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DMA : La FSFE intervient pour la deuxième fois contre Apple devant la Cour de justice de l'Union européenne

mardi 19 mai 2026 à 01:00

DMA : La FSFE intervient pour la deuxième fois contre Apple devant la Cour de justice de l'Union européenne

La Free Software Foundation Europe s'est vu accorder l'autorisation d'intervenir devant la Cour de justice de l'Union européenne dans l'affaire T-359/25 - Apple contre la Commission européenne. Cette deuxième intervention vise à défendre l'interopérabilité et la liberté des logiciels en Europe.

En mai 2026, la Cour de justice de l'Union européenne (CJUE) a approuvé la demande d'intervention de la Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) dans l'affaire Apple v. Commission européenne (T-359/25) en soutien à la Commission européenne.

Cette affaire concerne les obligations d'Apple en vertu de l'article 6(7) du règlement sur les marchés numériques (Digital Markets Act, DMA). Apple conteste la décision de la Commission européenne qui établit les procédures selon lesquelles l'entreprise doit assurer l'interopérabilité logicielle et matérielle pour ses smartphones et tablettes. La décision de la Commission inclut des mesures destinées à améliorer la transparence et l'accès pour les développeurs souhaitant bénéficier de l'interopérabilité avec les fonctionnalités du système d'exploitation d'Apple, les fonctionnalités matérielles incluant l'accès aux informations techniques, les canaux de communication, et des procédures plus claires pour les demandes d'interopérabilité.

« Cette affaire constitue l'un des grands tests judiciaires des obligations d'interopérabilité de l'UE au titre du DMA. Cette loi vise à empêcher les grandes entreprises technologiques d'exclure injustement leurs concurrents. La FSFE cherche à faire appliquer le DMA d'une manière favorable aux développeurs de Logiciels Libres »,

déclare Lucas Lasota, responsable du programme juridique de la FSFE.

Dans son ordonnance autorisant la FSFE à intervenir, la Cour a explicitement reconnu que l'issue de l'affaire est « susceptible d'avoir un impact significatif sur la fourniture de Logiciels Libres et open source » et sur la capacité des développeurs à connecter leurs applications aux systèmes d'exploitation d'Apple. La Cour a en outre reconnu que la limitation des obligations d'interopérabilité pourrait empêcher les développeurs et utilisateurs de Logiciels Libres de pouvoir « interconnecter leurs applications avec le système d'exploitation d'Apple ».

« Les intérêts industriels étant bien représentés par plusieurs intervenants de l'autre côté, la FSFE est là pour garantir que la société civile soit également entendue — et que la Cour puisse statuer en ayant le tableau complet devant elle »

déclare le Dr Martin Husovec, l'avocat représentant la FSFE devant la Cour.

Une nouvelle affaire pour l'interopérabilité

C'est la deuxième fois que la FSFE intervient dans un litige devant la CJUE concernant le DMA et Apple. L'affaire précédente (T-1080/23) porte sur le défi plus large d'Apple à ses obligations au titre du DMA et à sa désignation en tant que contrôleur d'accès, tandis que la présente affaire (T-359/25) se concentre spécifiquement sur l'interopérabilité au titre de l'article 6(7) du DMA et la légalité de la décision de la Commission européenne précisant comment Apple doit mettre en œuvre ces obligations en pratique.

Dans un prochain temps, la FSFE préparera et soumettra sa déclaration d'intervention devant la Cour, présentant plus avant ses arguments sur l'interopérabilité, la liberté des logiciels, et l'impact pratique du DMA sur les développeurs et les utilisateurs.

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SFP#51: Policy and EU: The challenges for public code in public administration!

vendredi 15 mai 2026 à 01:00

SFP#51: Policy and EU: The challenges for public code in public administration!

In this monthly Software Freedom Podcast episode we are talking with the Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS) and their X-Road, a Free Software well-used in public institutions. Together with Johannes Näder from the FSFE, and Petteri Kivimäki (NIIS) we discussed the current challenges that Free and Open Source Projects meet in public institutions.

With the SFP#51 the FSFE dives into the topic of digital sovereignty through Free Software and the current challenges for Free Software projects in public administrations. X-Road, maintained by NIIS, is a well-used Free and Open Source Software project in public institutions. It is used in severral countries and has a stable development through the organisation with the support of eight public bodies. Meanwhile, the FSFE's initiative "Public Money? Public Code!" is gaining more attention and becoming a well-used phrase in political discussions.

Still Free Software is not yet adopted in all the institutions and there are several challenges ahead for the Free Software ecosystem. With our 51st episode Johannes, Petteri and Bonnie take a deep look at those challenges and how some could be overcome.

The FSFE's policy work is an important part of our aim to safeguard Software Freedom. You can support our work by donating today!

Show notes

We are happy to receive your feedback on the Software Freedom Podcast and especially on the transcript of the episode. Please, email us 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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Decades-long victory, bold Apple survey findings, legal workshop success & our 50th podcast episode

mercredi 6 mai 2026 à 01:00

Decades-long victory, bold Apple survey findings, legal workshop success & our 50th podcast episode

April brought LLW, where we gathered with Legal Network members to discuss a wide range of legal and licensing topics. One of them was the DMA, legislation that is keeping us busy: we are exposing how Apple keeps blocking third-party developers, denying their interoperability requests. On a brighter note, over ten years of advocacy paid off: the EC is protecting users' right to install any software on radio devices. And we reached episode 50 in our SFP!

"I spent all of my training budget this year on coming to LLW, but just the networking itself has already paid off!" LLW 2026 participant

European policy news: RED and DMA interoperability

We are starting this new month with great news: after more than ten years of persistent advocacy, we have a significant win to celebrate. The European Commission has decided to protect users' right to install any software on their radio devices, abandoning the article in the Radio Equipment Directive that threatened to undermine this freedom. This decision shows that persistent, evidence-based engagement with EU policy processes can achieve, and protect, software freedom. But this is also only possible when we have the long-term resources and stability to stay in the room, follow the process, and act at the right moment. That is exactly why we need your continued support.

Meanwhile, we have monitored how Apple is implementing its interoperability obligations under the DMA. Our recently released report “The challenges of regulating interoperability: Analysing Apple’s request-based approach under the Digital Markets Act” sheds light on how Apple has handled those requests in practice. Our analysis shows how 56 interoperability requests under the Digital Markets Act have produced no concrete solutions by Apple, and how their refusals contradict their own official documentation, leaving third-party developers locked out of iOS and iPadOS, despite the European Commission’s latest specification decision.

Following our publication, we published a summary of the report in the Tagesspiegel Background (DE). In the contribution, we explain how interoperability can be a powerful tool to break tech monopolies in the mobile market, and how its enforcement in the DMA is needed to empower Free Software developers.

Software Freedom Podcast: episode 50 about NGI

And more European news! Did you know that the FSFE is a partner of the European initiative Next Generation Internet Zero? Under this umbrella, the FSFE supports NGI0 grantee projects on legal and licensing issues, as well as helping them to become REUSE compliant. Although this project is ending next year, we are also happy to announce the new initiative that will follow in its steps: the EU project Restack. Listen to the latest episode of our podcast in which Bonnie and Gabriel discuss NGI0, introduce Restack, and explain why we need sustainable long term funding for fostering the Free Software ecosystem. If you know a Free Software project, or you have an idea that can contribute to an open, resilient, trustworthy, sustainable, and human-centered internet, you can apply for NGI0 funding:https://nlnet.nl/funding.html.

By the way, this is episode 50 of our podcast! We want to take a moment to thank every single one of you on the other side, listening to the Software Freedom Podcast. Fifty episodes in, and it is your curiosity, your support, and your commitment to software freedom that keep this going. We are truly grateful to our community and our listeners! And if you are a newcomer, you can find all our episodes here.

From the stages: LLW and more!

But that is not all that has happened in the last weeks! A few weeks ago the Free Software Legal & Licensing Workshop 2026 took place in Berlin, bringing together over 100 legal and compliance professionals, technologists, and policy experts from all over the globe. The LLW, organised by the FSFE, continued to explore the evolving legal landscapes impacting Free Software, with many discussions focusing on how software licensing is impacted by the advent of large language models and AI. Ths event was, once again, possible thanks to our 2026 sponsors: our Diamond sponsors Mercedes and Red Hat; the Sapphire sponsors Amazon (AWS), Microsoft, and Siemens; Topaz sponsors Bosch, Ericsson, and Google; and our Ruby sponsors Bird & Bird, Eclipse Foundation, and Liferay.

Not only at LLW did we learn about legal topics. Check out our Mastodon handle, where we regularly post poll questions on legal topics. They can come in handy in unexpected places: thanks to one of those polls, this editor actually knew an answer at the Pub Quiz during OggCamp 2026!

Speaking of which, these past weeks have been busy on the events front. After seven years, we were thrilled to return to OggCamp, where we ran an information booth and gave presentations. We also attended FOSS North, and last weekend joined the Augsburger Linux Info Day, where we delivered a keynote and a workshop.

In the coming weeks, our volunteers will be at the Festival de Tecnologia Popular de Setúbal, the Tübingen Digital Freedom Days, and more! Check events.fsfe.org.

From the Ada workshop

The illustrated story of ‘Ada & Zangemann’ continues reaching kids (and adults) worldwide. Recently, the Austrian Ministry of Education released an online course about ‘Ada & Zangemann’ with really cool exercises (and for students of German it can also be a great way to practice their German skills with Ada).

Your support helps us move our work forward

We may be behind the wheel, but you’re the ones keeping us moving forward. You can also support us, contribute to our work, and join our community. Are you using social media? If so, do not forget to follow us there! You can also follow the FSFE news in your RSS Reader.

Your editor, Ana

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FSFE: NHS England should not hide public code behind closed doors

lundi 4 mai 2026 à 01:00

FSFE: NHS England should not hide public code behind closed doors

England’s National Health Service (NHS England) is preparing to make most of its public source code repositories private by default, according to recent reports. The move appears to be based on concerns that public code repositories could be scanned by AI systems to identify vulnerabilities. The reported internal guidance, referred to as “SDLC-8”, would require public repositories to be made private unless an explicit exception is approved.

The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) considers this a serious move in the wrong direction. Taking already public repositories offline does not prevent attackers from analysing deployed systems, dependencies, interfaces, or binaries. Depublishing does not make code unseen, nor does it remove existing copies, and it is not an effective security measure. Instead, it removes a fundamental pillar for security: the ability of independent experts, researchers, and other public bodies to inspect, reuse, and improve the code, and to report on security issues.

“Depublishing public code is not a security strategy. 'Security through obscurity’ has been debunked as a security measure for a long time”, says Johannes Näder, FSFE Senior Policy Project Manager. “Making repositories private does not protect NHS systems. It only limits who can help find and fix problems. The same is true for future code: releasing publicly funded software as Free Software creates better conditions for scrutiny, accountability, and security than locking it away by default.”

Releasing publicly funded software as Free Software is the core demand of the FSFE’s “Public Money? Public Code!” initiative. It is also the principle behind existing NHS and UK guidance: NHS England’s own Service Standard states that new source code for public services should be open and reusable because public services are built with public money. UK government guidance similarly requires new source code to be open and reusable, while allowing only narrowly defined exceptions.

“If NHS England decides to depublish its services' code, that would directly contradict its own guidance and the wider UK principle of making publicly funded code open by default, says Näder. Security concerns should be addressed through proper software engineering: secret management, vulnerability handling, dependency maintenance, reviews, and defence in depth. A blanket shift from open by default to closed by default is disproportionate and counterproductive."

Free Software enables independent audits, fosters local expertise, and allows public bodies to share and improve solutions together. In the health sector, where trust, resilience, and accountability are essential, these benefits are particularly important. Furthermore, “Public Money? Public Code!” fosters innovation and is one of the most effective tools to reduce lock-in, reducing public administrations’ dependency on proprietary vendors, and enabling digital sovereignty.

The FSFE therefore calls on NHS England to reverse any blanket private-by-default policy for publicly funded code, to publish the reported guidance, and to reaffirm that Free Software remains the default for publicly funded software.

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Victory after a decade preventing Radio Lockdown

jeudi 30 avril 2026 à 01:00

Victory after a decade preventing Radio Lockdown

The European Commission is choosing to protect user’s right to install any software on their radio devices by deciding to abandon the specific article in the EU Radio Equipment regulation that was harming software freedom.

From 2014 onwards an specific article on the EU regulation Radio Equipment Directive (RED) threatened to make it impossible to install custom software on most radio devices like WiFi routers, mobile phones, Bluetooth chips in computers, GPS receivers, and embedded devices. It would have required hardware manufacturers to prevent users from installing any software not certified by them.

After more than 10 years of persistent steady work by the FSFE and a broad coalition of organisations, the European Commission decided in January 2026 to abandon this provision: Free Software on radio devices remains protected!

This decision followed an impact assessment study commissioned by DG GROWEC’s DG GROW (Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs), published in December 2025. The study evaluated five policy options and concluded that the risks associated with software reconfiguration of radio devices "remain theoretical and have not materialised in a systemic manner". It recommended a soft law approach based on voluntary guidance and best practices, rather than binding technical restrictions. Activating Article 3(3)(i) was found to severely harm Free Software, innovation, and user rights, while imposing prohibitive costs on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Notably, the impact assessment cited the legal study by Dr. Till Jaeger, commissioned by the FSFE, which demonstrated that Article 3(3)(i) is incompatible with widely used Free Software licences such as the GNU GPL. The FSFE and the concerns raised by the Free Software community were explicitly referenced as reasons against activation.

This outcome is the result of more than decade of sustained work with intense phases, but also phases of waiting for the right moment to get active again. Since 2015, the FSFE has been monitoring the regulatory process, contributing expertise to consultations, publishing analyses, and a broad coalition of organisations and individuals who raised their voices against Radio Lockdown. It demonstrates that persistent, evidence-based engagement with EU policy processes can make a real difference for software freedom.

This success would not have been possible without the many people and organisations who took action over the years. Thank you to everyone who contacted the European Commission and political representatives, who raised awareness about Radio Lockdown, who participated in public consultations, who signed the Joint Statement against Radio Lockdown, and all the FSFE supporters for their financial contributions enabling our work. Your engagement made a real difference.

However, the underlying idea of shifting compliance responsibility to manufacturers — and thereby restricting which software can run on devices — may resurface in other regulatory contexts.

So while the immediate threat of Article 3(3)(i) has been averted, the idea of restricting software on radio devices could resurface in other regulations.

Ensure that software freedom remains protected:

It often takes a long breath, patience, the expertise to spot the right time for action, and the resources to then actually act. With your help the FSFE will continue to defend the right of users to install or remove any software on any of their devices.

Become a supporter today!

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