A National Convention on Free Software, organised by Free Software Foundation of India, Swecha and Dept. of History University of Hyderabad is scheduled to be held on 3rd and 4th of March 2007 in Hyderabad.
Declaration:
Information Technology is revolutionizing the way people communicate with other and the way companies run their business. The new space – the cyber space—has facilitated the people around the globe to organize and exchange knowledge, goods and services on a global scale. Mailing lists, forums and online communities are a few forms in which people around the globe organize and exchange ideas, independent of space and time. Encyclopedias made by communities (groups in the cyberspace) are gaining acceptability. While IT and global connectivity has the enormous potential of communities of people in different parts of the world working together for a better future, it can also lead to increasing monopoly of power by a few corporations. In order to fulfill the promise of IT and global connectivity be monopolized by proprietary software and proprietary systems.
Free Software has convincingly demonstrated to the world how knowledge building is enhanced by freedom, openness and social consciousness. Today, Free Software Movement, has got around 2 million volunteers across the world. It has shown that software incorporating the freedom to use, adapt and modify and disseminate leads to a higher quality of software and a valid business model. The worldwide acceptance of this new paradigm of “copyleft” is now encompassing new areas such as biology and the creative arts.
In spite of such significant advances over the last two decades, the proprietary systems and corporations promoting such systems are still trying to influence Governments, international bodies, regulatory systems and educational institutions to restrict the freedoms propounded by free software community. Various proprietary standards are being proposed and there are continuous attempts not only to extend the boundary of proprietary software but also try and “fence” knowledge and software using alien tools such as patents.
It is in this context that this convention has decided to take up as an urgent action plan the following:
1) Procurement of software by Government, Government organizations/undertakings and Government funded organization shall be Free Software.
2) Only non-proprietary software and data formats to be used for any Government work.
3) Making all software developed under Government funding to be made Free Software and put in public domain
4) The recent change introduced in the copyright law that allowed encryption, and hardware locking should be opposed.
5) University Grants Commission should ensure the usage of Free Software both in the curriculum framework and research.
6) The Government should take initiative in starting Free Software Development Centres suited for Indian requirements and developmental goals.
7) All fonts in Indian languages developed under Governmental aegis to be immediately put in public domain.
8) Time bound development and standardization of Indian language coding systems, keyboards and fonts under DIT aegis.
9) Promotion of Free Software in schools, colleges, universities and the curriculum should not name any brand.
10) Promoting self-reliance in IT sector.
11) Internet access to every individual within 2km radius within a time bound programme.
We demand that the State and Central governments to accept the above demands. We appeal to the community to rise in large number to pressurize the governments to accept the above mentioned demands.
