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@aral We are a conference and platform for and about free and open source software. As such we welcome all free and open source developers from all over the world, regardless of their affiliation. We use donations to make this event possible. We aren't selective about sponsors and sources of donations, for sponsors have no influence on the selection of the contents for the event.

@fosdem That “free” word you keep using refers to “freedom”.

”We aren’t selective about about sponsors and sources of donations” is tone-deaf, reckless, & simply not acceptable in 2018 for any group that seeks legitimacy in the ethics of what they do.

Palantir develops open source (https://palantir.github.io) and also helps ICE find & deport asylum seekers. By your (lack of) ethical standards, they would be welcome as a sponsor.

Please see https://fundingmatters.tech and review your stance on this.

As long as @fosdem remains wilfully ignorant of the role they play in legitimising surveillance capitalism by ignoring the ethics of their sponsorship choices, I encourage any group who purports to care about human rights to boycott their event.

@indie and I will be boycotting it until such time as their policies forbid sponsorship by (and thus legitimisation of) surveillance capitalists like Google (their main sponsor last year), Facebook, and Palantir.

Dear @how@s10y.eu,

I would strongly urge the Decentralised Internet and Privacy track to reconsider its involvement in @fosdem unless FOSDEM takes a principled stance against surveillance capitalism and disallows sponsorship by (and thereby legitimisation of) surveillance capitalists like Google (their primary sponsor last year), Facebook, and Palantir.

@indie will have nothing to do with the event until such time.

I’d be happy to discuss organising our own event in Europe instead.

@ng0 @indie @fosdem @how@s10y.eu I’d definitely be up for that. I want to see an international meet-up around this issue; I just don’t want it sponsored by (or legitimising) surveillance capitalists like Google.

@jaywink @fosdem Maybe if they’re completely different things, we should stop lumping them together and thereby stop legitimising the part that doesn’t give a hoot about human rights or freedom.

@aral @fosdem well, in general, I don't think anyone who knows lumps them together. FOSDEM certainly isn't. It's just organizing a space that *both* are welcome to. That doesn't mean the organizers of FOSDEM are saying free software and open source are the same thing.

@jaywink @fosdem Like that Greenpeace Exxon Mobil conference. Got it!

@aral @fosdem TBH, it *would be* great to get Greenpeace and Exxon Mobil to the same conference, would it not?

@jaywink @fosdem Definitely. One where Exxon Mobil was called out for its abuses by Greenpeace and had to answer for them. Not one that whitewashed said abuses and legitimised Exxon Mobil by being sponsored by it.

@aral @fosdem Well, to be fair, FOSDEM is only the organizer. I'm pretty sure the FSF will call out the abuses of Google and Microsoft while at FOSDEM. And that is fine. I remember last year the talk by Framasoft. Man it was political. And that is fine.

But it's not the job of the people organizing to do the politics. Leave the discourse to the participants. FOSDEM just provides the venue. The money from sponsors makes the venue possible. It doesn't give the sponsors an edge on discussion.

@aral @fosdem maybe the FSF should sponsor FOSDEM to allow making it happen and we wouldn't need to have this discussion

@aral @fosdem You too :)

@solarkraft @fosdem Indeed, this is why Greenpeace gets hundreds of millions of dollars from Exxon Mobil. Oh no, wait, they wouldn’t be Greenpeace if they did. #PrivacyWashing #PR

@aral
@fosdem
Exxon Mobil has no incentive to give them money. But if they wanted to, why not? I'd be okay with Greenpeace having more money instead of Exxon Mobil keeping it.