general, the right to vote can be a pow- user can ask someone else to do those erful check on government behavior.
    [Show full text]
  • Visión General Del Sistema GNU
    Traducciones de esta página Historia Filosofía Licencias Descargas Ayude a GNU ¡Únase a la FSF! Why GNU/Linux? Buscar Visión general del sistema GNU The GNU operating system is a complete free software system, upward­compatible with Unix. GNU stands for “GNU's Not Unix”. Richard Stallman made the Initial Announcement of the GNU Project in September 1983. A longer version called the GNU Manifesto was published in March 1985. It has been translated into several other languages. The name “GNU” was chosen because it met a few requirements; first, it was a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix”, second, because it was a real word, and third, it was fun to say (or Sing). La palabra «libre» se refiere a libertad, no a precio [N. del T.: en inglés se usa la misma palabra para libre y gratuito]. Puedes o no pagar un precio por obtener software de GNU. De cualquier manera, una vez que obtienes el software, tienes tres libertades específicas para usarlo. La primera, la libertad de copiar el programa y darlo a tus amigos o compañeros de trabajo. La segunda la libertad de cambiar el programa como desees, por tener acceso completo al código fuente. La tercera, la libertad de distribuir una versión mejorada ayudando así a construir la comunidad (si redistribuye software de GNU, puede cobrar una tarifa por el acto físico de efectuar la copia, o bien puede regalar copias.). El proyecto para desarrollar el sistema GNU se denomina «Proyecto GNU». El Proyecto GNU se concibió en 1983 como una forma de devolver el espíritu cooperativo que prevalecía en la comunidad computacional en sus primeros días; hacer la cooperación posible al eliminar los obstáculos impuestos por los dueños de software privativo.
    [Show full text]
  • When You're Windows Are Broken Don't Be Surprised If You Feel The
    ecolonomics Paul Mobbs' newsletter of thoughts, ideas and observations on energy, economics and human ecology http://www.fraw.org.uk/mei/ecolonomics/ [email protected] When You're Windows are Broken don't be Surprised if you Feel the Cold Draught of Distress The phone rings; against the background noise of a call centre a young man says, “I am phoning about your Windows computer”. I reply casually, “I don't have a Windoze com- puter” (I always make an effort to nasally sound the 'z' consonant). He apologises and rings off. Later his simple statement begins to bother me; why would anyone assume an automatic connection between the concepts “Windows” and “computer” when clearly Windoze is one of the worst operating systems that you can load onto a computer in order to use it creatively? Banbury, Thursday 23rd December 2010. I'm sitting in my office below the skylight. This I don't want to be here. There are so many oth- pretty much typifies my existence for the last few er more interesting things I could be doing months. However, whilst usually I'm labouring here today; as I sit looking through my window on the on behalf of someone else today I'm labouring here snowy-white world I'd certainly rather be out- for myself. It's nearly Christmas and, as usual (it's side. I'm here for one simple reason – it's neces- the quiet point in the year), I'm conducting my annu- sary. Whether I like it or not, I need computers to al systems back-up, re-stall and reload pantomime.
    [Show full text]
  • Richard Stallman
    THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM Free Software isn’t just about getting shiny new programs for no cash – it’s part of a much larger social movement. Mike Saunders and Graham Morrison explore the history and future of FOSS. here’s a problem with the word ‘free’. Software didn’t just pop up as an idea one day, as a Specifically, it can refer to something that “wouldn’t it be cool” notion from some hackers in a Tcosts no money, or something that isn’t held pub. The principles behind Free Software go back to down by restrictions – in other words, something the early days of computing, and many people have that has liberty. This difference is crucial when we fought long and hard to protect freedom in talk about software, because free (as in cost) computing, even when all hope looked lost. software doesn’t necessarily give you freedom. So this issue we want to delve deep into the world There are plenty of no-cost applications out there of Free Software: where exactly did it come from, that spy on you, steal your data, and try to lock you why is it important, and what challenges are ahead. in to specific file formats. And you certainly can’t get We also look at the differences in licences, one of the source code to them. the thorniest issues in FOSS, especially when people To make the distinction clearer, many people refer have different definitions of “free”. But let’s start by to free (as in liberty) software as a proper noun: Free going back to the early days of computing, when the Software.
    [Show full text]
  • A Practical Guide to Using Free Software in the Public Sector
    A Practical Guide to Using Free Software in the Public Sector ***** (with references to the French copyright law, when applicable) Version 1.31 June 2010 This document is distributed under a Creative Commons "Attribution + ShareAlike" licence. Author: Thierry Aimé (DGI – Ministry for the Budget, Public Accounts and the Civil Service) With the participation of: Philippe Aigrain (Sopinspace), Jean-François Boutier (Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning), Frédéric Couchet (April), Elise Debies (DGME – Ministry for the Budget, Public Accounts and the Civil Service), François Elie (ADULLACT), Jean-Paul Degorce-Duma (DGSIC – Ministry of Defence), Esther Lanaspa (DGME – Ministry for the Budget, Public Accounts and the Civil Service), Sylvie Poussines (DAJ – Ministry for the Economy, Finance and Employment), Patrice-Emmanuel Schmitz (OSOR.eu). A practical guide to using free software in the public sector 2 Contents 1 -What is software?.............................................................................................................................3 2 -Legal regimes governing the use of software..................................................................................3 3 -Who holds the copyright to software?.............................................................................................4 4 -What is a software licence?..............................................................................................................4 5 -What is a free software licence?.......................................................................................................4
    [Show full text]