Contents

1. SELF advised by Legal Expert Group
2. SELF and RedNose partner up
3. Pre-launch of the SELF Platform
4. “Free software and open source forum” Conference
5. Extended deadline CFP seventh Regional Free Software Conference
6. Free and Open Source Software Conference in Macedonia
7. Agenda
8. About

1. SELF advised by Legal Expert Group

The SELF Legal Policy outlines the definitions used in the SELF project as well as the policies for decisions regarding important legal matters, how to come to terms with potential contradictions and how to assure the legal maintainability of the project after the funding period from the European Commission.

As announced before, several Expert Groups have been set up to help with specific goals, form and content of the SELF Project. Now we can also welcome the members of the Legal Expert Group. The Legal Expert Group (LEG) proposes the legal policy of the SELF Platform. The group watches over the SELF Legal Policy and evaluate licenses that are acceptable to the SELF Platform. The Legal Expert Group also advises the SELF Board on any legal issue that could arise in relation to the platform.

The Legal Expert Group is led by Georg Greve, Free Software Foundation Europe, and consists of:

• Shane Couglan, coordinator of the Freedom Task Force (FTF), FSFE's legal hub
• Robin Gross, founder and Executive Director of IP Justice
• Lucie Guibault, senior researcher at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) of the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Mathias Klang, lecturer and researcher in legal informatics at the School of Economics and Commercial Law at the University of Göteborg, Sweden
• Catharina Maracke, International Coordinator Creative Commons
• Axel Metzger, Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg, Germany
• Jonas Öberg, Project Manager at the Göteborg University and Vice President of the FSFE
• Mary Wong, Professor of Law at the Frankling Pierce Law Center
• Raquel Xalabarder, Professor of Law and Director of the Law Programme at the School of Law and Political Science of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain

More information with the biographies of the Legal Expert Group Members

2. SELF and RedNose partner up

This week, a new project has been launched as a result of a new partnership between SELF and the company RedNose ICT Training & Advice. The project Openoffice Plaza offers a repository with free learning materials on several applications from Open Office. RedNose has donated existing materials and the functionalities of the SELF Platform will be used to facilitate a platform for the creation and translation of more Open Office learning materials. We expect to have full materials on Writer, Calc, Math and Base in five or six different languages by summer 2007, after which more elements and languages will follow. At first, the materials will be offered in PDF and ODF formats, and will comply to the SELF standards when integrated into the SELF Platform. If you would like to help, please register as a volunteer or contact the editor of this newsletter directly.

More information on Openoffice Plaza

3. Pre-launch of the SELF Platform

In June, 2007, the beta version of the SELF Platform will be released! During the coming months the partners of the SELF Consortium will organise small pre-launches in various countries. Please watch our event space on our website carefully for a launch near you.

At the beginning of September the official launch of the English version of the Platform will take place in several countries simultaneously. The official launch will include workshops, conferences, and of course celebrations of finalising the first important part of the SELF Project.

4. “Free software and open source forum” Conference

On April, 27th, in Varna, Bulgaria the conference “Free software and open source forum” was held, organised by the Technical University of Varna and the Applied Research and Communications fund. Julia Velkova from ISOC Bulgaria gave a presentation on "International projects related to FLOSS". The audience consisted mainly from members of the Free Software community in Varna (also the city where the Bulgarian "Free Software Association" has been established). The presentation was separated in two parts - first, results from the FlossWorld project and second - announcement of the SELF project and its current activities.

Regarding SELF, Julia Velkova talked about the main objectives of the project, the partners, and invited the community to participate and contribute to the development of educational materials. The Technical University of Varna could be attracted also as "material submitter" as they are deeply involved in the FOSS community. During the presentation, the forthcoming massive Platform launch in September was announced. All available SELF leaflets were disseminated. We are eager to welcome more interested participants from the Bulgarian community!

Contribution by Dessi Pefeva, ISOC.bg

5. Extended deadline CFP seventh Regional Free Software Conference

On August 7th to 11th, 2007, the seventh Regional Free Software Conference will be held in Cordoba, Argentina. The deadline for submitting proposals has been extended until May 19th, 2007.

The conference is organised by Fundacion Via Libre, one of the founding partners of the SELF Project, together with the Free Software Users Group of Cordoba (GrULiC) and the Nacional University of Cordoba.

The Call for Papers is now open. Possible topics for submission to the various sessions include, but are not limited to:

Free Software in relation to four main themes:

• Society
• Education
• Technology
• Business

The papers will be reviewed by an international committee of renowned members of our community. The acceptance of the talk will depend on this evaluation, and on logistical and technical capacity.

Please submit your proposal including

• the title of the talk,
• a brief description (about 50 words) of the talk, to be included in promotional material,
• an abstract of the talk (between 200 and 300 words), explaining the content of your talk,
• and a small curriculum of the speaker (between 100 and 250 words)

to charlas[at]grulic.org.ar

The deadline for submitting your proposal has been extended until May 19th, 2007.

You can also propose a Workshop. Workshops will be held on the first two days of the conference, from 7th, to 9th of August, 2007.

More information

Contribution by Beatriz Busaniche, FVL

6. Free and Open Source Software Conference in Macedonia

The Association of the Units of Local Self-Governments in the Republic of Macedonia and UNDP are jointly organising a Conference on Free and Open Source Software 2007, to take place on Tuesday, 15th May 2007, at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Skopje, at 09:30 hrs. The Conference will focus on promoting the benefits of Free Software, by presenting concrete examples and best practices relevant for local governments. The main objective of the conference is to raise awareness on the Free Software among policy-makers, practitioners and educators.

Among the presentations, there will be speeches on “FOSS usage in the schools – conceptual strategy” by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Education in Macedonia; “The Need for FOSS Policy in Macedonia” and “Free software, free society” by the President of Free Software Association Macedonia.

The SELF Project will be presented by Internet Society Bulgaria within the presentation on “International projects on FOSS in Bulgaria and collaboration possibilities”.

Contribution by Dessi Pefeva, ISOC.bg

7. Agenda

11-13 May, 2007, Cosenza, Italy

• 12 May, 2007, 17:40: Georg Greve, FSFE, “An introduction to the Free Software Foundation Europe”

15 May 2007, Skopje, Macedonia

• 15 May, 2007, 11:00 – 11:50: Julia Velkova, ISOC.bg, “International projects on FOSS in Bulgaria and collaboration possibilities”

9-11 August, 2007, Cordoba, Argentina
On Free Software in relation to Society, Education, Technology and Business

• Speakers include members of the SELF Consortium

8. About