Tell the FCC that we need net neutrality

A free net is necessary for a free society, and free software cannot thrive in a world where access to the Internet is controlled by people who work hard every day to restrict our freedom. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai is looking to hand control of the Internet over to companies like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon, who are much more interested in their own profits than protecting your freedoms. Spread the word—tell your friends why we need to defend net neutrality today.

Net neutrality is the idea that the net should provide the same services to all of its users, without discriminatory practices like paywalls that restrict your access to specific sites, or throttled network speeds. Without network neutrality, you can't trust the Internet to connect you honestly to the sites you wish to talk with. You may be charged extra, hampered, or blocked entirely from sites that the Internet service provider (ISP) does not like. When it does allow you to communicate with a site, it may alter the data sent to and from the site.

Net neutrality is a Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) issue; it impacts the collaboration that makes free software possible; and it creates an unequal field of digital engagement in which there is no guaranteed way to make sure your freedoms are being respected.

With the support of large ISPs, Chairman Pai is looking to tear down the already fragile network neutrality in place.

Today, the Free Software Foundation joins Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, Free Press, and dozens of other organizations in an Internet-wide day of action to save net neutrality.

We all need unfettered access to the Internet. In the last 30 days, over 700,000 people have left comments on Docket 17-108 (the misleadingly named "Restoring Internet Freedom," which in truth is designed to inhibit Internet freedom). Docket 17-108 is the FCC proposal to slash Title II protections for net neutrality.

We really want you to send comments to the FCC. But they've joined the ranks of government agencies whose comment submission process requires running proprietary JavaScript on your computer. If you want to submit a comment without using their Web-based submission form, there is an option to use a public API to submit comments. You can read about other ways to contact the FCC on their website.

We're asking you to share this post with your friends. In the battle for Internet freedom, our best hope is having as many people as possible aware of the importance of net neutrality and the risk it is currently facing. Please post on social media, share this (and similar e-mails and blog posts) with your friends, or write your own messages. Tell the people in your life not just that net neutrality is important to you, but why. Grassroots organizing can make a difference, and you're an important part of that.

You can read more below about why we at the Free Software Foundation care about net neutrality.

Why does net neutrality matter?

DRM thrives without net neutrality

Media distribution giants that use Digital Restrictions Management and proprietary software to control what's on your computer have also been fighting for years to control the network. Without net neutrality, DRM-laden materials could be easier to access, while DRM-free competitors could be stuck in the slow lane. Web-based free software projects like GNU MediaGoblin could also suffer the slow treatment while competitors like YouTube shell out big bucks for speedier service. The bottom line: an Internet where the most powerful interests can pay for huge speed advantages could push smaller free software projects right off the map and make it harder for decentralized projects to flourish. That's not good for free software, and it's not good for other innovative voices for change in the digital world.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee recently ratified the inclusion of Encrypted Media Extensions (a form of DRM) into Web standards. While not all hope is lost, since member organizations still have time left to appeal the decision—this is an example of why net neutrality is so important. DRM is finding more footholds for itself on the Web, and we need to reinforce the protections we have against it.

Net neutrality and free software

Free software can't survive without net neutrality. Donald Robertson III, from the FSF Licensing team, explains why:

When the free software movement started decades ago, the primary means of sharing software was via physical media. While selling or lending tapes or disks helped build the fledgling movement, today we all expect to send and receive software via the Web. Whether you are downloading updates, pushing a patch back upstream, or even finding a new distro for your laptop, you rely on the Internet for access to software and documentation. Without net neutrality, all that could go away. The new distro that you would come to love wouldn't come into existence, because the volunteers creating it could not only be limited in their ability to share it with you, but they themselves could be limited in their ability to download the packages that comprise the operating system. We could of course all go back to sharing tapes and CDs, but the explosion in growth and development that rose along with the rise of the free Internet would be hindered. No one, except greedy telecoms, wants to go back in time twenty years to when getting free software involved a postage stamp.

It is impossible to enforce net neutrality without free software. Unless we're able to examine and study the software used to keep the net free, we're unable to ensure that it is actually respecting net neutrality. Similarly, without net neutrality, it is unlikely that ISPs will ever use freedom-respecting software.

Ian Kelling, of the FSF Tech Team, highlights the ways in which the ideologies of free software and net neutrality are related:

Free software enables us to have software that works for us, and developers of free software get to really dig deep on what is in the best interests of the user. ISPs, on the other hand, are acting for themselves, and there are many examples of them doing things that are clearly against their customers' interests. Net neutrality provides some basic rules of the road, and there are more ways we should make ISPs act in our interests. But we can't develop a better ISP like we can with free software.

Words from Richard Stallman, President of the FSF

25 years ago, there were so many ISPs that competition discouraged abuses. Since then, the US government has allowed so many mergers that competition between ISPs is almost nonexistent. It is no deterrent nowadays to abuses of any kind.

The FCC's network neutrality regulation does not go far enough. Full network neutrality means that the ISP cannot take note of which site you are communicating with, except under a specific court order aimed at you. But that is a battle for another day. Today we must defeat the attempt to abolish the limited network neutrality we already have.

Net neutrality as an international issue

Net neutrality is very much an international issue. There are the BEREC net neutrality guidelines in the European Union. Internet.org was rolled out in Zambia, which provides gratis Internet in exchange for allowing Facebook control of what users see and access. TRAI, India's regulatory body, tackles issues of net neutrality by banning differential pricing for data.

United States policy has impact far beyond its borders—and with net neutrality this is no different. By allowing US-based companies to restrict access within the US, those companies are more easily able to extend those restrictions elsewhere. There are social and economic impacts of a non-neutral net—even now net neutrality violations exist.

Digital rights are a global issue. Moving forward, we need to work together to make sure that there is equitable access to freedom-respecting technology across the globe. Keeping the Internet accessible with the help of net neutrality is the next step. Let's take it together.

We need you to protect net neutrality. Tell the people in your life, tell the FCC, tell your story.

Last week we happily announced that we awarded Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification to fifteen new devices from Technoethical (formerly Tehnoetic): the TET-N150HGA, the TET-N300, the TET-N300HGA, the TET-N300DB, the TET-N450DB, the TET-BT4, the TET-X200, the TET-X200T, the TET-X200S, the TET-T400, the TET-400S, the TET-T500, the TET-X200DOCK, the TET-T400DOCK, and the TET-D16. While Technoethical is based in Romania, they are able to ship to many countries around the world. The RYF certification mark means that the products meet the FSF's standards in regard to users' freedom, control over the product, and privacy.

This is a vast expansion of the currently available RYF products, more than doubling the present count. Users now have more options than ever when it comes to devices they can trust. We hope to repeat the feat accomplished this week with even more big launches in the future. Technoethical should be very proud of what they've accomplished here, and we look forward to seeing even more new hardware from them.

These of course are not the first devices from Technoethical to receive RYF certification. Technoethical's Mini WiFi USB adapter TET-N150 was certified in 2014. With these additions, Technoethical is now home to an incredible breadth of devices that users can trust to respect their freedom. They use their expansive portfolio of hardware to help fund their passion for free software, donating a portion of their proceeds to the FSF as well as other free software projects.

Last week's certifications include multiple laptops: the TET-X200, the TET-X200T, the TET-X200s, the TET-T400, the TET-T400s, and the TET-T500. Technoethical was not the first to have laptops that Respect Your Freedom, but this entry breaks new ground by introducing a tablet to the mix. The TET-X200T has a convertible screen that allows it to change from a laptop to a tablet, the first such laptop to be certified. In addition to introducing a tablet form factor, Technoethical is bringing slimmer and sleeker laptops with the TET-X200S and TET-T400S, both of which are narrower and lighter than their non-S labelled counterparts.

Technoethical also received certification on two docking stations: the TET-X200DOCK for X200 series laptops and the TET-T400DOCK for T400 and T500 series laptops. The TET-D16 is now the second mainboard certified by the FSF. Technoethical offers a wide range of RYF-certified WiFi USB adapters, adding the TET-N150HGA, the TET-N300, and the TET-N300HGA to its line-up. They also have two internal WiFi devices: the TET-N300DB and the TET-N450DB. Finally, Technoethical now offers the first certified Bluetooth device — the TET-BT4 USB adapter. Certification details for all these devices, including certified source code, can be found at https://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/technoethical.

Certifying devices isn't a simple process. That is why it was great that the folks from Technoethical were able to join us at LibrePlanet 2017. It was wonderful to be able to work with them in person in making our initial review. Because RYF is a global program, we often only get to interact via email and the post. Doing an in person meet up is obviously a lot more fun, and also enabled them to showcase their work at the conference itself.

RYF makes it possible for people with less technical knowledge who care about user freedom to identify which products they should purchase. Its continued growth is an important step towards making a world where it is easy for users to control their own computing. Technoethical's work is the biggest leap forward we've made so far, but we can't just rest on our laurels. To be successful, we have to keep developing and strengthening the program. Here's what you can do to help support the RYF program:

• Purchase RYF-certified devices and recommend them to your friends.
• Support our work on RYF by becoming an associate member or making a donation.

Participate in supporting the Directory by adding new entries and updating existing ones. We will be on IRC in the #fsf channel on irc.freenode.org.

Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions, to providing detailed info about version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing info that has been carefully checked by FSF staff and trained volunteers.

While the Directory has been and continues to be a great resource to the world for over a decade now, it has the potential of being a resource of even greater value. But it needs your help!

What is old is new again as we return to adding new packages to the Directory. We've really done some great work in smashing through the backlog of pages awaiting approval, so now it's time to finish that backlog and add even more new packages. We'll also be discussing more about the importation project, which has the potential to add thousands of packages from Debian in one fell swoop.

If you are eager to help and you can't wait or are simply unable to make it onto IRC on Friday, our participation guide will provide you with all the information you need to get started on helping the Directory today! There are also weekly Directory Meeting pages that everyone is welcome to contribute to before, during, and after each meeting.

Every week free software activists from around the world come together in #fsf on irc.freenode.org to help improve the Free Software Directory. This recaps the work we accomplished at the Friday, June 30th, 2017 meeting.

This past week the Directory looked at ecommerce software and remembered the authorization of digital signatures in the U.S. For some of the entries in the ecommerce section it was time to close up shop since the code for the project had vanished, but some entries survived thanks to the Internet archives. d3crypt came by and helped improve the Directory, as did adfeno who also added to the conversation on dependency and protocol interaction between nonfree/free software.

If you would like to help update the Directory, meet with us every Friday in #fsf on irc.freenode.org from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT (16:00 to 19:00 UTC).

It's fortunately more common now in Free Software communities today to properly value contributions from non-developers. Historically, though, contributions from developers were often overvalued and contributions from others grossly undervalued. One person trailblazed as (likely) the earliest non-developer contributor to software freedom. His name was Robert J. Chassell — called Bob by his friends and colleagues. Over the weekend, our community lost Bob after a long battle with a degenerative illness.

I am one of the few of my generation in the Free Software community who had the opportunity to know Bob. He was already semi-retired in the late 1990s when I first became involved with Free Software, but he enjoyed giving talks about Free Software and occasionally worked the FSF booths at events where I had begun to volunteer in 1997. He was the first person to offer mentorship to me as I began the long road of becoming a professional software freedom activist.

I regularly credit Bob as the first Executive Director of the FSF. While he technically never held that title, he served as Treasurer for many years and was the de-facto non-technical manager at the FSF for its first decade of existence. One need only read the earliest issues of the GNU's Bulletin to see just a sampling of the plethora of contributions that Bob made to the FSF and Free Software generally.

Bob's primary forte was as a writer and he came to Free Software as a technical writer. Having focused his career on documenting software and how it worked to help users make the most of it, software freedom — the right to improve and modify not only the software, but its documentation as well — was a moral belief that he held strongly. Bob was an early member of the privileged group that now encompasses most people in industrialized society: a non-developer who sees the value in computing and the improvement it can bring to life. However, Bob's realization that users like him (and not just developers) faced detrimental impact from proprietary software remains somewhat rare, even today. Thus, Bob died in a world where he was still unique among non-developers: fighting for software freedom as an essential right for all who use computers.

Bob coined a phrase that I still love to this day. He said once that the job that we must do as activists was “preserve, protect and promote software freedom”. Only a skilled writer such as he could come up with such a perfectly concise alliteration that nevertheless rolls off the tongue without stuttering. Today, I pulled up an email I sent to Bob in November 2006 to tell him that (when Novell made their bizarre software-freedom-unfriendly patent deal with Microsoft) Novell had coopted his language in their FAQ on the matter. Bob wrote back: "I am not surprised. You can bet everything [we've ever come up with] will be used against us." Bob's decade-old words are prolific when I look at the cooption we now face daily in Free Software. I acutely feel the loss of his insight and thoughtfulness.

One of the saddest facts about Bob's illness, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, is that his voice was quite literally lost many years before we lost him entirely. His illness made it nearly impossible for him to speak. In the late 1990s, I had the pleasure of regularly hearing Bob's voice, when I accompanied Bob to talks and speeches at various conferences. That included the wonderful highlight of his acceptance speech of GNU's 2001 achievement award from the USENIX Association. (I lament that no recordings of any of these talks seem to be available anywhere.) Throughout the early 2000s, I would speak to Bob on the telephone at least once a month; he would offer his sage advice and mentorship in those early years of my professional software freedom career. Losing his voice in our community has been a slow-moving tragedy as his illness has progressed. This weekend, that unique voice was lost to us forever.

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Bob, who was born in Bennington, VT on 22 August 1946, died in Great Barrington, MA on 30 June 2017. He is survived by his sister, Karen Ringwald, and several nieces and nephews and their families. A memorial service for Bob will take place at 11 am, July 26, 2017, at The First Congregational Church in Stockbridge, MA.

In the meantime, the best I can suggest is that anyone who would like to posthumously get to know Bob please read (what I believe was) the favorite book that he wrote, An Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp. Bob was a huge advocate of non-developers learning “a little bit” of programming — just enough to make their lives easier when they used computers. He used GNU Emacs from its earliest versions and I recall he was absolutely giddy to discover new features, help document them, and teach them to new users. I hope those of you that both already love and use Emacs and those who don't will take a moment to read what Bob had to teach us about his favorite program.

Originally posted at http://www.ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2017/07/03/Chassell.html under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.