Hello, my fellow and soon-to-be fellow free software activists and
Free Software Foundation (FSF) associate members!
My name is Craig Topham, and I am the copyright and licensing
associate here at the Free Software Foundation (FSF). I have been
working at the FSF for almost seven years and I’m still as passionate
as when I first started. My work here is very important to me because
I have embraced the software freedom cause wholeheartedly. I have put
this passion to work in the Licensing and Compliance Lab, promoting
and defending computer user freedom.
One of the most effective defenses for protecting software freedom is
the GNU General Public License (GPL). The GPL is the first free
software license to have effectively secured software freedom: then,
now, and into the future. This has allowed the free software movement
to flourish over the last forty years. Here’s how we’ve defended both
the GPL and your computing freedom lately:
-
GPL Stewardship: Because the family of GPL licenses has been and
continue to be vital to software freedom, the Licensing and Compliance
Lab works exhaustively to protect these documents, the values they
represent, and the freedoms they secure. It has been around a year and
a half since the Lab announced that we will no longer stand idly by as
the FSF’s copyright and trademarks are used to confuse users
about their rights. Currently we have seven open cases where we are
actively working with the violators, and we know more will be on the
way. -
Answer questions about the GPL Many GPL stewardship cases are
the result of a misunderstanding on how the GPL is intended to
function. To this end, the Lab and its amazing licensing volunteers
continue to answer licensing questions through licensing@fsf.org. A
service we offer gratis to anyone wishing to better understand the GNU
GPL and use it for their programs. -
Weighing in: The FSF was asked to comment on a new draft
document on “Post Open Source”. We noted that the statement is
right to point out that some important free software programs are
under-maintained and that difficulty in obtaining income is an issue
for many developers. We expressed concern that software freedom does
not seem to be a goal of “Post Open Source,” which appears to be a
proposal for an institution that would collect money from users of
free software and distribute it to developers, but would forgo
software freedom at the same time. Such a scheme can only be pursued
while also making sure that users remain free to exercise all their
rights granted in free software licenses. -
Legal steps when necessary: The FSF aims for collaborative
solutions, but in some cases there is no other way than to take legal
steps. In Neo4j, Inc., et al. v. Suhy, et al. in the court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit, the GPLv3 Section 7 is at stake. In the case,
Neo4j appended an additional nonfree commercial restriction, the
Commons Clauseto a verbatim version of the GNU AGPLv3 used
in a version of its software. PureThink subsequently removed this
clause from its license, based on the following language in Section 7:
“If the Program as you received it, or any part of it, contains a
notice stating that it is governed by this License along with a term
that is a further restriction, you may remove that term.”The FSF’s position on such confusing licensing practices has always
been clear: the GNU licenses explicitly allow users to remove
restrictions incompatible with the four freedoms. The Amicus letter
we submitted makes it clear before the court that the GNU licenses
were designed to empower users. -
Public speaking: Krzysztof Siewicz, our licensing and compliance
manager manager, delivered keynotes remotely during FSF40 meetups in
Lviv, Ukraine and in Chennai, India, where he talked about what
software freedom means, highlighted key points from the history of the
free software movement, and presented how the FSF defends and promotes
user control in our work. It was reassuring to hear that participants
of the meetups were interested in ways to help the FSF in our work. -
Events: Krzysztof also organized the FSF40 meetup in Warsaw,
Poland. It began with an interactive quiz that included questions
about the origins of the free software movement, free software
philosophy, the scope of copyleft and the GNU licenses, and the FSF’s
activities. The meetup was organized with the help of the Open Science
Platform of the ICM University of Warsaw. Other organizations also
helped in promoting the event and their representatives joined a panel to
discuss freedom and machine learning applications, including: Gabriel
Ku Wei Bin from the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), Katarzyna Szymielewicz from the Panoptykon FoundationAnna Fajfer Free Software Foundationand Radosław Czajka from the Free reading Foundation. The panel was followed
by a fun improv performance, and the night was rounded off with
discussions about free software. -
Shining light on the community: In March we published an AGPL
interview with Abelujoa free software package for bookstores.
These are fun interviews because they get into real world reasons why
a project chooses the GPL. It also gives projects a chance to express
themselves and garner attention. -
Program licensing review: The Free Software Directory activity
during our weekly meetings is growing, and helps us train
future software activists to learn how to examine a program’s
licensing. We’re building momentum towards the FSD entry sprint as
a part of FSF40’s hackathon. You can also find me (Craig) at HOPE 2025 in
New York, where I’ll be hosting a workshop on the process of examining
a program’s licensing.
Can you join us in our crucial work to guard user freedom and
defy dystopia? Become an associate member today! Every associate
member counts, and every new member will help us get closer to
reaching our fundraising [goal][13] of 200 new members. By supporting
us today, you help defy dystopia.
We know not everyone is in a position to donate $140 USD or more,
which is why we also offer the Friends membership at $35 USD that
comes with a few less benefits. In addition, you can now apply
to receive a sponsored FSF membership.
Thank you for supporting us in fighting for your software freedom!
