------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Debian Project https://www.debian.org/
Debian and Software Freedom Conservancy announce Copyright
Aggregation Project
August 17th, 2015 https://www.debian.org/News/2015/20150817 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

This past weekend, in his keynote at DebConf (the Debian Project's
annual conference in Heidelberg, Germany), Software Freedom
Conservancy's Distinguished Technologist and President, Bradley M. Kuhn, announced [1] Conservancy's Debian Copyright Aggregation Project. This
new project, formed at the request of Debian developers, gives Debian contributors various new options to ensure the defense of software
freedom.
Specifically, Debian contributors may chose to either assign their
copyrights to Conservancy for permanent stewardship, or sign
Conservancy's license enforcement agreement, which delegates to
Conservancy authority to enforce Free Software licenses (such as the GNU General Public License). Several Debian contributors have already signed
both forms of agreement.

1: https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/aug/17/debian/

Former Debian Project Leader (DPL), Stefano Zacchiroli enthusiastically welcomed the program, saying: "I urged Conservancy to work with Debian
to create this program. Holding copyright on Free Software code is a
privilege, but also a huge responsibility. Debian Developers have asked
me for years a way to make sure some charity they can trust looked after
their hard work and ensured Free Software licenses were upheld.
Conservancy is the best partner I can imagine for this job. I've signed
up myself for the program!"

On behalf of the Debian community, Conservancy can now safeguard the
long term interests of Debian and its commitment to software freedom. In connection with the Aggregation Project, Conservancy will provide
license consulting, advice, and compliance services to Debian in
coordination with the DPL. The framework for all these services to the
Debian community was implemented by Lucas Nussbaum during his term as
DPL. The agreement established the DPL as the primary contact point for
the services agreement.

Neil McGovern, the current DPL, stated: "With this new program, Debian
has a fantastic opportunity to build an ongoing collaboration with
Conservancy to enforce Debian contributors' rights in accordance with
the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG). I welcome the experience
and sage advice from Conservancy on licensing and policy matters, and
applaud their various other efforts on software freedom.

Conservancy can now accept assignment agreements or enforcement
agreements for any Debian contributors who choose to join the
Aggregation Project. Currently, Debian developers interested in this
program can contact <debian-services@sfconservancy.org>. The DPL and Conservancy are working together to create a self-service system for
filing the paperwork.

Kuhn's keynote from DebConf is available in video [7], and he summarized
his thoughts in a blog post on Conservancy's website [8].

7: http://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/2015/debconf15/Debians_Central_Role_in_the_Future_of_Software_Freedom.webm
8: https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/aug/17/debian/


About Debian
------------

The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of the
largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of
volunteers from all over the world work together to create and maintain
Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a huge range
of computer types, Debian calls itself the "universal operating system".


About Software Freedom Conservancy
----------------------------------

Software Freedom Conservancy is a nonprofit charity that promotes and
improves free and open source software projects. Conservancy is home to
30 projects, including Git, Samba, Inkscape, phpMyAdmin, and Selenium
(to name a few). Conservancy is the home of Outreachy, an award-winning diversity outreach program, and improves software freedom generally by
working on nonprofit accounting software and license compliance.


Contact Information
-------------------

For further information, please visit the Debian web pages at https://www.debian.org/ or send mail to <press@debian.org>.
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