Copyright in EU colors – Pixabay image (CC 0)
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) publishes an open letter, co-signed by 37 organizations and companies*, asking European Union lawmakers “for the right to install any software on any device, including full access to hardware. These rights support the reusability and longevity of our devices.”
The right to choose
The signatories ask European lawmakers for “a more sustainable digital economy by giving users the right to freely choose operating systems, devices and services”. They state that “the European Union is set to redefine the eco-design criterion for products in several legislative proposals, including the Sustainable Products Initiative, the Circular Electronics Initiative, and the of Repair.
These proposals aim to extend the useful life of materials and facilitate the circular use of electronic devices.
The current regulations date from 2009 and do not include any criteria for software design and licensing as an important factor for the sustainability of electronic products. Software directly influences how long consumers can continue using their devices.”
Against “artificial restrictions”
Denouncing “artificial restrictions on the use and reuse of materials” “ultimately imposed by software”, FSFE and its co-signatories point out in their letter that “using Free Software licenses solves many of these problems and way becomes crucial for an ecological design and for the durability of the materials”, notes the FSFE.
The open letter distinguishes:
– “the universal right to install any software on any device”: “Users must have the universal right to install and develop any operating system and software they want for any device.”
– Free choice of online service providers: “Using certain hardware should not dictate which online services to use. The obligation to connect to online services via Open Standards should give users the power to choose services from various manufacturers, including self-hosted services or those hosted by third parties.
– “Interoperable and compatible devices”: “Using a certain hardware should not dictate what other hardware to buy in order to keep those devices connected. Manufacturers must provide all data necessary to use a device in the Open Standards format, enabling device interoperability. The artificial incompatibility of devices must be
prohibited.”
– “Publication of source code for drivers, tools and interfaces”: “Manufacturers must allow users to redesign, replace or repair any part of the devices. This is only possible if users can access and reuse the source code of all the drivers, tools and interfaces necessary to use the device and its components. This means that the source code for the tools, drivers and interfaces for every piece of hardware in a device must be released under a Free Software license.
* Among the initial signatories are the European Right to Repair Campaign (repair.eu), the Round Table Repair, and the Netzwerk Reparatur Initiative — “together representing hundreds of initiatives and associations from European repair industry – as well as iFixit, Fairphone, Germanwatch, Open Source Business Alliance, Wikimedia DE, Digitalcourage, European Digital Rights Initiative, and 28 other organisations”. Also including, on the bookseller side, the Associação Nacional para o Software Livre (ANSOL, Portugal), the European Open Source Business Association (APELL), the Document Foundation…
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