From d623a9b5c4a6fe7e8f669b42bc52aa141aa8f7ce Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Bradley M. Kuhn" Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2020 14:11:33 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] Copyleft Compliance: rewrite about page in light of strategic plan The copyleft-compliance/about.html page doubles as the introduction page to our compliance work. This is a start at the rewrite of that page to link off to the new items and have new text to inspire interest in the project. --- .../static/copyleft-compliance/about.html | 93 +++++++++++-------- 1 file changed, 55 insertions(+), 38 deletions(-) diff --git a/www/conservancy/static/copyleft-compliance/about.html b/www/conservancy/static/copyleft-compliance/about.html index 83fadc89..ef1946f4 100644 --- a/www/conservancy/static/copyleft-compliance/about.html +++ b/www/conservancy/static/copyleft-compliance/about.html @@ -4,41 +4,56 @@ {% block content %}

Conservancy's Copyleft Compliance Projects

-

Free and open source software is - everywhere and in everything; yet our software freedom is constantly - eroded. With the help of its volunteers, member projects, and staff, - Conservancy stands up for users' software freedom via its copyleft compliance work.

+

As existing donors and supporters know, the Software Freedom Conservancy + is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity registered in New York, and Conservancy + helps people take control of their computing by growing the software + freedom movement, supporting community-driven alternatives to proprietary + software, and defending free software with practical initiatives. + Conservancy accomplishes these goals with various initiatives, including + defending and upholding the rights of software users and consumers under + copyleft licenses, such as the GPL.

-

Conservancy engages in copyleft compliance work in two different ways: by acting directly -on behalf of Conservancy's Member Projects who request -Free and Open Source License compliance efforts, and for -specific, targeted member projects for communities of developers.

+

Free and open source software (FOSS) is everywhere and in everything; yet +our software freedom is constantly eroded. With the help of its +volunteers, member projects, +and staff, Conservancy stands up for users' +software freedom via its copyleft compliance work.

-

Conservancy's Copyleft Compliance Projects are run in a collaborative manner with -the project developers. All copyright holders involved have the opportunity -to give input and guidance on Conservancy's strategy in dealing with -compliance issues. Thus, all Conservancy's compliance matter have full - support of relevant copyright holders.

+

Conservancy's primary work in copyleft compliance currently focuses on +our Strategic GPL +Enforcement Initiative. This initiative, launched in August 2020, +represents the culmination of nearly 15 years of compliance work of +Conservancy spanning ten different fiscally sponsored projects, past lawsuits +against more than a dozen defendants, and hundreds of non-litigation +compliance actions.

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In addition to taking feedback internally from those who participate as - part of the coalitions described below, Conservancy also welcomes feedback - and discussion with the general public about our copyleft compliance - efforts. This discussion happens on - Conservancy's principles-discuss - mailing list, which is named - for Principles of - Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement which Conservancy follows in all our - copyleft compliance.

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For these many years, Conservancy has always given the benefit of the + doubt to companies who exploited our good nature and ultimately simply + ignore the rights of users and consumers. In that time, the compliance + industrial complex has risen to a multi-million-dollar industry — + selling (mostly proprietary) products, services, and consulting to + companies. Yet, these compliance efforts ignore consistently the most + essential promise of copyleft — the complete, Corresponding Source + and "the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the + executable".

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Compliance Project For Our Fiscally Sponsored Projects

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We encourage our supporters and software freedom enthusiasts everywhere to + read our detailed + strategic plan for GPL enforcement and its companion + project, Our + Firmware Liberation Project.

+ +

Compliance Relationship to Fiscally Sponsored Projects

Historically, Conservancy was well-known for its ongoing license -compliance efforts on behalf of its BusyBox member project. Today, Conservancy -does semi-regular compliance work for its BusyBox, Evergreen, Git, Inkscape, Mercurial, -Samba, Sugar Labs, QEMU and Wine member projects. If you are a copyright holder -in any member project of Conservancy, please contact the project's leadership committtee, +compliance efforts on behalf of its BusyBox member project. Today, +Conservancy does semi-regular compliance work for its BusyBox, Git, Inkscape, +Mercurial, Samba, QEMU and Wine member projects. If you are a copyright +holder in any member project of Conservancy, please contact the project's +leadership committtee, via <PROJECTNAME@sfconservancy.org> -for more information on getting involved in compliance efforts in that project. +for more information on getting involved in compliance efforts in that +project.

GPL Compliance Project For Linux Developers

@@ -71,7 +86,6 @@ Conservancy should with <linux-services@sfconservancy.org> first.

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The Debian Copyright Aggregation Project

In August 2015, Conservancy announced the Debian Copyright Aggregation @@ -106,24 +120,27 @@ Conservancy should contact &l

However, the Guide is admittedly a large document, so for those who are interested in a short summary of describing how Conservancy handles GPL enforcement and compliance - work, this - blog post outlining the compliance process is likely the best source.

+ work, this blog post outlining + the compliance process is likely the best source.

Reporting GPL Violations To Us

If you are aware of a license violation or compliance issue regarding - Debian, Linux, or - any Conservancy member - project (— in particular BusyBox, Evergreen, Inkscape, Mercurial, + Debian, Linux, or any Conservancy member + project (— in particular BusyBox, Git, Inkscape, Mercurial, Samba, Sugar Labs, or Wine), please contact us by email at - <compliance@sfconservancy.org>.

+ <compliance@sfconservancy.org>.

+ +

If you think you've found a GPL violation, we encourage you to read this - personal blog post by our Distinguished Technologist, Bradley M. Kuhn, - about good practices in discovering and reporting GPL violations. (We'd - also like someone to convert the text of that blog post into a patch for + personal blog post by our Policy Fellow, Bradley M. Kuhn, about good + practices in discovering and reporting GPL violations. (We'd also like + someone to convert the text of that blog post into a patch for The Compliance Guide on copyleft.org; submit it via k.copyleft.org.)