Today we finally ended the PDFreaders campaign. Thanks to all of you who helped to make this campaign a success!!!
Best Regards, Matthias * [email protected] <[email protected]> [2015-10-13 07:54:16 +0200]: > = FSFE convinces 1125 public administrations to remove proprietary software > advertisements = > > [ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20151013-01.en.html ] > > After six years of activity, the PDFreaders campaign[1] is coming to a > close this month as one of our most successful campaigns. > > The campaign began in 2009 with the intent of removing advertisements > for proprietary PDF reader software from public institutions' websites. > To start it all off, volunteers submitted 2104 "bugs", or instances of > proprietary PDF software being directly promoted by public authorities, > and the FSFE listed[2] them online. Since then, hundreds of Free > Software activists took action by writing to the relevant public > institutions and calling for changes to their websites. We received a > lot of positive feedback from the institutions thanking us for our > letters, and to date, 1125 out of the 2104 websites (53%) edited their > websites by removing links to proprietary PDF readers, or adding links > to Free Software PDF readers. > > In addition to writing letters, FSFE also collected signatures for a > petition calling for an end to advertisement for proprietary software > products on government websites[3]. 90 organizations, 63 businesses, and > 2731 individuals signed this petition. > > Furthermore, we were able to push for change at both national and > international levels. > > - In Germany, national parties[4] gave statements in favor of free PDF > readers and the German Government itself has recommended the usage of > our text snippet in their migration guide[5]. FSFE's coordinator for > Germany, Max Mehl, covers it[6] in more detail on his blog. > > - In the EU: the European Parliament directly asked[7] the European > Commission what were the reasons for advertising a specific software > and which steps were taken to solve this problem. > > - In 2011 one of our pdfreaders.org coordinators, Hannes Hauswedell, was > in contact with Google[8], asking them to release the PDF reader > included in their Chrome browser as Free Software. Finally, in May > 2014, the pdfium sources were published openly[9], and while FSFE's > enquiry might not have been the only reason they were released, it > marks an important change for the widespread adoption of Free Software > PDF readers. > > "This success would not have been possible without the help and hard > work from our volunteers and the support from our donors. *Thank > you!* While many public and private web-sites still promote > proprietary readers, the level of awareness has changed > significantly during our campaign and now it should be much easier > for you to approach the remaining web-site administrators. Also most > internet users today already use Free Software when they open a PDF > file in their browser -- a huge difference from 2009!" says Hannes > Hauswedell who started the campaign. "Of course work still remains > and we invite you to keep on reminding (public) administrators to > use Open Standards and not recommend proprietary software. And with > your support, we too, will continue to fight for a web that respects > its users' privacy and freedom!" > > To get involved[10] you can use our sample letter[11] to send to the > relevant public administration, or you can write one of your own. Just > make sure to include where to find a list of Free Software PDF > readers[12] that could replace the link from their website. > > A special thanks again to the activists, volunteers, and donors who > helped make this campaign a success! > > 1. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.en.html > 2. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/buglist.en.html > 3. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/petition.en.html > 4. > http://gruen-digital.de/2012/03/document-freedom-day-kleine-anfrage-zur-werbung-fuer-adobe-reader-eingereicht/ > 5. > http://www.cio.bund.de/Web/DE/Architekturen-und-Standards/Migrationsleitfaden-und-Migrationshilfen/migrationsleitfaden_node.html > 6. > http://blog.mehl.mx/2015/german-government-wants-authorities-to-advertise-pdfreaders/ > 7. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/parliamentary-questions-eu.en.html > 8. > http://blogs.fsfe.org/polina/2015/09/10/free-pdf-reader-for-the-web-browser/ > 9. https://twitter.com/nasko/status/469595752734269440 > 10. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/follow-up.en.html > 11. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/letter.en.html > 12. http://pdfreaders.org > > > == About the Free Software Foundation Europe == > > Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to > control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our > lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than > restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use, > understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other > fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy. > > The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free > Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination. > It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software > adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and > provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software > in Europe. > > http://fsfe.org/ > > _______________________________________________ > Press-release mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/press-release > -- Matthias Kirschner - President - Free Software Foundation Europe Schönhauser Allee 6/7, 10119 Berlin, Germany - t +49-30-27595290 Weblog (blogs.fsfe.org/mk) - Contact (fsfe.org/about/kirschner) Receive monthly Free Software news (fsfe.org/news/newsletter.html) Your donation enables our work (fsfe.org/donate) _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list [email protected] https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
