Simon Phipps

American musical satirist Tom Lehrer dies at 97, US media report Lehrer, a Harvard-trained mathematician, wrote darkly humorous songs, often with political connotations.

So grateful for the life and dark humour of Tom Lehrer, who died yesterday. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpv02yd2714o

The EU has published guidance on the AU Act, https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/118340

Notable highlights for me:
* Llama definitely fails to qualify as #OpenSource for exemption purposes, para 83 makes that clear.
* Monetisation that does not affect the availability of […]

Back in 2023 the @EUCommission opened the question of whether the European #standards system created by regulation 1025/2012 is working well. The final report of this enquiry is now available, aqt […]

I'm struck by how important the Berne Convention is to the global adoption of #OpenSource. Without it software copyright would be a hotpotch of different principles and policies in different countries and standardised licensing would be ineffective at delivering #SoftwareFreedom globally […]

Hello, I hope this message finds you well. As part of our ongoing efforts to comply with the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), we are currently conducting a cybersecurity risk assessment of third-party software vendors whose products or components are integrated into our systems. To support this initiative, we kindly request your input on the following questions related to your software product "libcurl" with version 7.87.0. Please provide your responses directly in the table below and do reply to all added in this email,

It has officially begun. The CRA info request counter is no longer at zero.

Observing more & more people with agendas talking about "AI Openness" instead of #OpenSource #AI so they can be vague and not have to commit to delivering actual freedoms. "Open" is an event leading to freedom, not a scale concealing monetisation.

Watch out for phrases like "it's open enough" […]

Would you like to end the constant drumbeat of ill-informed legislative proposals that threaten to destroy end-to-end #encryption in #OpenSource #software? Are you from #Europe? Can you demonstrate your expertise? Then why not apply to join the European Commission's Expert Group for a Technology […]

I've been an advocate for @swheritage ever since @zacchiro told me about the idea in 2015, and have contributed in various ways ever since. So I am honoured to have been invited to serve on its new Advisory Board and excited about the next steps this cultural cornerstone will take […]

I'm hearing that the @EUCommission is willing to sideline its AI Act to try to barter favours from the US. There are a bunch of US companies who have been working hard to make it so.

https://www.techpolicy.press/how-us-firms-are-weakening-the-eu-ai-code-of-practice/

Now is the start of the last day to apply for funding to support engagement in European #standards from StandICT, who have a fund allocated by the European Commission.

https://www.standict.eu/index.php/standicteu-2026-9th-open-call

Brexit has blown a £40 billion tax hole in the public finances, according to a forecasting audit that finds that the Office for Budget Responsibility’s projections on the impact of leaving the EU have broadly materialised.

https://archive.is/dADIn

Introducing the new API for OSI Approved Licenses® Originally published at: Introducing the new API for OSI Approved Licenses® – Open Source Initiative The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is excited to announce the availability of a new API service providing access to the canonical list of OSI Approved Licenses®. This service is fully public and free to use.

To discuss the new API, please use the OSI forums: https://discuss.opensource.org/t/introducing-the-new-api-for-osi-approved-licenses/1169

The paper just published by @netzpolitik_feed shows: financing is a major issue for #OpenSource, but administrations need to invest anyways: Windows 10 is at end of life this year and contracts become artificially more expensive because of AI features – public procurement is the primary lever […]

OSI has a new API! There has actually been an OSI license API for many years thanks to the efforts of some of the directors a decade ago. Since it was manually maintained, it kept getting out of date.

I am delighted that OSI now has a new API integrated into its WordPress instance that uses the […]

Not #CrossBorderRail directly, but I've written an opinion piece for The Guardian about the stalling development of night trains in Europe, and why Nox - a new Berlin startup - has some interesting ideas how to solve some of the issues […]

There is something pleasingly symmetric about the ACT EU Citizen's Initiative (requiring the @EUCommission to bring forward legislation banning "conversion therapy" targeted against gender diversity) reaching its threshold to become binding on the day of the #Eurovision final […]

Grazing on the #Eurovision finalists and the most fascinating has to be the Latvian group Tautumeitas whose folk inspired entry is spellbinding. I found them on #BandCamp and their self-titled album is great!

https://tautumeitas.bandcamp.com/album/tautumeitas

Firefox Moves to GitHub Comments

Looks like #Firefox has moved to GitHub https://github.com/mozilla-firefox/firefox

Redis is now available under the the OSI-approved AGPLv3 open source license. The rise of hyperscalers like AWS and GCP has unlocked incredible speed and scale for startups and enterprises alike. But for companies rooted in open source, it has posed a fundamental challenge: how do you keep innovating and investing in OSS projects when cloud providers reap the profits and control the infrastructure without proportional contributions […]

Pleased to see #Redis returning to an #OpenSource license.

https://redis.io/blog/agplv3/

The Open Source Lab (OSL) at Oregon State University (OSU) hosts over 500 #OpenSource projects and is globally important. It faces a funding crisis that will see it shut down later this year if it can't secure $250k from sponsors.

If your company depends on open source software, you probably […]

There's long been a view held by certain cynical entrepreneurs that they can go with #OpenSource to build a user base then bait-and-switch software freedom away once it is established. That's bad.

What's worse is to donate to an open source Foundation then pretend you have the right to "take […]

The @EUCommission wants to know if it should plough money into #cloud and #AI #development. I know there are lots of #OpenSource people with views, so maybe express them here […]

#CyberSecurity community! The @EUCommission wants to know if it should revise the CyberSecurity Act (this act is the mandate of the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and governs the European Cybersecurity Certification Framework, it is NOT the CRA).

If you have feedback, especially from an […]

Europeans! Are you concerned about the security of your health information? How about its accessibility with #OpenSource tools?

The @EUCommission is seeking members for its Health Cybersecurity Advisory Board - deadline is May 23rd […]

An excellent letter from a cross-party group of MEPs calling on the European Commission to act to stop companies like Meta openwashing their AI.

https://bsky.app/profile/birgitsippel.bsky.social/post/3lmjo7aqx3s2f

#OpenSource

One of my most significant fears about the EU Cyber Resilience Act is that it could be abused by vendors to force DRM-like limitations into consumer products, as Synology is regrettably attempting […]

Don't be fooled by Meta's claims its Llama AI is open source. As well as its commercial restrictions, Meta's Llama 4 Acceptable Use Policy overrides the license & blocks software freedom rights to EU citizens.

AUP: "the rights ... are not being granted to you if you are an individual domiciled […]

Call4Speakers - SFSCON Share your knowledge and submit your talk to SFSCON by June, 30th.

My favourite #OpenSource #conference in #Europe is #SFSCon (held in South Tyrol on 7-8 November), and its #CallForPapers has just opened.

https://www.sfscon.it/call-4-speakers/

The @EUCommission has a new catalogue of #OpenSource solutions created for public services.

https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/eu-oss-catalogue