"Using free/libre software […] is the first step in taking control of our digital lives, and that includes preventing surveillance."wrote Richard Stallman (President of the Free Software Foundation).
At the end of December 2013, the French Ministry of Defence responded to our request for copies of the documents of the “Open Bar” contract with Microsoft.
On Friday 31 January 2014, April sent an open letter to all Members of the European Parliament on Free Software and the European Parliament, in order to
take stock of the finishing term and to know what is their project in regards to Free Software.
As European elections will take place at the end of May 2014, this is an opportunity to take stock of the last few years and to offer them to sign the Free Software Pact again.
On 31 January 2014 was launched the Free Software Pact campaign for the European elections, which will take place between the 22 and 25 May. With a new website, The Free Software Pact is already available for candidates who want to sign it, as well as indications on how to participate and find out more. Check it out on http://freesoftwarepact.eu !
On 7 August 2012, the Italian Parliament had adopted a change to the Public Procurement Code, which made it mandatory to use Free Software and to only consider proprietary software inasmuch as the lack of a free solution was proven (Article 68 CAD Codice dell’Amministrazione Digitale). With this provision, the Italian Parliament wished to make the use of Free Software and open formats the rule, thus relegating proprietary software among exceptions.
The GnuPG (GNU Privacy Guard) software suite is an essential tool for protecting privacy. In particular, it enables you to send encrypted or signed messages to other users within a trusted network. Werner Koch, who started the project in 1997 and still remains the main contributor, gave a talk at the Libre Software Meeting in July 2013: Privacy 2013: When. Why. How. (transcribed by April).
On December 2nd, 2013, the European Commission responded to a written question from a Member of the European Parliament, Amelia Andersdotter, who had requested details on the Unified Patent Court (UPC).
Although the answers are generally vague, an analysis of their content highlights once more the legal uncertainty of the UPC Agreement's framework.
On 31 October 2013, 10 members of the Peruvian Congress introduced a bill “to promote digital inclusion and implementation of Free Software in State institutions” (Ley que Promueve la Inclusión Digital y la Implementación del Software Libre en las Instituciones del Estado, available in Spanish as a PDF of the scanned document).
The Préfet (highest administrative authority) of the Rhône-Alpes Region sent a circular to the local administrations, to remind them of the public procurement rules that they must comply with for IT purchases, and encourage them to consider the available free software solutions. April, the CNLL (National Council of Free Software) and Ploss Rhône Alpes are delighted that their awareness-raising efforts are beginning to yield results.
Earlier this morning, without any debate, the French Senate adopted a bill to authorise the ratification of the agreement establishing a unified patent jurisdiction in Europe. April regrets that the Senators failed to discuss this text, which was described as purely technical, as was the international agreement that it endorses.
The French Finance Bill could have been a milestone toward recognising that consumer's rights are indeed restricted by the digital handcuffs referred to as DRM or, deceptively, “technical protection features”1
1. Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) is the practice of imposing technological restrictions that control how users can access digital media and what they can do with them.
The French Finance Bill could have been a milestone toward recognising that consumer's rights are indeed restricted by the digital handcuffs referred to as DRM or, deceptively, “technical protection features”1
1. Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) is the practice of imposing technological restrictions that control how users can access digital media and what they can do with them.
Update November 15, 2013. Socialists Deputies, at the
request of government, have deleted the amendement imposing a full VAT
rate on all digitally-restricted books. The French Finance Act will be
examined now by the French Senate. We hope that the amendment will be
submitted again at that time.
The deadline to submit nominations for the Free Software Awards is
this Wednesday, November 6, 2013. If you have a free software hero or
know of an organization doing amazing work with free software, show
your appreciation by nominating them. But hurry!
A bill on Unitary Patent [FR] was discussed at the weekly meeting of the French Council of Ministers, on 23 October 2013.
The minutes are a repeat of the European Commission's official communication on Unitary Patent, emphasizing the cost reduction and the need to unify the market, but overlooking the severe criticism it was subjected to.
Paris, 28 October 2013 — Major organizations from all around the world, defending free speech and freedoms online, signed this open letter initiated by La Quadrature du Net. It encourages for a swift adoption, in Brazil, of an uncompromising "Marco Civil de Internet" that would truly guarantee freedoms online.
Following our request for administrative documents, we received three documents from the French Ministry of Defence, about its 2008 “Open Bar” contract with Microsoft. These documents show that choosing an Open Bar contract was indeed the result of a political decision which clearly was made before the feasibility and risks studies were being performed.
On Thursday 26 September 2013, fifteen companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc., published an open letter to express their concerns about the Unitary Patent. They stress the insufficient safeguards and the risk of seeing the number of patent trolls1
1. Patent trolls are companies which do not produce anything, but operate on a business model that is solely based on patent infringement lawsuits.
On September 27, 1983, Richard Stallman made the initial announcement of the GNU Project, launching the free software movement. The GNU system is thirty years old and that's a lot to celebrate.
The website started on May 16, 2003 to cover the SCO case and all
important legal issues for the Free Software community. Working on SCO,
software patents, DRMs, OOXML to name a few, the website and the community have
been major players in the Free Software community.
On July 25th, 2013, the French Minister of National Education, Vincent Peillon, responded to our letter that demanded clarifications about the alleged illegality of a Free Software preference provision.
"Using free/libre software […] is the first step in taking control of our digital lives, and that includes preventing surveillance." 
