Conservancy (home of Samba) needs support for GPL enforcement.

Tue Nov 24 21:35:06 UTC 2015

Hi all,

You may not know, but The Software Freedom Conservancy
is the legal home of the Samba project.

However, most Linux-using corporations *really* hate
GPL enforcement. To the point where they'll pull funding
for diversity programs and try and get conference talks
cancelled.

I hope Samba users will help support Conservancy so it
can continue doing vital work for us and other projects.

Sorry for the slightly off-topic post, but Conservancy
is the home of Samba.

Thanks !

        Jeremy.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Supporter Drive: you can help save Conservancy's operations!

Hi Supporters!

We so appreciate your contributions to Conservancy and hope you will continue
that support.

Yesterday, we launched a very important fundraiser. Over the past year and in
particular since we launched the VMware suit, *some of our corporate funding
has been pulled because we tackle important but controversial issues, like
GPL compliance*. We have even have had talks blocked or canceled at
conferences.

In order to ensure that we can continue our work, we must transition to a
primarily individual-supported model.  We will continue to seek corporate
support, of course, and we're grateful for the corporate donors whose support
has continued.  But our constituency is the software freedom community, and
that's where our support should ultimately come from.  It's not enough for us
to think that the work we do is right - a significant portion of the public
must also agree and be willing to vote with their money. Without that support
we simply cannot continue.  The 10% that our Member Projects contribute
doesn't cover even one staffer plus basic overhead. So please help with our
campaign - there are a few ideas for how you can help at the bottom of this
email.

We have structured the campaign with two make-or-break levels: a lower level
that will just sustain the organization for a 'bare minimum' service plan to
our member projects, and a separate, higher level to continue doing copyleft
enforcement.

You can read more detail about all of this on our website:
           http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/

You, our existing Supporters already understand what we do (check out the
list of this year's successes on the fundraising page
http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/) and why it's important. A very high
percentage of you are prominent contributors, speakers, writers and leaders
in our community. While the number of Supporters we need to keep GPL
enforcement going is high (2500), the goal would be easily reached if each of
you were able to sign up just 10 other people as Supporters. We're still
asking for only $10 per month.

*How you can help*
==================

Many people have never heard of Conservancy or don't know why we matter. As
leaders in the field, you can help a lot with this. Here are a few ideas:

* Blog

   Letting people know publicly why Conservancy is important and why you
   signed up as a Supporter would be amazing. Send me a link to the post so I
   can amplify your message through Conservancy's channels.

* Microblog: A short message like one of the following would help a lot:

	Software freedom needs your help. I'm a #ConservancySupporter
	and you should sign up too. Let's make this happen!
	http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/

	If you use software you're probably using at least one of
	@conservancy's member projects. Help support them now
	http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/

	I care about ethical tech so am a #ConservancySupporter.
	They need 2500 Supporters to keep up their awesome work
	http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/

	If you care about the GPL, you should sign up as a
	#ConservancySupporter right now. @conservancy needs help!
	http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/

* Follow us!

    If you use Twitter or pump.io for social networking, you can also follow
    @conservancy on Twitter or http://identi.ca/conservancy/

* Email your friends and colleagues encouraging them to sign up.

   A message like:

	I'm writing to ask for your support for an organization that I care
	about: Software Freedom Conservancy. It is having a critical
	fundraiser right now to support its work on the most important
	ethical issues in software freedom, because it needs the support of
	individual donors to continue. Conservancy is a unique organization:
	it is a staunch defender of copyleft (for Linux, Debian and other
	free and open source software projects), a source of education about
	important issues in free software, champions of community diversity
	via Outreachy, and the nonprofit home to over 30 member projects
	(including important and widely-used projects like git, samba, wine,
	inkscape, selenium, phpmyadmin, QEMU).

	Conservancy is funding and supporting the first lawsuit about
	derivative works of software. They won a DMCA exemption to legally
	permit circumvention of encryption on Smart TVs, ensuring that we are
	free to hack on the devices we legally own.  They work with companies
	who are out of compliance with the GPL to find non-litigious
	resolutions to encourage them to join the free and open source
	software communities as contributors. They do all of this work with 3
	full time employees.

	But it's not always popular work--and because their positions are not
	always aligned with the business practices of large companies, they
	can't count on corporate funding to sustain the organization, and are
	moving toward relying on the public: they need the support of
	individuals in the community whose work they exist to protect.

	I believe their work is important--I'm most passionate about [TOPIC],
	especially because [REASON], and I've pledged to be an individual
	supporter. I know [TOPIC] is important to you, too, and so I hope
	you'll consider supporting Conservancy [etc.]

	http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/

* Record a video.

    We've published a few videos recorded by our Supporters:

	http://sfconservancy.org/videos/carols-sfconservancy-supporter-2015.ogv
	http://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/jan/30/Jono-video/
	http://sfconservancy.org/blog/2014/dec/31/new-year-and-video/

    We have a few more lined up as the campaign progresses but it would be
    great to see and hear from you in your own words why you are a Supporter!
    These videos can be short and to the point.

* Renew Early!

   Finally, if you're an annual Supporter and would like to renew your annual
   Supporter dues early, you can simply visit
   https://sfconservancy.org/donate/ and donate $120 or more via any of those
   means.  Just put in some notes field that it's for your annual Supporter
   contribution (and/or reply to this email and tell us you've done it).

   (We're planning to launch a formal renewal form in December.)

Again, thank you so much for your support; we can't do it without you!

Sincerely,
-- 
Karen M. Sandler
Executive Director, Software Freedom Conservancy