[GNU/FSF Press] Tackling the Big Issues - FSF Annual Associate Member Meeting, Saturday, March 15

[Peter Brown]

Tackling the Big Issues - the projects that will demand the Free
Software Foundation's attention in 2008.

Boston, Massachusetts, USA--Thursday, February 28th, 2008--The Free
Software Foundation today announced details for its annual associate
member meeting to be held at MIT, Cambridge, MA, on Saturday, March
15th, 2008. Keynote speeches from FSF board members Mako Hill and Henri
Poole and the director of the FSF-backed End Software Patents campaign
Ben Klemens will each address the 2008 theme, "Tackling the Big Issues."
They will look at the projects that will demand the Free Software
Foundation's attention in 2008: from software patents to freedom for web
services, from advancing free software adoption to the changing
relations with the entertainment industry brought about by this year's
Hollywood writers strike.

This year's meeting will also host the ceremony for the FSF's annual
free software awards, where winners of the "Award for the Advancement of
Free Software" and the "Award for Projects of Social Benefit" will be
announced and recognized. Previous winners have included community
luminaries like Andrew Tridgell, Theo de Raadt and Alan Cox and projects
of social benefit such as the Sahana Disaster Management System and
Wikipedia.

The meeting will also feature practical discussion among FSF members and
its board of directors led by FSF president Richard Stallman, who will
discuss current FSF campaigns and projects, as part of an interactive
"Members Forum" session. 

Peter Brown, FSF executive director said, "With the launch of the End
Software Patents campaign, we are tackling head-on the major threat the
free software movement faces — interestingly, this is a campaign that
was instigated at last year's meeting. At the same time we see the
incredible success that free software is having and how promotion and
adoption can be driven by ethical concerns." 

Now in its sixth year, this annual gathering has become a sounding board
for activities of the Foundation, and a place to develop ideas with the
free software community on future campaigns and actions. 

The meeting is open to all FSF members. Please send an RSVP to
address@hidden by Monday, March 10. You can join the meeting by
becoming an FSF member or renewing your membership via
http://donate.fsf.org. The full schedule of speakers and details for
attendees and registration is published at
http://www.fsf.org/associate/meetings/2008.


About the FSF
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software. Its Web site, located at www.fsf.org, is
an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support
the FSF's work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters
are in Boston, MA, USA. 



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Joshua Gay
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Free Software Foundation
(617)542-5942
address@hidden