Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the GNU project
Sat Sep 27 06:37:05 2008
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the GNU project
Few people had access to computers back when Richard Matthew Stallman realized the then-nascent software industry was adopting a business model based on denying software users their four essential freedoms, and that he could do something about it. Today, millions of people, businesses and governments run the result of the efforts to preserve and defend their freedoms he started 25 years ago, but few even know about the GNU project. Let's celebrate the accomplishments, and spread the word!
http://www.gnu.org/
On Sept 27, 1983, RMS announced to the world his goal of writing a Free UNIX-compatible operating system, i.e., one that wouldn't demand users to give up their freedoms to run, study, modify and distribute any software, modified or not. He invited programmers to join him in this task of developing a sufficiently large body of software to enable people to use computers in freedom, and in accordance with the moral foundations of sharing, solidarity and reciprocity.
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.html
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
After the initial focus on development tools such as a compiler, a debugger, an integrated development environment and a system library (GCC, GDB, Emacs and glibc, respectively), hundreds of other applications, utilities and libraries were contributed by a growing army of volunteers.
http://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/
Most of these programs were released under the GNU GPL, a license that not only respects users' freedoms, granting enough permissions to counter copyright's anti-social default provisions, but that also defends the freedoms, introducing copyleft as a means to use the remaining power of copyright to keep the software Free for all its users.
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/copyleft.html
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
http://www.fsf.org/news/gplv3_launched
Almost 8.5 years after the initial announcement, a kernel designed to work with the GNU operating system was released as Free Software, under the GNU GPL, providing the missing piece to form a completely Free operating system.
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/old-versions/RELNOTES-0.01
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/old-versions/RELNOTES-0.12
Other major accomplishments followed, such as the image processor GIMP, the GUI toolkit GTK, the desktop environment GNOME, the educational suite GCompris, the browser GNUZilla IceCat, the Java library and interpreter, GNU Classpath, and GCJ, the GNU Compiler for Java, the Flash player Gnash, the GNUstep framework, the DotGNU runtime, the accounting program GNU Cash, the boot loader GRUB, and the software forge Savannah, among too many others to mention by name.
http://savannah.gnu.org/
Ever since the combination of the operating system GNU with the kernel Linux became usable, people and businesses started publishing distributions that could be installed on bare hardware. Such distributions run today on servers, workstations, desktops, laptops, mainframes, ATMs, phones, media players and recorders, routers, automobiles, aircraft, and all sorts of computers.
Alas, although distributions have always contained, far more than anything else, GNU system libraries, operating system utilities, tools and applications, i.e., the GNU operating system, they have most often been named after Linux. As a result, most GNU users don't realize they are running the operating system created to restore and preserve their freedom. In fact, most aren't even aware of this purpose, and of the ethical and moral principles and the philosophy behind it.
Indeed, nearly all GNU+Linux distributions, and even Linux itself, have been contaminated with software that does not respect users' four essential freedoms, denying most users of the GNU operating system the realization of its purpose. However, the GNU project maintains a list of distributions committed to offering their users only Free Software.
http://www.gnu.org/links/links.html
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html
UTUTO XS was the first to take this stand. gNewSense (based on one of the most popular .deb-package distributions) was the first to ship a cleaned-up, Free version of the kernel Linux. BLAG Linux and GNU (based on one of the most popular .rpm-package distributions) evolved this effort into Linux-libre, a project adopted by FSFLA to maintain Free versions of Linux, in use by several GNU + Linux-libre distributions and by individual users pursuing freedom.
http://www.ututo.org/
http://www.gnewsense.org/
http://www.blagblagblag.org/
http://www.fsfla.org/be-free/linux-libre/
There is still a long way to go to achieve freedom for all software users. However, more than developing more Free Software, the current priorities are spreading awareness of software freedom issues, and encouraging users to value their freedoms and demand respect for them. It is in this spirit that FSFLA launched the campaign “Be Free!”
http://www.fsfla.org/be-free/
Let us all celebrate a quarter century of the GNU project and of work for freedom, and help more people realize why the software they run was developed, and why it is so important that they pursue freedom, for their own sake and for that of all the community.
http://www.gnu.org/fry/happy-birthday-to-gnu.html
May every day be a software freedom day. Be Free!
http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/
http://www.fsfla.org/
About Free Software Foundation Latin America
FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India. These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but cooperating globally. For more information about FSFLA and to contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or write to info@fsfla.org.
Copyright 2008 FSFLA
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this entire document without royalty provided the copyright notice, the document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.
Permission is also granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of individual sections of this document without royalty provided the copyright notice and the permission notice above are preserved, and the document's official URL is preserved or replaced by the individual section's official URL.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2008-09-gnu-25
Authoriterrorism and surveillance, the Brazilian way
Mon Jul 7 11:02:56 2008
Authoriterrorism and surveillance, the Brazilian way
Brazil, July 7, 2008—Pressure from banks against on-line fraud, already covered by existing law, is being used as excuse to push through major threats to society. Puppets in the Brazilian Senate are about to approve a bill supported by banking and copyright profiteers in detriment of freedom and privacy of the people they were elected to serve and represent. Bill 89/2003 criminalizes day-to-day Internet activities, and it is likely to be voted in the Senate this week.
http://fsfla.org/svnwiki/blogs/lxo/2008-07-05-surpresa,-sou-contra (in Portuguese)
http://www.safernet.org.br/twiki/bin/view/Colaborar/BrazilianCybercrimeBillXCybercrimeConvention (about an earlier draft of the bill)
http://www.petitiononline.com/veto2008/ (in Portuguese)
The bill introduces on-line surveillance, demanding networking service providers to record customers' every on-line activity, and to share with authorities logs and received reports of possibly-illicit activities. The wording is so broad that providers may be heftily fined if they fail to retain, for at least 3 years, a copy of every packet that crosses its network. Even more serious than the costs and risks, imposed on service providers, is the danger to users' privacy, by the assurance of possibility of retroactive wiretapping of every VoIP phone call, every e-mail or instant message sent or received, every visited web-page and every on-line transaction.
It further establishes jail time for such broad activities as unauthorized access to computer systems, networks, and data stored in them. In spite of being justified and promoted by banks on the grounds of stopping criminals from obtaining, selling or destroying information through fraud or exploitation of vulnerabilities, it is worded so ambiguously that it can be easily abused by suppliers of electronic equipment (computers such as servers, desktops, laptops, video games, cell phones, digital cameras, media players and recorders, etc) and of digitally-encoded information (text, audio, video, software, etc).
Abuses may range from legal threats to actual jail time for people who unlock video games or cell phones to install software not approved by the supplier; who work around deliberate defects in media players or recorders to gain access to their own songs or movies stored in them; who use copyrighted works in ways that do not infringe on copyrights, but that authoriterrorists would like to outlaw.
http://defectivebydesign.org/
http://drm.info/
Authoriterrorism is the practice of (i) mislabeling as property a limited monopoly granted by society as a means to get, after an originally short period of deprivation, more creative works available for all to enjoy and build upon; (ii) promoting the extension of the monopoly and other authoritarian laws that grant authoriterrorists technical and legal means to steal from society the fulfillment of the goal of copyrights; (iii) using these technical and legal measures and scare tactics to stop people from using works in ways that fall outside the scope or the period of the monopoly; (iv) brainwashing people so they believe they don't and shouldn't have the right to use works in these ways, that it would somehow harm authors (as if authoriterrorists didn't), and that it is the moral equivalent of invading ships, stealing the cargo and enslaving or murdering the tripulation.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.xhtml
http://fsfla.org/svnwiki/texto/DMCAnada
http://fsfla.org/svnwiki/blogs/lxo/pub/PIFAQ (in Portuguese)
But we should think for a moment about who is invading our homes, building spies and policemen into our electronic equipment; tying our hands, and putting on blinds and gags on us through this same equipment, stealing through force our fair use rights and the public domain; enslaving us by ensuring we can only do what they want us to do, and killing our wish to fight for our rights by fooling us into feeling guilty. Who are the real pirates, and who is really being harmed?
Bills that would give even more power to the powerful authoritarian intermediaries, that exploit authors and terrorize society, appear to not be in short supply these days. Rushing them to approval, avoiding public debate, appears to be a common trait for such bills that harm society.
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/fight-the-canadian-dmca
http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-72379/european-parliament-rushes-towards-soviet-internet
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1117
Representatives in democratic governments ought to remember what democracy stands for, that the law in a democratic state is supposed to benefit society, and resist the pressure and the lobbying to grant any authoriterrorist even more power over the people they represent.
Fraud, blackmail, violation of privacy and of trade secrets are already crimes, regardless of whether they're perpetrated on-line, and they haven't prevented Brazilian banks from making huge and growing profits.
Permanent on-line surveillance is too much of a privacy threat to be regarded as a potential solution for these crimes, rather than a problem on its own, and there is no doubt that the availability of all this information will be abused by authoriterrorists as well.
We beg good-faith legislators and other government officials to try to stop the rush for approval of this terrible bill, to make room for public debate and to separate the needed juridic advances from the redundancies and the erosion of citizens' rights. We further beg for help in bringing this urgent issue to the public's attention, lifting the apparent gag order upon the national press, and bringing to public shame any legislator who sells out and votes into law this anti-democratic weapon of mass criminalization.
About Free Software Foundation Latin America
FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India. These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but cooperating globally. For more information about FSFLA and to contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or write to info@fsfla.org.
Press contacts
Alexandre Oliva
Board member, FSFLA
lxoliva@fsfla.org
+55 19 9714-3658 / 3243-5233
+55 61 4063-9714
Copyright 2008 FSFLA
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this entire document without royalty provided the copyright notice, the document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.
Permission is also granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of individual sections of this document without royalty provided the copyright notice and the permission notice above are preserved, and the document's official URL is preserved or replaced by the individual section's official URL.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2008-07-brasil-autoriterrorismo
Be Free from Imposed Tax Software: IRPF-Livre 2008 liberated
Fri Apr 25 21:49:07 2008
Be Free from Imposed Tax Software: IRPF-Livre 2008 liberated
Campinas, Brazil, April 25, 2008—FSFLA is honored to announce the availability of a completely Free program to prepare Natural Person's Income Tax (IRPF) returns for 2008 in the standards set by the Brazilian Receita Federal. It's a major step with regards to transparency, safety, freedom and respect to the taxpayer, on whom the non-Free Software IRPF2008 was imposed by Receita Federal.
"In 2007 it was much easier", says Alexandre Oliva, FSFLA board member who's worked in the development of IRPF-Livre. Although Receita Federal's IRPF2007 didn't respect taxpayers' safety and freedom, copyrights over several Free Software packages used in IRPF2007, and even the Federal Constitution, due to a number of details it was relatively easy to turn it into Free Software, technically and legally safe.
In spite of some progress in IRPF2008's respect for third parties' copyrights, there were significant regressions as well. More serious were the regressions in respect for taxpayers and for the transparency principle established in the Federal Constitution. "It would still be possible to decompile, with some additional effort, the binary code obfuscated by Receita Federal", explains Oliva, "but the resulting source code wouldn't be Free, because of arbitrary decisions in the licensing of the 2008 version that amount to even more violation of third parties' copyrights."
The solution we found was to update IRPF2007-Livre, published by FSFLA a year ago, as needed to generate tax returns files for 2008, indistinguishable from those prepared by Receita Federal's IRPF2008. To this end, it was necessary to run the non-Free IRPF2008, making the only socially-beneficial use of non-Free Software: the use in developing its Free replacement.
Although the program has worked perfectly preparing Oliva's returns, it may still lack adaptations to cover other situations. Our suggestion is that the returns file be prepared for submission using IRPF-Livre 2008, then compared with the file generated by IRPF2008, as per instructions detailed in the program itself. Any differences would indicate an error we'd like to fix. In the absence of differences, there's complete trust on the integrity of the declaration prepared with Free Software.
Unfortunately, this scenario is far from ideal. Instead of wasting efforts finding out and duplicating software development work already done by Receita Federal, it would be far more efficient if Receita Federal itself published as Free the software it develops and that belongs to the public, and all of us could help improve it, rather than competing with it.
The stated security reasons that allegedly prevent this publication, besides the technical implausibility, are not confirmed by internal sources involved in the development and maintenance of the non-Free IRPF. This puts us at ease to one more time offer Brazilian taxpayers the ability to fill in their IRPF returns in safety and freedom.
About IRPF-Livre
It's a software development project to prepare Natural Person's Income Tax returns in the standards defined by the Brazilian Receita Federal, but without the technical and legal insecurity imposed by it.
IRPF-Livre is Free Software, that is, software that respects users' freedom to run it for any purpose, to study its source code and adapt it to their needs, and to distribute copies, modified or not.
The program can be obtained, both in source and Java object code forms at the following location:
http://www.fsfla.org/~lxoliva/snapshots/irpf-livre/2008/
About FSFLA's Campaign against Softwares Impostos
We understand the Brazilian law, particularly the Federal Constitution, grant preference to Free Software in the public administration, both internally, for compliance with constitutional principles, and in interactions with citizens, for respect for their fundamental constitutional rights and for compliance with the same and other constitutional principles.
This campaign, started in October, 2006, seeks to educate public administration managers about these obligations that are beneficial both to citizens and to the public administration itself, such that they pay attention not only to compliance with the law, but also to respect for citizens and for digital freedom.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2008-02-softimp-irpf2008
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/circular/2007-09#1
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/circular/2007-04#3
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2007-03-irpf2007 (in Portuguese)
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/circular/2007-03#1
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/circular/2006-11#Editorial
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2006-10-softimp
About Free Software Foundation Latin America
FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India. These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but cooperating globally. For more information about FSFLA and to contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or write to info@fsfla.org.
Press contacts
Alexandre Oliva
Board member, FSFLA
lxoliva@fsfla.org
+55 19 9714-3658 / 3243-5233
+55 61 4063-9714
Copyright 2008 FSFLA
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this entire document without royalty provided the copyright notice, the document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.
Permission is also granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of individual sections of this document without royalty provided the copyright notice and the permission notice above are preserved, and the document's official URL is preserved or replaced by the individual section's official URL.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2008-04-softimp-irpf-livre-2008
stdlib: FSFLA's Workgroup for Free Open Standards
Tue Mar 25 18:31:49 2008
stdlib: FSFLA's Workgroup for Free Open Standards
FSFLA has launched a workgroup to promote the adoption of Free Open Standards, including in international and Latin-American national standardization bodies, and the rejection of non-standard file formats and of proposals of standards that do not qualify as Free Open Standards.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/circular/2007-078#3
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/stdlib/mision
We use Free Open Standards not in opposition to the wide adoption of the term Open Standards, but rather as a means to clarify that we refer to the forming consensus on the meaning of Open Standards: standards that promote interoperability and prevent vendor lock-in.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/stdlib/def
The initial focus of our workgroup is on promoting the adoption of the Open Document Format (ODF), ISO/IEC 26300:2006, including in national standardization bodies and through the Document Freedom Day, and on avoiding the adoption and ratification of other competing proposals, such as Microsoft's Office OpenXML (OOXML), ECMA-376, ISO/IEC DIS 29500.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/stdlib/offdoc/mision
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2008-02-stdlib-dfd
As of Sept 2, the world has managed to avoid OOXML's immediate approval in ISO's Fast Track procedure, but there is still a risk of approval after February's Ballot Resolution Meeting, in votes to be cast up to March 29, 2008.
http://www.noooxml.org
Please help us collect information in our Wiki about procedures in national standardization bodies in Latin America, spread the information and get as many people and organizations to join the process such that Free Open Standards prevail. Although ODF is already approved and the decision on OOXML is very close, there are other standards in discussion, such as the already-approved Portable Document Format (PDF) and the alternative XPS proposed and promoted by Microsoft.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071205-adobes-pdf-now-an-iso-standard.html
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/stdlib
http://www.fsfla.org/mailman/listinfo/stdlib
About FSFLA
FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India. These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but cooperating globally. For more information about FSFLA and to contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or write to info@fsfla.org.
Copyright 2007, 2008 FSFLA
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this entire document without royalty provided the copyright notice, the document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2008-03-stdlib
FSFLA confirms presence at FISL 9.0
Thu Mar 13 23:59:46 2008
FSFLA confirms presence at FISL 9.0
Brazil, March 13, 2008—One of the greatest Free Software events in the world is coming up: the ninth edition of "Fórum Internacional de Software Livre", to be held on April 17-19, 2008, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. As expected, FSFLA will be present, and it hopes to count on your help!
We thank the event organizers for offering us a booth, from which we intend to spread the Free Software philosophy, distribute flyers, T-shirts and other gifts, as well as raise funds to carry out our mission: to defend freedoms and rights of software users and developers.
We invite our supporters to help design, organize and prepare materials for distribution at FISL, as well as to lend us a hand at the booth, during the conference. In addition to our eternal gratitude and that delicious feeling of fighting for a good cause, what we have to offer are some FISL expositor badges, and the gifts themselves, that we give not only to those who make monetary contributions, but also to those who donate efforts to our organization.
In order to help, subscribe to our list for organization and planning of participation in events, at the address eventos@fsfla.org, and write about your ideas of topics and drawings for pamphlets, T-shirts, buttons, key chains, stickers, mugs, pens, and other materials that might be attractive to spread the Free Software philosophy and our campaigns, as well as to raise funds. Also visit the wiki to see what we have already planned and prepared.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/eventos/fisl9
http://www.fsfla.org/mailman/listinfo/eventos
If you're available to share responsibility for the booth for some time, you'll be very welcome. If you just want to drop by and chat, make a donation and take a gift, we'll be pleased by your visit. See you there!
http://fisl.softwarelivre.org/9.0
About FSFLA
FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India. These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but cooperating globally. For more information about FSFLA and to contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or write to info@fsfla.org.
Copyright 2008 FSFLA
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this entire document without royalty provided the copyright notice, the document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2008-03-fisl
Introducing Document Freedom Day
Tue Feb 26 18:03:28 2008
[ http://documentfreedom.org/News/20080220 ]
Introducing Document Freedom Day
26 March: A global day for document liberation
Sign up your DFD team today!
The Document Freedom Day (DFD) is a global day for Document Liberation with grassroots action for promotion of Free Document Formats and Open Standards in general. The DFD was initiated and is supported by a group of organisations and companies, including, but not limited to, the Free Software Foundation Europe, ODF Alliance, OpenForum Europe, IBM, Red Hat and Sun Microsystems, Inc.
On 26 March 2008, the Document Freedom Day will provide a global rallying point for Document Liberation and Open Standards. It will literally give teams around the world the chance to "hoist the flag":
A "DFD Starter Pack" containing a flag, t-shirt, leaflets and stickers is in preparation and is planned to be sent out in the first weeks of March to the first 100 teams that sign up. Sixteen teams already signed up during the preparation phase of the DFD prior to this release. Sign your team up now!
"We're proud to support this global effort to encourage open and inclusive information exchange," said Marino Marcich, Managing Director, OpenDocument Format Alliance. "Document freedom means creating, exchanging, and preserving your electronic documents without having to buy software from a particular vendor."
"Data lock-in and subsequent vendor lock-in are some of the most severe issues users are facing today," says FSFE president Georg Greve. "Yet most people only realise this connection when it is too late and they have effectively lost control over their own data. We are supporting the Document Freedom Day to help raise awareness for this issue by starting with something that affects pretty much all users of computers: text documents, spreadsheets and presentations."
"Free document formats and open standards are important elements in the continued expansion of the global open source community," said Tom Rabon, executive vice president, Corporate Affairs at Red Hat. "Red Hat strongly supports Document Freedom Day and encourages participation by all who look forward to the day when documents are controlled by those who own them, not necessarily by those who create the technology to access those documents."
Simon Phipps, Chief Open Source Officer, Sun Microsystems stated, "As I explained in my paper "Freedom to Leave" [*], it's fundamental in the emerging market for people to be free to use any software they desire to handle their data. I fully support the goals of Document Freedom."
[*] http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dhb29vwq_3dzb2cs
Alexandre Oliva of the Free Software Foundation Latin America (FSFLA) comments: "When you save your documents using a Free Open Standard format such as ODF, you're also saving your own future, ensuring your continued ability to access, decode and convert their contents."
Graham Taylor Director of OpenForum Europe: "OpenForum Europe applauds the announcement of Document Freedom Day. The whole essence of 'openness' is captured by the right of users, citizens, governments... to be able to freely access and exchange documents today and in the future. Nothing gives greater meaning to the prevalent danger of lock-in to proprietary solutions, and for the need for Government to act now."
About the Document Freedom Day
The Document Freedom Day (DFD) is a global day for Document Liberation. It is a day of grassroots effort around the world to promote and build awareness for the relevance of Free Document Formats in particular and Open Standards in general. The DFD is supported by a large group of organisations and individuals, including, but not limited to Ars Aperta, COSS, Esoma, Free Software Foundations Europe and Latin America, IBM, NLnet, ODF Alliance, OpenForum Europe, OSL, iMatix, Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, Inc., The Open Learning Centre, Opentia, Estandares Abiertos.
The list of DFD supporting groups can be found at
http://documentfreedom.org/Who
The list of DFD teams is available at
http://documentfreedom.org/Category:Teams
Further information
Contact
contact - AT - documentfreedom.org
Graham Taylor graham - AT - openforumeurope.org Ivan Jelic jelic - AT - fsfeurope.org Kerri Catallozzi kcatallo - AT - redhat.com Marino Marcich mmarcich - AT - odfalliance.org Marko Milenovic milenovic - AT - fsfeurope.org Terri Molini terri.molini - AT - sun.com FSFLA info - AT - fsfla.org
About FSFLA
FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India. These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but cooperating globally. For more information about FSFLA and to contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or write to info@fsfla.org. To join our workgroup on Free Open Standards, subscribe:
http://www.fsfla.org/mailman/listinfo/stdlib
FSFLA board member requests source code of Brazilian tax software
Mon Feb 18 20:12:52 2008
FSFLA board member requests source code of Brazilian tax software
Brazil, February 18, 2008—Last year, FSFLA supported the release, as Free Software, of the Brazilian income tax software distributed by Receita Federal. We are already working to make it happen earlier in 2008, but Receita Federal insists in breaking the law and disrespecting citizens, taxpayers and Free Software developers.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2007-04-irpf2007-livre
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/blogs/lxo/pub/freeing-the-lion
As in past years, early last December, Receita Federal published a test version of the software to fill in forms for the following year's income tax for natural persons, IRPF. Unfortunately, it disregarded all of the points in the our last year's petition, justified legally and technically in an article we'd published before.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2007-03-irpf2007-pet (in Portuguese)
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/texto/denuncia-irpf (in Portuguese)
The test program was still non-Free Software; still impossible to run, or even install, using Free Software implementations of the Java Virtual Machine, including IcedTea, the upcoming OpenJDK 1.7 to be released by Sun under the GNU GPL shortly; it still used undocumented file formats and protocols; and it still infringed on third parties' copyrights, including those of FSFLA's sister organization, the original Free Software Foundation. "We had told them about all of these problems almost a year ago, and they have done nearly nothing to fix them", says Fernanda G. Weiden, FSFLA board member.
Reverse-engineering this year's program is slightly more difficult than last year's, because of technical measures taken by Receita Federal. "That's why I've started earlier this year", says Alexandre Oliva, the FSFLA board member behind IRPF2007-Livre. Unfortunately, there are new legal restrictions on the program that prevent the result of these efforts from being used in Free Software. These restrictions are in conflict with some licenses of Free Software included in the program distributed by Receita Federal.
So, while coordinating with copyright holders of the Free Software used by Receita Federal to help them correct the violations, we've requested Receita Federal and SERPRO to publish the original source code, ideally under a Free Software license. "Every Brazilian has a constitutional right to receive those specifications and source code from government offices", says Alexandre, "so I've requested them, and suggested they might as well proactively set them free."
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/blogs/lxo/2007-12-24-querido-papai-noel
But while SERPRO, now publicly committed to the federal government mandate to choose and publish Free Software, had previously claimed to have its hands tied, Receita Federal resists, hiding behind alleged security and data integrity reasons. "It's not just against the law, it's also against technical principles of security", challenges Pedro A.D. Rezende, FSFLA board member and professor of security and cryptography at University of Brasília, "you just can't entrust taxpayers' computers to perform data integrity checking, too many things can go wrong. Even if you do, you must also verify the data at the receiving end, if you want the verification to be trustworthy."
Ultimately, Receita Federal is forcing taxpayers to run software that, by its own arguments, is insecure, and not too hard to reverse engineer to expose the flaws while at that. "A robust solution can only be achieved through transparency in file formats, protocols and source code. If it depends on the difficulty or absence of reverse engineering, it is already broken", complements Pedro.
"Other countries, such as US and Ecuador, publish their tax file formats, enabling multiple software implementations, including Free Software ones", points out Oscar Valenzuela, FSFLA board member. "It's a pity that Brazil, held as a global reference of Free Software adoption, resorts to insecure non-Free Software for something that affects so many citizens, aggravated by the missing or incomplete publication of transmission protocol and file format specifications."
"It is our tax money that paid for this software, so it belongs to the public. We have the right to run, inspect, modify and distribute it. It must be Free Software.", agree Brazilian FSFLA members.
About FSFLA's Campaign against Softwares Impostos
We understand the Brazilian law, particularly the Federal Constitution, grant preference to Free Software in the public administration, both internally, for compliance with constitutional principles, and in interactions with citizens, for respect for their fundamental constitutional rights and for compliance with the same and other constitutional principles.
This campaign, started in October, 2006, seeks to educate public administration managers about these obligations that are beneficial both to citizens and to the public administration itself, such that they pay attention not only to compliance with the law, but also to respect for citizens and for digital freedom.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/circular/2007-09#1
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/circular/2007-04#3
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2007-03-irpf2007 (in Portuguese)
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/circular/2007-03#1
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/circular/2006-11#Editorial
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2006-10-softimp
About FSFLA
FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India. These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but cooperating globally. For more information about FSFLA and to contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or write to info@fsfla.org.
Press contacts
Alexandre Oliva
Board member, FSFLA
lxoliva@fsfla.org
+55 19 9714-3658 / 3243-5233
Pedro A.D. Rezende
Board member, FSFLA
prezende@fsfla.org
+55 61 3368-6031 / 3307-2482
Copyright 2008 FSFLA
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this entire document without royalty provided the copyright notice, the document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.
Permission is also granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of individual sections of this document without royalty provided the copyright notice and the permission notice above are preserved, and the document's official URL is preserved or replaced by the individual section's official URL.
http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2008-02-softimp-irpf2008
The Lion is Free, lightweight, and released
Thu May 3 13:06:27 2007
Campinas, April 26, 2007—Free Software Foundation Latin America (FSFLA) finished yesterday the process of liberation of Receita Federal's program IRPF2007. This work enabled the submission of the first income tax declaration in Brazil to be prepared exclusively with Free Software.
A number of months went by negotating with Receita Federal, almost without progress. The only concrete step was the publication of specifications of file formats for the declaration, unfortunately incomplete.
There wasn't any progress in the regularization of the IRPF2007 program, whose Java version for GNU/Linux infringes on copyrights of 11 Free Software packages, and whose use appeared to violate the Software Law, that states that a computer program can only be used with a license contract.
Receita Federal alleged that no further license was necessary, since it was already implied. As it turns out, inside the application package, we found a happy surprise. The license GNU LGPLv2, a Free Software license! This was the implied license!
FSFLA believes that all the software must be Free, respecting the freedoms to run, study, adapt and distribute the software. Therefore, as soon as we learned about the license, we started the process of "liberating the Lion" [T.N.: income tax is known as "the Lion" in Brazil], using programs that, starting from the executable, generate source code that is functionally equivalent.
It's not the corresponding source code that LGPL requires, since it's missing comments and documentation, but it's something we can already work with. In fact, since Receita Federal forgot to publish the source code of a few LGPLed libraries that it uses in its programs, it seems reasonable to assume that it forgot to publish its own source code.
What we did was little more than rendering explicit the freedoms that we were given, and, because of this, it is possible to create Income Tax declarations in electronic formats using only Free Software.
IRPF2007-Livre still carries some deficiencies, such as the lack of a graphical user interface. We hope that next year Receita Federal will release a Free version of the program, that works on 100% Free platforms.
For those who don't use proprietary software, there's still time to comply with their fiscal obligations without compromising their freedoms. The instructions manual, the source code and the license are available in the address below.
About IRPF2007-Livre
It's a Free version of the IRPF2007 program distributed by Receita Federal, prepared by FSFLA as part of its Campaign against "Softwares Impostos".
It offers a text-mode interface functionally sufficient to prepare IRPF declarations for submission to Receita Federal.
It can be obtained, both in executable and source code forms, in the following URL:
http://www.lsd.ic.unicamp.br/~oliva/snapshots/irpf2007-livre/
About FSFLA's Campaign against Softwares Impostos
We understand the Brazilian law, particularly the Federal Constitution, grant preference to Free Software in the public administration, both internally, for compliance with constitutional principles, and in interactions with citizens, for respect for their fundamental constitutional rights and for compliance with the same and other constitutional principles.
This campaign, started in October, 2006, seeks to educate public administration managers about these obligations that are beneficial both to citizens and to the public administration itself, such that they pay attention not only to compliance with the law, but also to respect for citizens and for digital freedom.
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/153#3
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=pt/node/152 (in Portuguese)
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/148#1
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/122#Editorial
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/120
About FSFLA
FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India. These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but cooperating globally. For more information about FSFLA and to contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or write to info@fsfla.org.
Press contacts
Alexandre Oliva
Board member, FSFLA
lxoliva@fsfla.org
+55 19 9714-3658 / 3243-5233
Pedro A.D. Rezende
Board member, FSFLA
prezende@fsfla.org
+55 61 3368-6031 / 3307-2482
Copyright 2007 FSFLA
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this entire document without royalty provided the copyright notice, the document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.
Permission is also granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of individual sections of this document without royalty provided the copyright notice and the permission notice above are preserved, and the document's official URL is preserved or replaced by the individual section's official URL.
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/157
Delate Receita Federal to the Brazilian Ministério da Fazenda!
Mon Feb 26 23:51:02 2007
Have you already written your letter to Receita Federal? Explained why its decision to require of you the use of non-Free Software disrespects your fundamental constitutional citizen's rights? Why this induces, when it doesn't demand, you to infringe on copyright, in addition to bringing you several other legal risks? That this amounts to inconstitutional discrimination for your political and philosophical beliefs? That this attitude disrespects constitutional principles for the public administration and the economic order?
If you're a Brazilian citizen, or you pay taxes in Brazil, and still haven't sent your letter, read the sample letters, that summarize the main arguments, at http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/145; read the article (in Portuguese) that details the arguments at http://www.fsfla.org/?q=pt/node/143; write your own letter with the points you feel aligned with and sent it:
https://www.receita.fazenda.gov.br/dvssl/atbhe/falecon/comum/asp/env_msg.asp?id=31
If you've already sent it, maybe you've also received a semi-automated impersonal response, giving the impression that they can't or won't do anything. If this happened to you as well, you can and should do the following immediately:
1. Locate the representative of the nearest Taxpayer Attention Center and get in touch immediately, explaining the situation.
http://www.receita.fazenda.gov.br/AtendContrib/Atendimento/UnidAtendimento/CentroAtendimento.htm (in Portuguese)
2. Send your delation to the Ombudsman at Ministério da Fazenda. You can call 0800 702-1111 (from Brazil), use the web form at:
http://portal.ouvidoria.fazenda.gov.br/sisouvidor/autoatendimento/cadastro/formularioMensagem.jsp (in Portuguese) or send e-mail to ouvidormf@fazenda.gov.br. If you live in Brasília, call the number above and schedule a meeting with the Ombudsman to discuss this matter. For other ways of getting in touch, visit:
http://portal.ouvidoria.fazenda.gov.br/ouvidoria/ActionServlet?idInstitucional=7&objeto=br.com.tellus.ouvidoria.negocio.Institucional&acao=recover (in Portuguese)
3. File an administrative proceeding with Receita Federal. Address it to the Secretary of Receita Federal, Mr. Jorge Antonio Deher Rachid, and to the Manager of Information Technology and Security at Receita Federal, Sr. Vítor Marcos Almeida Machado, in Brasília. It suffices to take a petition and copies of your documents to the nearest Receita Federal's office.
4. Open a consultation proceeding with Receita Federal's Regional Superintendence, according to guidance on the web page:
https://www.receita.fazenda.gov.br/GuiaContribuinte/ConsLegisTrib/ConsLegisTrib.htm
About FSFLA
FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India. These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but cooperating globally. For more information about FSFLA and to contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or write to info@fsfla.org.
About FSFLA's Campaign against Softwares Impostos
We understand the Brazilian Federal Constitution grants preference to Free Software in the public administration, both internally, for compliance with constitutional principles, and in interactions with citizens, for respect for their fundamental constitutional rights and for compliance with the same and other constitutional principles. This campaign, started in October, 2006, seeks compliance with the Federal Constitution in this regard.
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/109
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/110 (editorial)
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/115
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/117 (section 3.)
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/120
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/122#Editorial
Press contacts
Alexandre Oliva
Board member, FSFLA
lxoliva@fsfla.org
+55 19 9714-3658 / 3243-5233
Pedro A.D. Rezende
Board member, FSFLA
prezende@fsfla.org
+55 61 3368-6031 / 3307-2482
Copyright 2007 FSFLA
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this entire document without royalty provided the copyright notice, the document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/147
Write to the Brazilian Receita Federal against "Softwares Impostos"!
Thu Feb 22 22:37:58 2007
As part of FSFLA's campaign against "Softwares Impostos", we have written an article and letters to Receita Federal (Brazilian IRS) that explain why its decision to require taxpayers to use non-Free Software violates constitutional principles and citizens' fundamental constitutional rights, imposes various juridic risks upon taxpayers, including compulsory copyright infringement, and unlawfully discriminates against political and philosophical convictions.
FSFLA's Brazilian board members have written and sent the letters below to Receita Federal, summarizing the main points of the article published at http://www.fsfla.org/?q=pt/node/143 (so far only in Portuguese). We urge citizens and taxpayers to send their own letters to Receita Federal at https://www.receita.fazenda.gov.br/dvssl/atbhe/falecon/comum/asp/env_msg.asp?id=31. Copies of your letters are welcome at softwares-impostos@fsfla.org.
FSFLA invites Receita Federal to act on these requests before IRPF2007 is released, and to contact us as soon as possible to seek an amicable resolution.
Meanwhile, FSFLA urges citizens to pursue their rights, invites the Public Ministry and the Republic's General Attorney Office to support citizens in this pursuit, and offers its mailing list on legal issues, legales@fsfla.org, to lawyers and laymen interested in planning legal action, should it prove necessary. Alternate communication methods can be arranged should the need for confidentiality arise.
The IRPF2007 release is scheduled to March 1st, so don't wait! Send your letter right away!
About FSFLA
FSFLA joined in 2005 the FSF network, previously formed by Free Software Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India. These sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but cooperating globally. For more information about FSFLA and to contribute to our work, visit our web site at http://www.fsfla.org or write to info@fsfla.org.
Press contacts
Alexandre Oliva
Board member, FSFLA
lxoliva@fsfla.org
+55 19 9714-3658 / 3243-5233
Pedro A.D. Rezende
Board member, FSFLA
prezende@fsfla.org
+55 61 3368-6031 / 3307-2482
Copyright 2007 FSFLA
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this entire document without royalty provided the copyright notice, the document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.
http://www.fsfla.org/?q=en/node/145
Letters sent to Receita Federal
(translated to English)
Dear Mr. Jorge Antonio Deher Rachid, Secretary of Receita Federal,
I hereby request your assistance to address some difficulties I've had in complying with my tax obligations. There are more details at http://www.fsfla.org/?q=pt/node/143 (in Portuguese).
According to Article 5.XXXIII of the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988, and to the transparency it demands from the public administration, I understand I'm entitled to receive from SRF information of private or collective interest. I request, thus, the source code of all software provided by SRF for purposes of preparation and delivery of income tax declarations.
My interest in this source code is related with my philosophical beliefs as Free Software advocate. I understand that philosophical discrimination is not permitted by the constitution, also per Article 5.VIII and .XLI.
So I'd like to obtain permission from SRF to adapt its programs to Free operating systems and/or Java virtual machines, and to offer the result of my modifications to others who share my beliefs.
To this end, it would be enough for SRF to license these programs, whose copyright it holds, under a Free Software license. I understand SRF's software, without any license whatsoever, imposes on taxpayers the violation of article 9 of law 9609/98, who incur the penalties described in article 12 of law 9610/98, with the aggravation of § 3.I. SRF can be held liable for this, so immediate corrective action is recommended.
The referenced article details these and other technical and legal problems related with juridic insecurity and the violation of constitutional principles and taxpayers' fundamental citizen rights, that SRF has been conducting.
I thank you in advance for your prompt cooperation towards addressing in an amicable way these certainly unintentional transgressions.
Yours respectfully,
Alexandre Oliva
Dear Mr. Jorge Antonio Deher Rachid, Secretary of Receita Federal,
I seek, by means of this letter, to point out problems detailed in http://www.fsfla.org/?q=pt/node/143 (in Portuguese), that I co-authored, and request appropriate measures to address them.
I find RF's dependency on proprietary information technologies and the imposition of these inscrutable and inauditable on taxpayers disturbing. I recommend, according to government standard e-PING 2.0, the adoption of standards, formats and software under free licenses.
As researcher in cryptography and security, I'm concerned about taxpayers of whom electronic submission of tax forms is required, for public scrutiny of the employed programs, formats and protocols is impossible, requiring blind trust on the technical abilities and ethical infallibility of RF's employees.
As far as we can see through the obscurity of the process, taxpayers who submit their declarations over the Internet are exposed to multiple technical and juridic risks that, among other things, also represent pressure and responsibility overload upon Receita's own internal auditing.
I cite, for the sake of an example, the impossibility for a taxpayer to demonstrate, to her/himself and before third parties, that the forms s/he filled have been transmitted and processed according to the norms and without adulteration. In case of questioning, the best someone who needs to face RF on court can do is to present an electronic receipt, also alterable or falsifiable at the source, that only RF itself can validate, in a potentially vitiated way by whoever possesses controls over its processing.
It also frustrates me that I cannot verify whether technical mechanisms are already in use that enable effective internal auditing, and that may offer taxpayers legal evidence, should they be formally accused by tax authorities of defaulting their tax obligations.
Certain of being able to count on your cooperation,
Pedro Antonio Dourado de Rezende
Dear Mr. Jorge Antonio Deher Rachid, Secretary of Receita Federal,
Based on the article http://www.fsfla.org/?q=pt/node/143 (in Portuguese), I hereby request actions towards helping address some concerns I have.
Residents abroad are not allowed to present their income tax declarations in non-electronic formats. Since I live abroad, this causes me concern and trouble, for myself and for others in the same situation.
Trouble, because I'm a Free Software advocate, and it's disturbing to not only be required to use non-Free Software, but also to watch the Brazilian public administration promote, through its choice of platform for this program, other non-Free Softwares, infringing even on the constitutional principle of impersonality.
Concern, because, being trained in computing, I understand it's not possible to trust software that won't permit inspection and auditing; secret file formats; or allegedly-secure secret communication protocols.
In order to guarantee the transparency of the process and taxpayers' legal safety, it would be necessary for taxpayers to have access to the source code of the programs, or at least to the specifications of protocols and file formats, such that we could develop our own programs.
It would certainly be more efficient if we could inspect and use Receita Federal's own programs, on software platforms that respected our philosophical beliefs. For this reason, I suggest Receita Federal to distribute its programs under the terms of some Free Software license that ensures that any taxpayer who receives the program is entitled to run it legitimately, study it, adapt it to her own needs and distribute it, with or without modifications.
I count on your support to solve the problems pointed out above, and offer FSFLA's assistance for clarifications and joint efforts to this end.
Fernanda Giroleti Weiden
Last update: 2008-02-21 (Rev 2811)