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<p>Software Freedom needs your help.</p>
The world today is powered increasingly by Free Software. But what many people don't realize is how much support is needed to keep all of these projects free and open. The work that we do every day ensures the success and the continued freedom of the projects that the developers of our member projects so tirelessly dedicate themselves to. Projects like Git, Samba, Wine, BusyBox, QEMU, Inkscape, Selenium, and dozens more [FIXME Link to nascar pic]
The world today is powered increasingly by Free Software. But what many
people don't realize is how much support is needed to keep all of these
projects free and open. The work that we do every day ensures the success and
the continued freedom of the projects that the developers of our member
projects so tirelessly dedicate themselves to. Projects like Git, Samba,
Wine, BusyBox, QEMU, Inkscape, Selenium, and dozens more
[FIXME Link to nascar pic]
<h4>2015 successes</h4>
<ul>
<li>We brought four new projects under the protection of the Conservancy: <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/jul/23/qemu-joins/">QEMU</a> - the generic machine emulator and virtualizer, <a href="https://www.bro.org/">The Bro Network Security Monitor</a>, the Godot Game Engine[FIXME] and <a href="http://outreachy.org">Outreachy</a>, a program dedicated to helping people from underrepresented groups get involved in free and open source software. We also worked with the Debian community to launch the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/aug/17/debian/">Debian Copyright Aggregation Project</a> at their request.</li>
<li>We brought four new projects under the protection of the
Conservancy: <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/jul/23/qemu-joins/">QEMU</a>
- the generic machine emulator and
virtualizer, <a href="https://www.bro.org/">The Bro Network Security
Monitor</a>, the Godot Game Engine[FIXME]
and <a href="http://outreachy.org">Outreachy</a>, a program dedicated to
helping people from underrepresented groups get involved in free and open
source software. We also worked with the Debian community to launch
the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/aug/17/debian/">Debian
Copyright Aggregation Project</a> at their request.</li>
<li>We <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/">supported the law suit</a> Christoph Hellwig has brought against VMware in Germany, the first case on derivative works and the GPL.</li>
<li>We <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/">supported
the law suit</a> Christoph Hellwig has brought against VMware in Germany, the
first case on derivative works and the GPL.</li>
<li>We fought for and <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/oct/27/DMCA-win/">successfully earned an exemption from the Library of Congress in the DMCA review process</a> to legally permit circumvention of encryption on Smart TVs, ensuring that you are free to hack on the devices that you legally own. </li>
<li>We fought for
and <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/oct/27/DMCA-win/">successfully
earned an exemption from the Library of Congress in the DMCA review
process</a> to legally permit circumvention of encryption on Smart TVs,
ensuring that you are free to hack on the devices that you legally own. </li>
<li>We collaborated with the <a href="https://fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> to publish the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/principles.html">Principles of Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement</a> , establishing community norms for enforcing the GPL in the public's interest[, and already <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/principles.kr.html">translated into Korean</a> [and Chinese].</li>
<li>We collaborated with the <a href="https://fsf.org/">Free Software
Foundation</a> to publish
the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/principles.html">Principles
of Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement</a> , establishing community norms for
enforcing the GPL in the public's interest[, and
already <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/principles.kr.html">translated
into Korean</a> [and Chinese].</li>
<li>Along with FSF, we helped <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/jul/15/ubuntu-ip-policy/">Canonical, Ltd. achieve compliance in its “Intellectual Property” Policy</a>, while pointing out that the policy fails to address important software freedom issues.</li>
<li>Along with FSF, we
helped <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/jul/15/ubuntu-ip-policy/">Canonical,
Ltd. achieve compliance in its “Intellectual Property” Policy</a>, while
pointing out that the policy fails to address important software freedom
issues.</li>
<li>We conducted friendly discussions with companies out of compliance with the GPL, seeking non-litigious resolutions.</li>
<li>We conducted friendly discussions with companies out of compliance with
the GPL, seeking non-litigious resolutions.</li>
<li>We participated in the process of <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/oct/14/FCC-comment/">telling the FCC to fix its proposed rules</a> restricting third-party modification of firmware in wireless devices.
<li>We participated in the process
of <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/oct/14/FCC-comment/">telling
the FCC to fix its proposed rules</a> restricting third-party modification of
firmware in wireless devices.
<li>We gave keynotes at <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/aug/17/debian/">DebConf</a>, <a href="https://archive.fosdem.org/2015/schedule/event/identity_crisis/">FOSDEM</a>, <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/jul/14/FISL16/">FISL</>, <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/31/libreplanet/">LibrePlanet</a>, <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/sep/30/linaro-keynote/">Linaro Connect</> and participated in many conferences more all over the world, and shared our expertise in initiatives like <a href="https://copyleft.org/">copyleft.org</a>. We participated in interviews and <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blogposts</a>, and Bradley and Karen published episodes of <a href="http://faif.us/">Free as in Freedom</a>, dedicated to discussing the important issues in software freedom.</li>
<li>We gave keynotes
at <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/aug/17/debian/">DebConf</a>, <a href="https://archive.fosdem.org/2015/schedule/event/identity_crisis/">FOSDEM</a>, <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/jul/14/FISL16/">FISL</>, <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/31/libreplanet/">LibrePlanet</a>, <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/sep/30/linaro-keynote/">Linaro
Connect</> and participated in many conferences more all over the world, and
shared our expertise in initiatives
like <a href="https://copyleft.org/">copyleft.org</a>. We participated in
interviews and <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/">blogposts</a>, and
Bradley and Karen published episodes of <a href="http://faif.us/">Free as in
Freedom</a>, dedicated to discussing the important issues in software
freedom.</li>
</ul>
<p>And we did all of this with only three full time employees.</p>
<p>We are focused on the most important ethical issues in software freedom. We work tirelessly and don't shy away from difficult issues.</p>
<p>We are focused on the most important ethical issues in software
freedom. We work tirelessly and don't shy away from difficult issues.</p>
<p>We're a unique organization - a staunch defender of copyleft (for Linux, Debian and many of our member projects), a source of education and champions of diversity for the community via Outreachy and other programs, and are the legal home to over 30 member projects that are essential to developing free software.</p>
<p>We're a unique organization - a staunch defender of copyleft (for Linux,
Debian and many of our member projects), a source of education and champions
of diversity for the community via Outreachy and other programs, and are the
legal home to over 30 member projects that are essential to developing free
software.</p>
<p>We undertake these critical programs because they are essential to the future of technology. We do them because they are right. <b>But we cannot do them without you</b>. If we do not meet our fundraising goals, we will be forced to radically restructure.</p>
<p>We undertake these critical programs because they are essential to the
future of technology. We do them because they are right. <b>But we cannot do
them without you</b>. If we do not meet our fundraising goals, we will be
forced to radically restructure.</p>
<p>Our fiscal sponsorship model is not financially self sustaining. We cannot afford even one staff member and basic overhead with the revenue we take in from our projects. In order to effectively continue to serve our member projects, we need [750] Supporters. If you use or care about our <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/members/current/">member projects</a>, which include some of the most widely used free software, you can help them all by <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">signing up as a Supporter today</a>.</p>
<p>Our fiscal sponsorship model is not financially self sustaining. We cannot
afford even one staff member and basic overhead with the revenue we take in
from our projects. In order to effectively continue to serve our member
projects, we need [750] Supporters. If you use or care about
our <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/members/current/">member projects</a>,
which include some of the most widely used free software, you can help them
all by <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">signing up as a
Supporter today</a>.</p>
<h4>Fighting for the GPL<h4>
<p>Our most controversial program is our GPL compliance work. We stand up for the GPL at the request of the Linux kernel community, the Debian community and our member projects. Most recently that has resulted in us funding the <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/">suit against VMware</a>, which is the first law suit on derivative works and the GPL. While this work is extremely important to the continued long-term success of software freedom and copyleft, it makes fundraising from companies harder. While enforcement of the protections around free and open source software is in the long term interest of the industry, many companies are reluctant to fund organizations that take on this enforcement task. We do this work because we think that it is good for everyone in the long run, because we know it is the right thing to do and because we know that we are in the best position to do it. But that's not enough - you have to think it's right too and <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">show us by becoming a Supporter now</a>.</p>
<p>Our most controversial program is our GPL compliance work. We stand up for
the GPL at the request of the Linux kernel community, the Debian community
and our member projects. Most recently that has resulted in us funding
the <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/">suit
against VMware</a>, which is the first law suit on derivative works and the
GPL. While this work is extremely important to the continued long-term
success of software freedom and copyleft, it makes fundraising from companies
harder. While enforcement of the protections around free and open source
software is in the long term interest of the industry, many companies are
reluctant to fund organizations that take on this enforcement task. We do
this work because we think that it is good for everyone in the long run,
because we know it is the right thing to do and because we know that we are
in the best position to do it. But that's not enough - you have to think it's
right too and <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">show us by
becoming a Supporter now</a>.</p>
<h4>It's up to you</h4>
<p>We have raised enough money to continue the VMware case but our overall enforcement work needs additional support to be able to continue. As we state in the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/principles.html">Principles of Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement</a>, we cannot prioritize profit in these actions without compromising on the end goals of that work which is to help companies become free and open source software users and contributors.
<p>We have raised enough money to continue the VMware case but our overall
enforcement work needs additional support to be able to continue. As we
state in
the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/principles.html">Principles
of Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement</a>, we cannot prioritize profit in
these actions without compromising on the end goals of that work which is to
help companies become free and open source software users and contributors.
<p>Moreover, we have lost committed general funding from companies explicitly because of our enforcement work. Continuing this work without individual support is no longer possible.</p>
<p>Moreover, we have lost committed general funding from companies explicitly
because of our enforcement work. Continuing this work without individual
support is no longer possible.</p>
<p>As a result, we need [2500] Supporters in order to maintain the staff and resources in the organization to properly undertake enforcement. We hope you will <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">sign up a Supporter</a> to help us achieve this. If we don't reach our goal, we will have no choice but to hibernate enforcement until we have the resources to pick it up properly at some point in the future.</p>
<p>As a result, we need [2500] Supporters in order to maintain the staff and
resources in the organization to properly undertake enforcement. We hope you
will <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">sign up a Supporter</a>
to help us achieve this. If we don't reach our goal, we will have no choice
but to hibernate enforcement until we have the resources to pick it up
properly at some point in the future.</p>
<p>If you care about the GPL, <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">help us meet our goal</a> so we can stand up for the GPL together.</p>
<p>If you care about the
GPL, <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">help us meet our goal</a>
so we can stand up for the GPL together.</p>