*So very 2011.
http://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/
Freedomboxfoundation
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The FreedomBox Foundation
We are a newly formed Delaware non-profit corporation built to help organize and coordinate the many current freedom box development efforts.
Welcome NY Times readers!
Welcome to everyone coming from today's New York Times piece "Decentralizing the Internet So Big Brother Can’t Find You". If you are interested in Eben's recent speech mentioned in the article, there are highlights and a full transcript available as well as the video link.
What is Freedom Box?
Freedom Box is the name we give to a personal server running a free software operating system, with free applications designed to create and preserve personal privacy.
Freedom Box software is particularly tailored to run in "plug servers," which are compact computers that are no larger than power adapters for electronic appliances.
Located in people's homes or offices such inexpensive servers can provide privacy in normal life, and safe communications for people seeking to preserve their freedom in oppressive regimes.
Why Freedom Box?
Because social networking and digital communications technologies are now critical to people fighting to make freedom in their societies or simply trying to preserve their privacy where the Web and other parts of the Net are intensively surveilled by profit-seekers and government agencies. Because smartphones, mobile tablets, and other common forms of consumer electronics are being built as "platforms" to control their users and monitor their activity.
Freedom Box exists to counter these unfree "platform" technologies that threaten political freedom. Freedom Box exists to provide people with privacy-respecting technology alternatives in normal times, and to offer ways to collaborate safely and securely with others in building social networks of protest, demonstration, and mobilization for political change in the not-so-normal times.
Freedom Box software is built to run on hardware that already exists, and will soon become much more widely available and much more inexpensive. "Plug servers" and other compact devices are going to become ubiquitous in the next few years, serving as "media centers," "communications centers," "wireless routers," and many other familiar and not-so-familiar roles in office and home.
Freedom Box software images will turn all sorts of such devices into privacy appliances. Taken together, these appliances will afford people around the world options for communicating, publishing, and collaborating that will resist state intervention or disruption. People owning these appliances will be able to restore anonymity in the Net, despite efforts of despotic regimes to keep track of who reads what and who communicates with whom.
For a list of specific Freedom Box capabilities, check out our Goals page.
Who is Freedom Box?
Freedom Box is a collaborative project of programmers around the world who believe in Free Software, Free Society. Many of its members will come from the Debian community, and many will come from other corners of the Free World. In coming weeks we will be announcing here the technical leads for Freedom Box and its component projects.
The FreedomBox Foundation, which will support the Freedom Box Project and conserve the free software it makes, is led by Eben Moglen, Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and founder of the Software Freedom Law Center.
Where is Freedom Box?
At freedomboxfoundation.org. The Foundation was born only on February 5, and we're still wet behind the ears. Watch our website and RSS feed for announcements.
When is Freedom Box?
We don't know yet. But all around us, we can see that it needs to be soon.
Talks and Press
"Freedom in the cloud" Eben Moglen @ ISOC-NY:
Video (and low bandwith mirror)
Transcript highlights
Full Transcript
Related interview
"Silver lining in the cloud" Eben Moglen @ Debconf10:
Video (and low bandwith mirror)
This week in Debian Episode 16: Interview with Jonas Smedegaard
Audio
"Why Political Liberty Depends on Software Freedom More Than Ever" Eben Moglen @ FosDem 2011:
Video
Transcript highlights
Full Transcript
"Decentralizing the Internet So Big Brother Can’t Find You" New York Times
