We prepared a white paper for the #EuropeanCommission containing recommendations about #OpenHardware as encouraged last November:
https://wiki.f-si.org/index.php/White_paper_for_the_EC,_January_2020
Please discuss it or endorse it by replying to this thread.
The paper will be delivered on January 31.
A first draft was shared in December with:
* april.org @aprilorg
* fsfe.org @fsfe
* fsf.org @fsf
* Aral Balkan @aral
* waag.org @waag
* sfconservancy.org @conservancy
* gpl-violations.org
* commonsnetwork.eu
@fsi This is an important, timely, and well phrased report and the framing of temporarily-open licenses vs forever-open licenses is brilliant.
PS. @conservancy is funded by Google (https://sfconservancy.org/sponsors/) and I protest at my name being included in a list that includes them. If you’re happy taking money from surveillance capitalists like Google, we have nothing in common.
@fsi @conservancy Thank you. It’s important to send a message to organisations that purport to champion freedom that they cannot do so while being funded by surveillance capitalists.
💕
@wuwei No. That’s not how corruption works.
You're implying that the donation was intentional attempt at buying out the conservancy and not just a PR stunt to boost Google's image by donating to some random non-profit
If you have some proof for that I would like to see it
@wuwei Please, tell me what I’m implying.
@fsi @conservancy Update #2: Looks like @fsfe – Free Software Foundation Europe – is also funded by Google (https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus-2018.en.html)
The Free Silicon Foundation has now removed them from the whitepaper also.
I don’t even know what to say anymore. Disappointed doesn’t even begin to cover it.
@aral @fsi @conservancy @fsfe don’t let it get you down. You can only take one step at a time. Well done for noting and pointing out where funding issues are a conflict of interest. Others may now consider there own initial sources of funding going forward if they wish to be in theses spaces/ debates of privacy and free software.
We did not suspect that Google is since 2013 not only **a** sponsor, but **the main** sponsor, of the Free Software Foundation Europe @fsfe :
https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus-2013.en.html . Thanks for the hint!
This is like if ExxonMobil was financing Greenpeace.
Just like for the SFC @conservancy above, we removed the #FSFE from the white paper.
I don't think "main" is quite accurate: rather "the biggest", many years in a row.
@fsfe : for more transparency and the concerns raised here, how about publicly stating a precise percentage for any donator above 10%?
I do see that in 2017: https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus-2017.en.html and 2018: https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus-2018.en.html
Google's donations to FSFE covered no more than 10% of the budget.
This suggests that there are statistical fluctuations of the Google contribution to FSFE oscillating around 10%.
@fsi @aral @xerz @fsfe @conservancy Like that Privacy Conference at the University of Amsterdam some time ago. Main sponsors were Google and Palantir.
@aral
Are you not concerned that that money that could have been used to fight the corps will now be used for something non-beneficial?