Changeset - 300a5489f14a
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Bradley M. Kuhn - 4 years ago 2020-07-17 21:11:33
bkuhn@sfconservancy.org
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.
1 file changed with 59 insertions and 42 deletions:
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www/conservancy/static/copyleft-compliance/about.html
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{% block content %}
 
<h1 id="ourwork">Conservancy's Copyleft Compliance Projects</h1>
 

	
 
<p>Free and open source software is
 
        everywhere and in everything; yet our software freedom is constantly
 
        eroded.  With the help of its volunteers, <a href="/members/current/">member projects</a>, and <a href="/about/staff/">staff</a>,
 
  Conservancy stands up for users' software freedom via its copyleft compliance work.</p>
 

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

	
 
<p>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.</p>
 

	
 
<p>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 <a href="https://lists.sfconservancy.org/mailman/listinfo/principles-discuss">principles-discuss</a>
 
  mailing list, which is named
 
  for <a href="/copyleft-compliance/principles.html">Principles of
 
  Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement</a> which Conservancy follows in all our
 
  copyleft compliance.</p>
 

	
 
<h2 id="projects">Compliance Project For Our Fiscally Sponsored Projects</h2>
 
<p>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.</p>
 

	
 
<p>Free and open source software (FOSS) is everywhere and in everything; yet
 
our software freedom is constantly eroded.  With the help of its
 
volunteers, <a href="/members/current/">member projects</a>,
 
and <a href="/about/staff/">staff</a>, Conservancy stands up for users'
 
software freedom via its copyleft compliance work.</p>
 

	
 
<p>Conservancy's primary work in copyleft compliance currently focuses on
 
our <a href="/copyleft-compliance/enforcement-strategy.html">Strategic GPL
 
Enforcement Initiative</a>.  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.</p>
 

	
 
<p>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 &mdash;
 
  selling (mostly proprietary) products, services, and consulting to
 
  companies.  Yet, these compliance efforts ignore consistently the most
 
  essential promise of copyleft &mdash; the complete, Corresponding Source
 
  and "the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the
 
  executable".</p>
 

	
 
<p>We encourage our supporters and software freedom enthusiasts everywhere to
 
  <a href="/copyleft-compliance/enforcement-strategy.html">read our detailed
 
  strategic plan for GPL enforcement</a> and its companion
 
  project, <a href="/copyleft-compliance/firmware-liberation.html">Our
 
    Firmware Liberation Project</a>.</p>
 

	
 
<h2 id="projects">Compliance Relationship to Fiscally Sponsored Projects</h2>
 

	
 
<p>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 <a href="mailto:PROJECTNAME@sfconservancy.org">&lt;PROJECTNAME@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>
 
for more information on getting involved in compliance efforts in that project.
 
for more information on getting involved in compliance efforts in that
 
project.
 
</p>
 

	
 
<h2 id="linux">GPL Compliance Project For Linux Developers</h2>
...
 
@@ -71,7 +86,6 @@ Conservancy should
 
  with <a href="mailto:linux-services@sfconservancy.org">&lt;linux-services@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>
 
  first.</p>
 

	
 

	
 
<h2 id="debian">The Debian Copyright Aggregation Project</h2>
 

	
 
<p>In August 2015, <a href="/news/2015/aug/17/debian/">Conservancy announced the Debian Copyright Aggregation
...
 
@@ -106,24 +120,27 @@ Conservancy should contact <a href="mailto:debian-services@sfconservancy.org">&l
 
<p>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, <a href="/blog/2012/feb/01/gpl-enforcement/">this
 
  blog post outlining the compliance process</a> is likely the best source.</p>
 
  work, <a href="/blog/2012/feb/01/gpl-enforcement/">this blog post outlining
 
  the compliance process</a> is likely the best source.</p>
 

	
 
<h2 id="reporting">Reporting GPL Violations To Us</h2>
 

	
 
<p>If you are aware of a license violation or compliance issue regarding
 
  Debian, Linux, or
 
  any <a href="/members/current/">Conservancy member
 
  project</a> (&mdash; in particular BusyBox, Evergreen, Inkscape, Mercurial,
 
  Debian, Linux, or any <a href="/members/current/">Conservancy member
 
  project</a> (&mdash; in particular BusyBox, Git, Inkscape, Mercurial,
 
  Samba, Sugar Labs, or Wine),
 
  please <a href="mailto:compliance@sfconservancy.org">contact us by email at
 
    &lt;compliance@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>.</p>
 
  &lt;compliance@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>.</p>
 

	
 
<!--- FIXME: bkuhn is rewriting this blog post fresh the weekend of --
 
      2020-07-18 so we need not link to ebb.org anymore when we roll out
 
      these changes --> 
 

	
 
<p>If you think you've found a GPL violation, we encourage you to
 
   read <a href="http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2009/11/08/gpl-enforcement.html">this
 
   personal blog post by our Distinguished Technologist, Bradley M. Kuhn</a>,
 
   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</a>, 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
 
   <a href="http://compliance.guide">The Compliance Guide on
 
   copyleft.org</a>; submit it
 
   via <a href="https://k.copyleft.org/guide/">k.copyleft.org</a>.)</p>
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