[Discussioni] Fwd: [FSFE PR][EN] EU to fund Free Software code review

[Francesco Potortì]

------- Start of forwarded message -------
From: press a fsfeurope.org
Organization: Free Software Foundation Europe
To: press-release a fsfeurope.org
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 11:52:34 +0100 (CET)
Subject: [FSFE PR][EN] EU to fund Free Software code review
Reply-To: press a fsfeurope.org, pr a fsfeurope.org

 = EU to fund Free Software code review =

[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2014/news-20141219-01.en.html ]

The European Parliament has approved funding for several projects
related to Free Software and privacy. In the EU budget for 2015[1],
which the European Parliament adopted[2] on December 17, the
Parliamentarians have allocated up to one million Euro for a project to
audit Free Software programs in use at the Commission and the Parliament
in order to identify and fix security vulnerabilities.

Even though these institutions are tightly locked into non-free file
formats, much of their infrastructure is based on Free Software.

    “This is a very welcome decision,” says FSFE's president Karsten
    Gerloff. “Like most public bodies, the European institutions rely
    heavily on Free Software for their daily operations. It is good to
    see that the Parliament and the Commission will invest at least a
    little in improving the quality and the programs they use.”

The European Commission's Directorate General for Informatics (DIGIT)
will be in charge of implementing the pilot. FSFE urges the Commission
to work closely with upstream developers. The EC should make the audit
results public as soon as possible, and contribute any improvements it
makes to the upstream projects.

The budget further lists a project to encrypt communications among the
EU institutions, funded with EUR 500,000; and a pilot that uses Free
Software and Open Standards to help civil society actors participate in
lawmaking, by improving AT4AM, the software that MEPs use for drafting
legislation, which the Parliament published as Free Software in 2013[3].
Another project is intended to enable the European Commission to make
unclassified documents publicly available by default.

    “Taken together, these projects are a first step towards more
    transparent policy making in Europe,” says Gerloff. “We will
    continue to work with the Commission and the Parliament to help them
    along the path of engaging more consistently and effectively with
    the Free Software community.”

Media contact:
Karsten Gerloff
Mail: gerloff fsfe.org
tel.: +49 176 9690 4298

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 1. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/budget/data/DB2/2015/en/SEC03.pdf
 2. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20141027STO76315/html/Parliament-approves-EU-budget-for-2015-and-a-top-up-for-2014
 3. http://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2012/07/18/helping-the-european-parliament-to-release-its-own-free-software/

  == About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==

  The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
  non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
  involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
  participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
  the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
  Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
  furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
  modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
  securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
  Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
  of the FSFE.

  http://fsfe.org/
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