$Id: 05-20-GG-BulletproofingFS.txt,v 1.3 2001/05/22 13:56:37 ld Exp $

Bulletproofing Free Software in Europe
Georg C. F. Greve


* General:

The FSF and the GNU General Public License are very much the backbone
of Free Software. The GPL and LGPL are the predominant licenses used
for Free Software; and not just inside the GNU-Project.

A major reason for this is their carefully crafted balance between the
freedoms of the individual and the interests of the public. Not only
do they grant the four fundamental freedoms, they also protect them. 

Originating in the U.S., they have been written to do this job best
according to Berne convention and the U.S. law. As the legal systems
are in some significantly different in some countries, this left gaps
and insecurities that leave Free Software weaker than it could be.

Especially in countries with strong Free Software activities, the
(L)GPL should be made as secure as possible. Doing this in Europe is a
task the Free Software Foundation Europe will be dedicated to.  Since
most (all ? ask Mélanie | Till | Axel) European signed the Berne
convention we are in a favorable situation. Securing the (L)GPL licenses
is only a matter of using the proper language and legal form, there
is no need to revise or modify the concepts and basis of the licenses.

Only a good lawyer with a strong understanding of copyright law can do
this job. In addition it requires that he or she understands and favor
Free Software to keep the spirit of the license unchanged.  Working
closely with Richard M. Stallman and Prof. Eben Moglen will also be
necessary to ensure the original spirit of the GPL is kept.

* Vision:

All the legal tasks should be connected and coordinated on a European
level. At the same time the local laws in Europe are still pretty
different, so the actual work will have to be done on a local level.

For this purpose, we have an internal mailing list <address@hidden>
that is for the lawyers we work with troughout Europe.  This list
should also act as a primer for a European network of FSF-lawyers.

Lawyers and the legal system interact strongly with the political
system and through the Universities and publications in this sector,
it is possible to create a political climate favorable for Free
Software.

Also laws and decisions that are potentially harmful to Free Software
will be brought to the awareness of the FSF(E) earlier and can be
modified/countermanded more effectively.

This legal network will allow securing the future for Free Software
much more efficiently than we were able to do this in the past.


* How to proceed:

 - Collect good (!) lawyers in the different European countries and
   invite them to <address@hidden>.

 - In countries with lawyers that we know and can trust: get started
   on an authoritative translation of the GPL that fixes problems
   with the local law. For this we should always have access to a
   lawyer that is a specialist in American legal terminology.


* Current status:

The official translation is already been worked on in France.

In Germany we could get things started quickly.  Possible timeline for
Germany with Axel Metzger and Till Jaeger:

 - Get official "GO" asap(!)

 - Preliminary work based on existing translation until July

 - Organize meeting of Axel & Till with Eben to talk through the
   specific changes that would have to be made while Eben is in
   Amsterdam

 - Final version would be ready until end of August.


* Ideas:

 - We could make a big conference when the official translations
   (French & German) take effect. This would possibly attract big
   names and give the FSF(E) and Free Software in general a big
   coverage

 - Axel and I will think about how to get funding from the companies
   in and around Free Software with the legal angle. He'll provide me
   with the key legal arguments and I'll write to them in my position
   as the President of the FSFE. Possibly a very good approach since
   legal security for their business is something every company is
   very interested in.