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Free Software Foundation Europe

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The FSFE defends Interoperability from Apple at the EU’s highest court

mardi 21 octobre 2025 à 01:00

The FSFE defends interoperability from Apple at the EU’s highest court

Today, on 21 October, the Free Software Foundation Europe participated as an intervener in the landmark Apple v. European Commission (T-1080/23) hearing before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The case will determine whether the Digital Markets Act can effectively guarantee interoperability, software freedom, and user choice

The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) participated in the Apple v. European Commission (T-1080/23) hearing before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The case could shape the future of Europe’s digital freedom by determining whether the Digital Markets Act (DMA) truly delivers on its promise of interoperability and user choice.

“The Digital Markets Act was designed to give users real choice, not just in theory, but in practice. If interoperability can be limited by proprietary restrictions, then the promise of the DMA will remain unfulfilled. This case is about ensuring that technology serves society, not the other way around.”, states Lucas Lasota, FSFE Legal Programme Manager.

Apple’s challenge claims that certain DMA obligations amount to an “expropriation” of its alleged “intellectual property rights”, the FSFE’s legal intervention counters that these obligations are not arbitrary or excessive burdens, but legitimate, proportionate measures adopted in the public interest to preserve software freedom, interoperability, and user choice.

“Innovation does not exempt a company from regulation.The FSFE challenged Apple’s attempt to invalidate a democratically adopted EU interoperability mandate for operating systems. Given that Apple’s product is an ecosystem where value is created not only by Apple, but also by independent external developers and consumers who own the devices, coercing selected gatekeepers’ products into interoperability is entirely legitimate and necessary.", stated Dr. Martin Husovec, the lawyer representing the FSFE at the court hearing..

The FSFE’s court hearing statement.

You can learn more about this court case at the FSFE’s website on the DMA litigation against Apple.

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DMA litigation against Apple: a quick recap

mercredi 15 octobre 2025 à 01:00

DMA litigation against Apple: a quick recap

The Digital Markets Act aimed to open Europe’s digital ecosystems, but that promise is now being tested. In Apple v. European Commission, Apple challenges key DMA rules on interoperability and user choice at the EU's highest court. The FSFE is intervening to defend user freedoms. The public hearing takes place Tuesday, 21 October.

Graphic by Rahak for the FSFE, CC-BY-SA 4.0

Interoperability for the public interest

At the heart of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) there are measures that require gatekeepers to avoid practices that lock users and developers into closed ecosystems. For example, rules that enable users to uninstall pre-installed apps, to install and use third-party app stores and apps (side-loading), and to obtain access to hardware and software features needed for third-party software to work. Those interoperability and access obligations are not abstract: they are the technical and legal levers that allow Free Software programs to be installed, updated, and integrated on mobile devices, and to compete with gatekeepers’ services. Without effective interoperability, Free Software is blocked from reaching users, developers face technically imposed barriers, and everyone loses the market advantages of a levelled playing field as foreseen by the DMA.

That is why, when Apple decided to fight some of these rules in court, we at the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) decided to step in as a civil-society intervener in T-1080/23, Apple v. European Commission. In this case in front of the European Union Court of Justice, Apple challenges obligations imposed by the DMA. Apple was designated as a DMA “gatekeeper” in September 2023 and began litigation soon afterwards; the FSFE requested to intervene in February 2024, the Court allowed the intervention, and the FSFE has submitted written arguments ahead of the public hearing scheduled in Luxembourg on 21 October. The FSFE is represented in court by the lawyer Dr. Martin Husovec and is bringing the civil-society perspective to ensure that the court sees the wider implications for developers and users.

Apple argues that the DMA infringes on its fundamental rights, claiming that the interoperability obligations are “expropriating” the company’s “intellectual-property rights”. We disagree. In our intervention, we emphasize that Apple’s obligations under the DMA are not arbitrary restrictions but regulations adopted in the public interest: to safeguard competition, innovation, and consumer choice. The DMA’s purpose is to prevent gatekeepers from unilaterally controlling access to digital ecosystems that have become essential infrastructures. Ensuring interoperability and user freedom is a legitimate and proportionate way to serve those goals

“Standing against a corporate giant like Apple, which has billions of euros to hinder Software Freedom, reflects the FSFE's commitment to preserving open and competitive digital environments. The FSFE's intervention is fundamental for Device Neutrality, ensuring that users and developers are not locked into proprietary systems and can freely choose and use the software they want.”states Lucas Lasota, FSFE Legal Programme Manager.

Why this case matters – and how you can help

How the Court interprets and enforces the DMA in this case will shape whether those interoperability rights are real and usable in practice. It will affect whether Free Software can be an accessible, competitive alternative on billions of devices, or remain constrained by proprietary lock-in. The FSFE is the only civil-society organisation intervening to defend software freedom in these proceedings, but strategic litigation is resource-intensive: preparing submissions, expert work, and travel to Luxembourg for the hearing all require funding. If you value device neutrality, interoperability and the ability of Free Software to flourish, please consider supporting our intervention! Your donation directly helps us appear in court and keep defending user and developer rights!

I want to donate for Device Neutrality!

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SFP#39: Policy and EU: CRA and what’s next?

vendredi 10 octobre 2025 à 01:00

SFP#39: Policy and EU: CRA and what’s next?

We are talking about the Cyber Resilience Act and the challenges, you, our community, and many others, pointed out. With our 39th episode Bonnie and Alex follow up on the questionnaire we put to you for the Cyber Resilience Act and present the key findings.

Together with the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the FSFE has created three separate questionnaires for OSS stewards, project maintainers and manufacturers. Bonnie and Alex discuss the most important findings from the questionnaires and take a closer look at the challenges that stewards, project maintainers and manufacturers face. But they also see light at the end of the tunnel.

Find out more about the challenges in regards to the implementation of the CRA and what next steps are lying ahead of us.

The FSFE's policy work is an important part of our work to safeguard Free Software and help to further the implementation of "Public Money? Public Code!". You can support our work by donating.

Show notes

We are happy to receive your feedback on the Software Freedom Podcast and especially on the transcript of the episode. Please, send us an email to: podcast@fsfe.org. If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.

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Yearly Report +++ DMA turns one +++ Legal Corner

mercredi 8 octobre 2025 à 01:00

Yearly Report +++ DMA turns one +++ Legal Corner

Our October newsletter comes with our Software Freedom in Europe report! As the DMA celebrates its first year, we reflect on Device Neutrality and discuss the war on ad blockers in our Legal Corner. Check out our interview about 'I Love Free Software Day' with our local group in Barcelona and listen to a new episode of our Policy & EU podcast series.

Table of contents

Quote of the Month

“I truly believe in the power of saying “Thank You”. Free Software developers are usually in a loop of bug reports and feature requests by users. We as users often see what is broken or what is missing, so we will communicate that to the developers, usually failing to send a message of how awesome the software is. This is why celebrating I Love Free Software Day and taking the time to say “Thank you” to the developers and projects we depend on is important; we need to break the cycle of negativity that sometimes the developers of Free Software are stuck in” Albert from Barcelona Free Software (see interview below)

Software Freedom in Europe 2025

In 2025 we remained engaged in enforcing the DMA, intervening in the Apple vs EC legal case; we participated in the debates around the CRA and public procurement to ensure that Free Software is embedded in Europe’s digital future. Also, we continued providing legal support and improved REUSE, while involving teenagers with YH4F, and we reached new audiences with the new Ada & Zangemann movies.

Find out what we have achieved in the last twelve months

The Digital Markets Act turns 1: one year of pushing for Device Neutrality

2025 marks one year of the enforcement of the Digital Markets Act. In our input to the European Commission’s public consultation we welcome the DMA as a milestone in regulating large tech corporations, but we stress the hurdles and challenges for making Device Neutrality a reality.

Find out more!

DMA litigation: the FSFE takes part in court hearing in Apple vs Commission case

On 21 October, the FSFE is participating as an intervenor in the hearing of the Apple vs. European Commission case at the Court of Justice of the European Union. As part of the Digital Markets Act enforcement actions, this is a key case for Free Softwareand digital markets.

Legal Corner: The War on Ad Blockers – Axel Springer’s Assault on User Freedom

For many internet users, an adblocker is an important piece of software that allows them to control the digital information they receive from their browsers, providing the option of an ad-free browsing experience. Despite this, a recent decision by the German Federal Court of Justice is giving Axel Springer a second chance to erode user freedom.

ilovefs interview - How we celebrate "I Love Free Software Day" in Barcelona, Spain

Since we began organising events in Europe together with the FSFE’s local groups for "I Love Free Software Day", Barcelona has regularly been taking part. The Barcelona based local group is a mix of people contributing and developing KDE and of Free Software friends from Catalonia. Known as "Barcelona Free Software", they do very great and amazing events. Over time it was inspiring to see how the events evolved, from company related gatherings to independent group meetings with the opportunity to welcome new Free Software enthusiasts.

Read the interview!

SFP#38: Policy and EU: Free Software Software Stack(s)

During the debate on digital sovereignty, the term “software stack” started to float around. This term quickly started to fill up with different ideas, and a discussion about it took root. Follow Alex and Bonnie in this episode to learn more about software stacks of Free Software and their connection with public administration.

From the community: The FSF elects a new president

Our sister organization, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has elected a new president. Ian Kelling, senior systems administrator for the organization and the first union member to hold a seat on its board, has been elected as the new president of the FSF.We congratulate Ian for being unanimously elected as the FSF's new president and look forward to his work advancing software freedom and strengthening our community.

At the stages: Linux install parties, SFSCON and more

Last weekend, we attended the 2025 Festa do Software Livre in Porto while co-organising the second Fediverse Day in Berlin. After that, we are preparing to attend SFSCON once again; our volunteers are busy organising various events. For example, in Zurich, our local group is organising several Linux installation workshops and a 'Free Your Android' workshop.

In addition, the recording of the talk at Datenspuren 2025, 'CRA: Cybersicherheit in der Gesellschaft', is already online!

Get more merchandise at Hello Tux

Hello Tux is an online marketplace offering great products that can be personalized with the logo of your favourite Free Software organization.

We’re happy to share that the FSFE is now included among the options! https://www.hellotux.com/fsfe

💚 Thank you, Hello Tux, for supporting Free Software and helping us spread the message in style!

Contribute to our Newsletter

We would love to hear from you. If you have any thoughts, pictures, or news to share, please send them to us at newsletter@fsfe.org. You can also support us, contribute to our work, and join our community. We would like to thank our community and all the volunteers, supporters, and donors who make our work possible, with a special mention to our translators who make it possible for you to read this newsletter in your mother tongue.

Your editor, Ana

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How we celebrate "I Love Free Software Day" in Barcelona, Spain

mardi 30 septembre 2025 à 01:00

How we celebrate "I Love Free Software Day" in Barcelona, Spain

The annual "I Love Free Software Day" celebration, on 14 February, acknowledges all Free Software contributors for their commitment to the four freedoms (to use, study, share and improve Free Software). The Free Software contributors’ dedication is amazing and safeguards our software freedom. We want to thank all of you for work to Free Software <3

Since we began organising events in Europe together with the FSFE is local groups for the "I Love Free Software Day", Barcelona has regularly been taking part. The Barcelona based local group is a mix of people contributing and developing KDE and Free Software friends from Catalonia. Known as "Barcelona Free Software", they do very great and amazing events. Over time it was inspiring to see how the events evolved, from company related gatherings to independent group meetings with the opportunity to welcome new Free Software enthusiasts.

FSFE: Hello Albert, thank you so much for taking the time and answering our questions. It is a pleasure to do this interview with you. You are the coordinator of the Barcelona local group, which is also very much connected with KDE. Can you tell us a bit more about this group, and where the connection to KDE comes from?

Albert, from the Barcelona local group: BlueSystems, one of the companies employing people to do KDE work, opened an office in Barcelona a few years ago. At some point, people from that group said “Ok, we already know everyone in Barcelona that does KDE things, so let’s expand to Free Software and make new friends”, and that’s how Barcelona Free Software was born.

Since the original folks were from KDE, if some kind of official paperwork was needed, be it for renting something or getting a small grant or sponsorship, it was very easy to use the KDE España association. To this day KDE España still handles all the legal stuff for us. We are very grateful to them!

FSFE: How many people are active in the group?

Albert: At this point I would say there are about four of us doing general coordination work and a similar amount helping when they can. The number of people who come to our activities is quite hard to measure, but I would say in a year we get around 100 different people attending.

FSFE: What are the usual activities the Barcelona local group does?

Albert: We do a monthly meetup, except for the summer break in July and August. There we are focusing on a wide range of topics around Free Software and adjacent Free Knowledge and Free Hardware.

For example this last year we have had talks about VLC, about a CPU being developed in the Barcelona Super Computing Center, about a Free Software/Hardware combination to measure sports performance and many more.

This wide range of topics allows us to foster a thriving local community that welcomes both Free Software enthusiasts and curious newcomers, while at the same time attracting profiles from other communities with whom to carry out collaborations.

FSFE: When was the first time you celebrated “I Love Free Software Day”, and how did it work out?

Albert: We first celebrated I Love Free Software Day in 2019, and it was quite a success; that year I think we even got a local company to sponsor part of the cost of food and drinks. We also learned that different people have different expectations and that while we had made it clear, at least we thought, that it was a “let’s socialize” event, we got a couple of people who left when they realized there was no presentation, so since that day we have tried to make sure there’s a good mix of “learning” and “socializing”.

FSFE: How did the celebration of “I Love Free Software Day” evolve over the next years, and what was your personal highlight while celebrating this special day?

Albert: 2021 was definitely a challenge since in Barcelona we still could not gather in big groups, so we did something online and I think it worked relatively well. The rest of the years we learned from our “mistake” from the first time in 2019, and we make sure there is a good talk at the beginning so people that want to learn more about Free Software get to do it and then a good part of socializing too, since we feel it goes very well with the “Let’s appreciate Free Software” focus of the “I Love Free Software Day” event.

"I Love Free Software Day" celebrations in Barcelona.

FSFE: What did you do for I Love Free Software Day 2025?

Albert: We gathered at Akasha Hub, a Free Software friendly self-managed community; we did a small presentation about Free Software and used the game-like materials that FSFE had produced to test the knowledge of the attendees and learn some things we did not know about the big world of Free Software.

Albert at the "I Love Free Software Day" celebrations in Barcelona, 2025.

FSFE: What would you recommend to others when they want to organise “I Love Free Software Day” celebrations, and what are pitfalls you would say should be avoided?

Albert: My main takeaways from the several years are:

  1. Have a good mix of presentations/talks and socializing/party. Different people are going to want different things but if you have a good mix of both everyone will be relatively happy.
  2. Make sure the place you’re doing the event is relatively easy to get to. We have not had this problem with the I Love Free Software Day events, but some of our other events were in “Go to this building, then to 7th floor and 3rd door on the left, and there you will find a sign and also you will need to give ID to the person at the door” and we definitely felt that attendance would have been better if the instructions to get there did not feel like an Escape Room game.
  3. Confirm a few of the regulars will show up; this way if the event does not attract lots of new people, at least you still get to socialize with your usual friends.
  4. Mention that there will be food, if you are having food; of course, do not lie if you do not :D. We make most of our events quite close to dinner time, and if potential attendees know there will be food they will be less stressed about having to find a plan for food in a part of the city they maybe do not know that well. In this regard we want to thank the FSFE for sponsoring food for the Barcelona event this past couple of years.

FSFE: Why do you think I Love Free Software Day is important and why should everybody be celebrating this day?

Albert: I truly believe in the power of saying “Thank You”. Free Software developers are usually in a loop of bug reports and feature requests by users. We as users often see what is broken or what is missing, so we will communicate that to the developers, usually failing to send a message of how awesome the software is. This is why celebrating I Love Free Software Day and taking the time to say “Thank you” to the developers and projects we depend on is important; we need to break the cycle of negativity that sometimes the developers of Free Software are stuck in.

FSFE: Do you already have plans for celebrating “I Love Free Software Day 2026”?

Albert: We will most surely celebrate in 2026 too. We have not started planning yet, so if anyone from the Barcelona area wants to help, please talk to us!

FSFE: Albert, thank you very much for your time!

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