On 24 July 2013, the Committee on Economic Affairs of the French Senate completed its review of the Consumer Bill.
During the session of 23 July, the Ecologist group defended Amendment 67 (FR), which deals with consumer information about the price of software and of various hardware that are sold along with a computer. The bill would make it a requirement for the price of computer-bundled software to be displayed (when applicable), so that the consumer could make an informed choice.
The Ordinary Council of the South American Common Market, (usually designated) “Mercosur", made up of the major economic powers in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, and soon Bolivia) met on 12 July 2013 in Montevideo during the 14th Annual Summit of the organisation.
Free Software featured prominently among the priorities of the day. It is actually mentioned in the Summit's Final Declaration as a key element of their regions ICT development.
The bill on consumer protection and information introduced by the French Government on 2 May 2013, eve of the International Day Against DRM, apparently tries to suppress consumer information on the presence of digital handcuffs in a product.
On Saturday 20 April 2013, the website of the TV program Le Vinvinteur —which airs on the France 5 channel, every Sunday at 20:00— published a series of documents (FR) dealing with the "Open Bar" agreement between Microsoft and the French Ministry of Defence. The documents were broadcast on 21 April 2013, during the show entitled "The armed forces, Microsoft addicts?"
The Vinvinteur website published the following documents:
The CNDP (National Centre for Educational Resources), together with the “Café pédagogique” (Educational Café) is organising the “Digital Tour de France for Education”1. This series of events is officially defined as “a 20-legged tour of the French Hexagone aiming to discover the best digital projects serving education”, but actually is a promotional tour to the benefit of Microsoft, the sponsor of both the events and the Café pédagogique2. April and Framasoft request that this initiative be seriously amended, in order to make proper allowance for Free Software and free educational resources. Neither public servants —labelled as “innovative” by God-knows-whom— nor a public educational service can provide moral and pedagogical backing to an event which, as a side effect, will be instrumental in locking students and staff into a closed, proprietary ecosystem with the help of state money.
This Wednesday, 26 June 2013, the members of the joint committee (CMP) for the French bill on higher education and research —from both the National Assembly and the Senate— confirmed the legislation that gives priority to Free Software in the Public Service for Higher Education. April especially welcomes this vote and congratulates the Deputies and Senators. April also thanks all the persons who mobilised and contacted the Parliament Members.
April will be at the Libre Software Meeting (Rencontres Mondiales du Logiciel Libre), July 6 to 11 2013, Brussels (Belgium).
The Libre Software Meeting is a non-profit cycle of talks, roundtables and practical workshops about Free Software and its uses.
Its aim is to provide a platform for Libre Software users, developers and stakeholders.
Access to the LSM is free of charge and open to everyone.
April will have a booth during the general public weekend, July 6 and 7 2013 on the “Place de la Monnaie”, Brussels.
Last week, the French Senate made a first reading of the bill on Higher Education and Research. April especially welcomes one of the provisions that were introduced by the Senate, namely a change to Article 6 that prioritises Free Software in the Public Service for Higher Education1
On 25 June 2013, the French Senate will probably vote in favour of the present version of the bill for “Reorganisation of public schools”. This would bury the provision prioritising Free Software in the future “Public Service for Digital Education”, contrary to what that same Senate introduced at first reading. The bill also fails to set up a true curriculum in computer science, even though it has become crucial that IT be taught to every student as an integral part of the general background knowledge.
Update, Friday 21 June 2013, 22:50: Amendment 1 was not defended during the public session of 19 June —Senators were not present— and Amendment 23 was defended by Valérie Létard. Minister Geneviève Fioraso said that, while she approved the principle of the amendment, the Bill on Higher Education and Research was not the proper legislative vehicle for it.
Founded in 1996, April is the main French
advocacy association devoted to promoting and protecting Free/Libre
Software. Most of the documents published by April are in French; more
and more campaigns, however, need to be run at an international
level. For example, in the fight against software patents in Europe, we
set up the English-language Web site Unitary-Patent.eu. Furthermore, we wish to share
our experience with readers from other countries.
During the second reading of a draft law dealing with the reorganisation of state schools, French MPs voted in favor of a governmental amendment which denies priority to free software in the future public service for digital education. April denounces a political manoeuver which serves private interests at the cost of public interest.
The French Senate examines a reoganisation of public schools ("refondation de l'école de la République", in French) bill this week.
Among the provisions introduced by culture, education and communication committee, April particularly welcomes an amendment to Art. 101
On Tuesday 5 February 2013, PC INpact had revealed the ongoing renegotiation of the so-called “Open Bar” framework agreement between Microsoft and the French Ministry of Defence. The initial contract had been signed in 2009 without any call for tender and had departed from public-procurement principles.
On April 16th, 2013, the European Court of Justice finally gave its opinion on
the appeal by Spain and Italy against the Council's decision to start an
enhanced cooperation on the Unitary Patent.
April regrets that the ECJ decided to blindly follow the Advocate
General opinion by dismissing the action in full.
To celebrate Document Freedom Day April has published a poster to explain to software users how opting for "open formats" to exchange and store their files in their interest.
Hollywood is at it again. Its latest ploy to take over the Web? Use
its influence at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to weave Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM) into HTML5 — in other words, into the
very fabric of the Web. The Free Software Foundation launched a petition
"Tell W3C: We don't want the Hollyweb".
In September, 2012 was published a circular, signed by the French
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, which presents "Orientations and
Recommendations relative to the Use of Free Software in French
Administration". This document is the result of an interdepartmental
work carried out by the DISIC ("Direction interministérielle des
systèmes d'information et de communication", Interdepartmental
Direction Directorate of information systems and communication).
About the "Ayrault Memorandum" and this translation
The "Ayrault Memorandum"
The "Ayrault Memorandum" (circulaire Ayrault, in French) is a
document, signed in September 2012 by the French Prime Minister, presenting guidelines and
recommendations on the proper use of Free Software in the French
administration. The document was mainly produced by the DISIC (the
Department of Interministerial Systems Information and Communication)
and the CIO of some departments.
The city of Villeurbanne recently put out a request for public-market proposals concerning the migration of computer stations to Microsoft software Windows Seven and MS Office 2010). This call for tender is problematic, since it requires a single proprietary solution and de facto excludes Free Software. April's members from the region have written to the mayor of Villeurbanne, to the general councilors, and to the municipal councilors to denounce the noncompliance with the principals of public procurement.
On February 25th, 2013, Gérald Sédrati-Dinet, volunteer expert on patents at April, published a text on the fight against the Unitary Patent. He writes about the reasons why it was essential to engage on the issue, its different stages, but also about the threat posed by software patents and about possible future actions.
Inscrivez-vous aujourd'hui à l'infolettre pour découvrir les
enjeux du logiciel libre, des outils et des moyens
d'actions. Prenez le contrôle de vos libertés
informatiques. Suivez nos actions en cours et à venir.
Printer-friendly version
