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On 13 February 2014, the French National Assembly examined the bill authorising France to sign the agreement creating a Unified Patent Litigation System [fr]. The (non-public) debate on this text had taken place in the Foreign Affairs Committee less than 48 hours previously, with its report unavailable on the National Assembly's website 24 hours before the review in plenary —it was available on 13 February, though [fr].

“We aren't going to let the NSA and its allies ruin the Internet. Inspired by the memory of Aaron Swartz, fueled by our victory against SOPA and ACTA, the global digital rights community is uniting to fight back.” (read the article A Call To the International Community to Fight Against Mass Surveillance)

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 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).

Paris, 25 November 2013. Press release.

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.

Paris, 21 November 2013. Press release.

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 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!

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.