FTF Status Report

support for the Free Software Foundation Europe

[2007/10/09] NLnet and the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) renewed their sponsoring contract, to support the second phase of the FSFE's Freedom Task Force project.

The Freedom Task Force (FTF) is a project initiated by FSFE to provide legal support services on free software to the individuals, projects, and businesses involved.

The key goal of the early FTF activities was to establish the project as a credible provider of expert licensing education, consultancy, and solutions in the European realm.

The second phase of FTF activity sees

• a focus on pro-active and positive engagement with decision makers,
• investment in long-term infrastructure creation to improve the legal support for Free software,
• the expansion of the existing networks, and
• the establishment of partnership agreements with training institutes to further the educational and training goals.

The FTF already operates a network of legal experts and a network of technical experts. The FTF also works with a group of volunteers to ensure that everyone benefits equally from Free Software. When necessary, the FTF forms ad-hoc teams of specialists to deal with specific issues. The project cooperates with law firms with expertise in Free Software licensing questions in several European countries, and provides recommendations with respect to qualified legal experts on request.