Software Freedom Podcast

SFP#39: Policy and EU: CRA and what’s next?We are talking about the Cyber Resilience Act and the challenges, you, our community, and many others, pointed out. With our 39th episode Bonnie and Alex follow up on the questionnaire we put to you for the Cyber Resilience Act and present the key findings.Together with the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the FSFE has created three separate questionnaires for OSS stewards, project maintainers and manufacturers. Bonnie and Alex discuss the most important findings from the questionnaires and take a closer look at the challenges that stewards, project maintainers and manufacturers face. But they also see light at the end of the tunnel. Find out more about the challenges in regards to the implementation of the CRA and what next steps are lying ahead of us.The FSFE's policy work is an important part of our work to safeguard Free Software and help to further the implementation of "Public Money? Public Code!". You can support our work by donating.Show notesSupport our work for Free SoftwareDatenspuren 2025 - CRA: Cybersicherheit in der Gesellschaft (DE)Requirements you need to full fill for the CRA (Datenspuren 2025 - CRA: Cybersicherheit in der Gesellschaft (DE))SFP#37: Policy and EU: The most famous of them all – we are talking about the CRACyber Resilience Act (CRA)CRA: Free Software stewards, maintainers and manufactures, share your input!CRA & PLD: Liability rules with large exemptions for Free Software are introducedCyber Resilience Act: Cybersecurity in the EU"Public Money? Public Code": Read all about PMPCStay up-to-date and join our NewsletterWe are happy to receive your feedback on the Software Freedom Podcast and especially on the transcript of the episode. Please, send us an email to: podcast@fsfe.org. If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.Discuss this Join the FSFE community and support the podcast

SFP#38: Policy and EU: Free Software Software Stack(s)During the debate on digital sovereignty, the term “software stack” started to float around. This term quickly started to fill up with different ideas, and a discussion about it took root. Follow Alex and Bonnie in this episode to learn more about Free Software Software stacks and their connection with public administration.Software stacks do not advance digital sovereignty merely by avoiding US components, but they must be 100 % Free Software. Find out, together with Alexander Sander and Bonnie Mehring, why it is so important that these stacks must be completely Free Software and discover the current debates on this topic in the EU.Listen to our Software Freedom Podcast and stay up to date with the discussions about technological topics in Europe and the European Union.In our 38th episode you can learn more about the FSFE's policy work and how we as a charity advocate for software freedom. You can support our work by donating.Show notesSupport our work for Free SoftwareCyber Resilience Act (CRA)SFP#26: Policy and EU: the need of long-term funding and the NGI caseEUROSTACK: Building a European alternative for technological sovereigntyZentrum Digitale Souveränität (ZenDiS)openDeskLa suit"Public Money? Public Code": Read all about PMPCStay up-to-date and join our NewsletterWe are happy to receive your feedback on the Software Freedom Podcast and especially on the transcript of the episode. Please, send us an email to: podcast@fsfe.org. If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.Discuss this Join the FSFE community and support the podcast

SFP#37: Policy and EU: The most famous of them all – we are talking about the CRAMost of you have heard of the famous Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), a legislation introducing CE labels for digital products. In our latest episode of the Software Freedom Podcast Bonnie and Alex have a easy to follow conversation about the CRA and what will be happening next.Listen to Alexander Sander and Bonnie Mehring talk you through the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). The CRA has entered into force in December 2024 and since then a lot has happened. In this episode they will give you a short introduction into the CRA and dive into the current discussions surrounding its implementation. Learn how you can support the FSFE in safeguarding Free Software during the implementation process with answering the questionnaire created together by the FSFE and the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).In our 37th episode you can learn more about the FSFE's policy work and how we as a charity advocate for software freedom. You can support our work by donating.Show notesSupport our work for Free SoftwareCyber Resilience Act (CRA)CRA: Free Software stewards, maintainers and manufactures, share your input!CRA & PLD: Liability rules with large exemptions for Free Software are introducedQuestionnaire for potential OSS Stewards in terms of CRA Questionnaire for OSS Projects Maintainers in terms of CRA Questionnaire for Manufacturers in terms of CRAStay up-to-date and join our NewsletterWe are happy to receive your feedback on the Software Freedom Podcast and especially on the transcript of the episode. Please, send us an email to: podcast@fsfe.org. If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.Discuss this Join the FSFE community and support the podcast

SFP#36: Policy and EU: Call on the Commission to implement the AI ActIn August 2025 the first part of the European Artificial Intelligence Act enters into force. For our 36th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast Bonnie and Alex break down the current discussion about it and shed light on the arguments.For this episode Alexander Sander and Bonnie Mehring talk you through the European Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), one of the prominent acts from the EU. The AI Act will partly enter into force at the beginning of August 2025 - however companies started an “stop the clock” attempt to put the EU Commission under pressure and to delay the implementation of the AI Act. This attempt prompted civil society including consumer rights protection organisations to speak up and back the EU Commission in enforcing the AI Act for general purpose AI with an Open letter.Shortly after the recording of this episode the EU Commission released a statement confirming its devotion to protecting consumer rights. Still, the discussion is not over.Listen to our 36th episode and learn more about the FSFE's policy work, how we as a charity advocate for software freedom. You can support our work by donating.Show notesSupport our work for Free SoftwareEuropean Artificial Intelligence ActEuropean CEOs plead for pause in AI Act by PoliticoOpen letter by civil society: European Commission must champion the AI Act amidst simplification pressure The FSFE promotes freedom of software, hardware, and dataCRA & PLD: Liability rules with large exemptions for Free Software are introducedSFP#24: The status of Free Software with Karen Sandler and Alexander SanderPodcast recommendation: Linux InLawsLinux InLaws: FLOSS in education Linux InLaws: Ada and Zangemann a childrens book about FLOSSStay up-to-date and join our NewsletterWe are happy to receive your feedback on the Software Freedom Podcast and especially on the transcript of the episode. Please, send us an email to: podcast@fsfe.org. If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.Discuss this Join the FSFE community and support the podcast

SFP#35: Policy and EU: Tech sovereignty vote in the ITRE CommitteeAnd we are back for our 35th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast with our monthly update on policy decisions, votes and discussions in the European Union! Together Bonnie Mehring and Alexander Sander talk about one specific policy topic in regard to Free Software. This month they sat down and covered the vote on the Tech sovereignty INI in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).Bonnie and Alex, talk about the vote in the ITRE committee on the European technological sovereignty and digital infrastructure Own-initiative procedure (INI). As already discussed in our previous episode, this report is remarkable in many respects, among other things because there is a far-right rapporteur. We discuss what impact this has on the report and how the European Parliament is dealing with the issue. Alex and Bonnie shed some light on this and explain the procedures, the status of Free Software in the currently approved version of the technological sovereignty INI and discuss some likely outcomes for the upcoming weeks before the summer break.Listen to our 35th episode and learn more about the FSFE's policy work, how we as a charity advocate for software freedom. You can support our work by donating.This is the perfect episode for everybody who wants to learn more about the work of the European Parliament, politics on a European level and the current views on technological sovereignty!Show notesSupport our work for Free SoftwareEuropean technological sovereignty and digital infrastructure INIA "rapporteur" - the person who presents reports to ParliamentCRA & PLD: Liability rules with large exemptions for Free Software are introducedFree Software and CRA - expert talk and discussion on 3 AprilSFP#34: Policy and EU: Tech sovereignty debate in the EU"Public Money? Public Code!" initiative by the FSFEStay up-to-date and join our NewsletterIf you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.Discuss this Join the FSFE community and support the podcast

SFP#34: Policy and EU: Tech sovereignty debate in the EUDive with us into the inner workings of the European Parliament and learn about their approach on technological sovereignty. In this 34th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast Alex and Bonnie discuss the current debate in the European Union and pay special attention to the current European technological sovereignty and digital infrastructure INI.Bonnie Mehring and Alexander Sander, talk about European technological sovereignty and digital infrastructure Own-initiative procedure (INI), the European Parliaments infrastructure to table important topics for the Commission and to work on them. In their discussion they highlight the importance of a clear understanding of Free Software and how much it interacts with the different discussion around the ongoing work by the European Parliament. They examine the European Parliament views on technological sovereignty and how important Free Software is for achieving independency.Listen to our 34th episode and learn more about the FSFE's policy work, how we as a charity advocate for software freedom. You can support our work by donating.This is the perfect episode for everybody who wants to learn more about the work of the European Parliament and the current views on technological sovereignty!Show notesSupport our work for Free SoftwareEuropean technological sovereignty and digital infrastructure INIA "rapporteur" - the person who presents reports to ParliamentCRA & PLD: Liability rules with large exemptions for Free Software are introducedFree Software and CRA - expert talk and discussion on 3 AprilSFP#27: Policy and EU: Free Software hearing in the German BundestagStay up-to-date and join our NewsletterIf you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.Discuss this Join the FSFE community and support the podcast

SFP#33: Policy and EU: Coalition treaty in Germany and its role for Free SoftwareRecently, the German coalition treaty from the CDU/CSU and SPD has been published with over 140 pages. In our latest episode Alexander Sander and Bonnie Mehring talk about the coalition treaty and break down the standing of Free Software in it.Listen to the 33rd episode of our Software Freedom Podcast and find out what the coalition treaty outlines for Free Software in Germany and where spillover effects to the EU policy are to be expected. Bonnie and Alex discuss where we, as a civil society, need to keep an eye out for threats to our software freedom, and what the options are for the Free Software ecosystem in the future. Together they also talk about the sudden decision to remove Jutta Horstmann, former CEO of the German Center for Digital Sovereignty (ZenDiS in German), from her position and cover the recent symposium "Public Money? Public Code! in practice”, organised by the FSFE.This is the perfect episode for everybody who wants to learn more about the coalition treaty and its aspects on Free Software! Help us to protect software freedom by donating.Show notesSFP#26: Policy and EU: the need of long-term funding and the NGI caseEU consultation confirms demand: long-term funding for Free Software is neededSFP#27: Policy and EU: Free Software hearing in the German BundestagAlexander Sander, FSFE Senior Policy Consultant, at the German Bundestag hearing on “Open Source”SFP#31: Policy and EU: FOSDEM recapZenDiSSymposium “Public Money? Public Code! in practice”: Digital sovereignty needs Free Software!Get active: "Public Money? Public Code!"German Elections 2025: We demand public code, secure funding for Free Software, and transparent measurement of progress!CLT25: Openwashing ans Licht! (DE only)Stay up-to-date and join our NewsletterThe people in the FSFESupport our work for Free SoftwareIf you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.Discuss this Join the FSFE community and support the podcast

SFP#32: Policy and EU: Router Freedom in the EUHave you ever used your personal router to connect to the internet? Recently we achieved a major win in Germany for Router Freedom. In this 32nd episode of the Software Freedom Podcast, Bonnie Mehring, Alexander Sander, and Lucas Lasota talk about Router Freedom and our work to protect freedom of choice regarding internet devices.Router Freedom, one of the FSFE's longest running initiatives, ensures the right to use any device to connect to the internet. Lately this freedom was threatened by the largest telecom provider in Germany - however the Bundesnetzargentur ruled in favour of Router Freedom, Germany's telecom regulator, and thereby safeguarded freedom of choice in Germany.Listen to our 32nd episode and find out what Router Freedom is, how it connects back in history to the 50s, and how long the FSFE and other digital societies have been defending your digital rights. Together with Bonnie, Alex and Lucas you can find out more about the status quo and how you can help to protect Router Freedom.This is the perfect episode for everybody who wants to support Router Freedom and ensuring the right to choose your own router!Show notesRouter FreedomRouter Freedom in Germany: A victory for consumers!Timeline of compulsory routersThe Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC)SFP#26: Policy and EU: the need of long-term funding and the NGI caseStay up-to-date and join our NewsletterSupport our work for Free SoftwareIf you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.Discuss this Join the FSFE community and support the podcast

SFP#31: Policy and EU: FOSDEM recapIn our 31st episode of the Software Freedom Podcast, Alexander Sander and Bonnie Mehring discuss the highlights of the two Devrooms that the FSFE co-organized during FOSDEM 2025: the 'Legal and Policy Issues DevRoom' and the 'Funding the FOSS Ecosystem DevRoom'. Find out more about the topics discussed there and tips about what to re-watch.FOSDEM is always a great experience and it is amazing to see how the hard work in organising talks, panels and discussions pays off. Once again the FSFE team, including Alex and Bonnie, had a fantastic time at what continues to be a place to be.The Legal and Policy Issues DevRoom focuses on current EU and US legislation, and this year with a strong focused on the implementation of the Cyber Resiliance Act. This dedicated DevRoom provided the chance to discuss the worries and thoughts that are raised in the community. It was amazing to see how the DevRoom turned once again into a networking space and provided a source of feedback loop to get in touch with the local Free Software communities and advocates. On the other hand the Funding the FOSS Ecosystem DevRoom started a new network for all people involved in funding of FOSS projects to connect and share resources. This turn out is really inspiring and a great way to get new discussions started, to learn from each other and to share knowledge - just what Free Software is at is core a great community with four freedoms, to use, study, share and improve. ❤️This is the perfect episode for everybody who missed FOSDEM or wants to keep the spirit of networking and staying in touch alive for a few more moments!Show notesRecordings from the Legal and Policy Issues DevRoomRecording from Funding the FOSS Ecosystem DevRoomGet in touch with Alexander SanderThe FSFE calls for broader interoperability by Apple under the DMAStay up-to-date and join our NewsletterSupport our work for Free SoftwareIf you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.Discuss this Join the FSFE community and support the podcast

SFP#30: The App Fair Project with Marc Prud'hommeauxAt FOSDEM, Bonnie Mehring and Marc Prud'hommeaux met to talk about Marc's Free Software initiative, The App Fair Project. This project is a marketplace for all devices and especially also for iOS devices that only distributes Free Software applications. Its goal is to foster a more accessible and inclusive Free Software ecosystem. For this year's I Love Free Software Day Marc and Bonnie talk about The App Fair Project, which enables iOS users to access Free Software applications. Together, they unravel how the Digital Markets Act (DMA) helped to level the playing field - although a lot of work is still ahead to truly enable Free Software and foster fair competition.Listen to our 30th episode and find out what The App Fair Project is, how it is related to the DMA and what the next steps are to make Free Software more accessible to everyone.This is the perfect episode for anyone still searching for Free Software on iOS!Show notesThe App Fair ProjectLegal and Policy Issues DevRoom: A Free Software App Store for iOS, The App Fair Project's perspective on the DMAThe App Fair's github projectDigital Markets Act (DMA)DMA: Litigation against AppleThe FSFE calls for broader interoperability by Apple under the DMAStay up-to-date and join our NewsletterSupport our work for Free SoftwareIf you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.Discuss this Join the FSFE community and support the podcast