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Language: en

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Karen Sandler is a lawyer

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and Executive Director

of the Software Freedom Conservancy,

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a non-profit organisation

devoted to ethical technology

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and free and open source software.

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Karen Sandler is an adjunct lecturer

at Colombia Law School, where she studied,

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and is a visiting professor

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at the University of California,

Santa Cruz.

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In addition to her law degree, she holds

a Bachelor of Science in Engineering

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from the Cooper Union

for the Advancement of Science and Art.

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Karen Sandler is an American lawyer

and software expert

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who promotes

free and open source software.

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That's software whose source code

is freely available to consult,

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adapt and disseminate.

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If the coronavirus crisis

made one thing clear,

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it’s that software is fundamental

to our society.

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We really need it,

certainly in the past few years.

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That goes even more for medical software,

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which gives people the opportunity

to lead a normal life,

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even if they have a certain illness

or condition.

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For example, Karen Sandler's pacemaker.

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If she didn’t have one,

she’d be at greater risk,

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and she would never have been able

to do what she's doing now.

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And she's certainly not alone.

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There are others in similar situations.

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She had a pacemaker put in,

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and when she wanted to find out

if it was safe and secure,

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she also wanted to see its source code.

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Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible,

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which demonstrates the importance

of free and open source software.

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If the source code for software

is in the hands of one company,

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then we're all dependent

on that company's goodwill.

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They can say of their own accord: 

we'll solve this, not that.

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We have the means to do this,

but not that.

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A company can always go bankrupt,

the source code then disappears,

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and society can no longer use it.

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That’s what open and free software is all about.

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Anyone can access the source code,

and everyone can disseminate it.

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And that's what Karen Sandler stands for.

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Karen Sandler also fights discrimination

in the world of technology

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and pushes for more inclusivity

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through the programme Outreachy,

amongst other efforts.

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Outreachy organises internships

for minorities or women,

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to help them get more involved in the world

of technology and software.

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Karen Sandler inspires us, as students,

because she is ambitious

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and fights passionately for her cause.

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Her personal story about the pacemaker

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actually serves as a metaphor

for all the technology and software

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we rely on in modern society.

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Its safety is of major importance.

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It’s essential for software

to be free and open source,

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so we can check whether it's safe

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and see whether there is

any room for improvement.

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For all of these reasons, Rector,

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on behalf of the Academic Council,

we request

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that you grant Karen Sandler

the KU Leuven honorary doctorate.