The FSFE
promotes freedom of software, hardware, and data
The ZOOOM (3Os) Initiative
promotes innovation based on freedom of software,
hardware, and data. With its recent conclusion, the FSFE hopes to
inspire broader use and effective application of Free Software by
business, academia, and the public sector.
Free Software, Open Data and Open Hardware are essential building
blocks for a sustainable and trustworthy industrial and commercial
ecosystem. Nevertheless, business, academia, and the public sector
sometimes lack important fundamental understandings of these topics, and
as
a result many industries often develop systemic problems by matching
business models with inappropriate licensing frameworks, or even without
sufficient frameworks at all.
To help solve these problems, the FSFE became a partner of the ZOOOM Initiative (3Os – Open Source
Software, Open Data, Open Hardware), that started in 2022. This European
project funded by the European Commission aimed to build competence and
raise awareness on the importance of proper management of these three
open assets (Software, Hardware, and Data). The FSFE contributed
specifically in the research and the development of educational
materials on various topics related to Free Software, tailored for
industrial and commercial needs. We are pleased to share the outcomes of
our collaborative work with our ZOOOM partners over the past 2
years.
Innovative research involving open assets
Together with our ZOOOM consortium
partners, we have conducted
innovative research to understand commonalities and interactions on the
issues faced when dealing collectively with Free Software, Open
Hardware, and Open Data. The results have been documented in a report that assists
stakeholders with
understanding the 3Os and proposes strategies to align their business
models with the complexities characterizing each of these open
ecosystems.
To support this reporting, the FSFE also
conducted extensive research and analysis on Free Software legal issues
for business and innovation. As a result of this work, we have
contributed to a review of
legal cases on issues related to the 3Os, specifically on legal
cases
related to Free Software. Those interested in an overview of legal
issues in open hardware and open data will also find this review
useful.
The ZOOOM project broke AI down into its most fundamental elements, so
research involving Free Software licensing is facilitated.
Recommendations on Free Software AI licensing
Another significant outcome of this European project was the creation
of a comprehensive paper
on Free Software and openness in the area of artificial intelligence
development.
This paper examined the convergence of Free Software and AI focusing on
the legal aspects of licensing
In the paper, we considered the necessity to promote openness in a
manner that respects the principles of Free Software, especially in
light of the various challenges in achieving such openness in AI
licensing. In particular, we highlighted the uncoordinated growing
proliferation of licenses claiming to be “free and open source” in the
AI scene, but that actually impose extra limitations on software freedom
and that may lead to license incompatibility.
To improve the situation, we proposed three important
recommendations:
- Preserving openness in AI by safeguarding the Four Freedoms of
Free Software;
- Keeping licensing of AI technologies cohesive and interoperable with
Free Software licenses;
- Encouraging engagement with civil society actors in initiatives
aimed to make AI more open, accessible, transparent, and auditable.
The drafting of these papers with our ZOOOM consortium partners has
also enabled us to raise awareness among the academic community about
the importance of Free Software and open concepts, as they relate to
software, hardware, and data.
The hybrid nature of AI,
involving data and code, poses challenges for licensing. The ZOOOM
project analysed this in detail from the perspective of Free
Software.
Development of training materials
In addition to these research activities, we contributed to the development of
training materials
intended for any organisation – private or public – to equip users with
the knowledge and skills needed to navigate Free Software, open
hardware, and open data. The training toolkit can be especially useful
for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Europe with
the necessary skills to adopt strategies and evaluate business modules
that relate to open technologies.
Check out our
Legal Education Day playlist
Successful outreach in Europe for Free Software
The ZOOOM project also engaged in an extensive awareness campaign to
promote our work, and general awareness of the principles of Free
Software, Open Hardware, and Open Data. As part of this campaign, more
than 40 events were organised. The FSFE spoke at various conferences and
events across Europe, including at FOSDEM
2024, DORS/CLUC
2024, and SFSCon
2022
Additionally, the ZOOOM consortium organized exclusive
meetups and events involving a broad range of stakeholders (academia,
public sector and business), to further promote Free Software in Ljubljana,
Trento,
and Brussels.
The ZOOOM project allowed the
FSFE to reach university students, academics, and science folks to raise
awareness for the importance of Free Software.
Sustainability goal: open science
In only two years, the ZOOOM project produced comprehensive research
merging aspects of Free Software, Open Data and Open Hardware. Focusing
on the importance of these assets for the future of AI, the initiative
not only produced scientific materials tackling legal and business
issues regarding Free Software, but also developed a series of
recommendations. The next steps are to deploy further the material
produced, engaging with organisations and individuals interested in
reusing and developing further the materials.
If you are interested in knowing more about the wealth of knowledge
produced by ZOOOM, feel free to reach out!
Support FSFE
Anmelden
Das Nobara-Projekt hat die neueste Version seiner Fedora-basierten Distribution für Gamer veröffentlicht: Nobara 41. Diese Version bringt einzigartige Tools, zahlreiche Leistungsverbesserungen und basiert auf Fedora Linux 41. Ein wichtiges Update ist die Umstellung auf den Open-Source-Treiber für NVIDIA-Grafikkarten als Standard. Zusätzlich bietet Nobara 41 eine cuda-devel-Option für CUDA-Pakete sowie die neuesten stabilen Vulkan-Treiber. Auch das […]
Über einen Monat nach der Version 6.2.4 hat das KDE-Team die neueste und finale Bugfix-Version der 6.2-Serie veröffentlicht: KDE Plasma 6.2.5. Neue Funktionen gibt es nicht, stattdessen konzentriert sich das Update auf die Verbesserung bestehender Features und die Behebung von Fehlern. Zu den Highlights gehört eine Optimierung im Modul KScreenLocker, das nun den Sperrbildschirm stabiler […]
Am letzten Tag des Jahres 2024 hat Debian die erste Alpha-Version des Installers für die kommende Version Debian 13 „Trixie“ veröffentlicht. Bei der Hardwareunterstützung gibt es einige Änderungen. Die Architekturen *armel und i386 bleiben zwar im Archiv, erhalten jedoch keine eigenen Installer-Builds mehr. Die Architektur mipsel, die bereits letztes Jahr entfernt wurde, fehlt ebenfalls. Neu […]
.png)
Mit Regex lassen sich Muster in Texten aufspüren und extrahieren. Wie das zusammen mit Python geht - und wann man es besser nicht nutzt. (
Die Linux-Distribution siduction ist in der Version 2024.1.0 erschienen. Sie basiert auf Debian Sid (Unstable) und bringt aktuelle Technologien und Desktop-Umgebungen. Die Veröffentlichung trägt den Namen „Shine on…“ und nutzt den Linux-Kernel 6.12 LTS. Mit dabei sind KDE Plasma 6.2, das kürzlich veröffentlichte Xfce 4.20 sowie LXQt 2.1. Die Entwickler haben jedoch die experimentelle Wayland-Sitzung […]
Die quelloffene Gebäudeautomatisierungsplattform OpenHAB ermöglicht, alle smarten Geräte Hersteller- und protokollübergreifend zu vernetzen und über eine einzige App einheitlich zu steuern. (
Das chinesische Unternehmen Deepseek hat mit Deepseek-V3 ein neues Large Language Model (LLM) veröffentlicht, das bisherige Open-Source-Modelle übertrifft. (
