Introducing April

Submitted by Anonyme on 25 September, 2008 - 21:48

With its 2642 members (2368 individuals, 274 businesses, associations and organizations), April is a pioneer of Free Software in France. Since 1996, it is a major player of the democratization and the distribution of Free Software and open standards within the general public, professionals and institutions in the French-speaking community.

Introduction

Pioneer of free software in France, April has been since 1996 a major player in the democratization and the spread of Free Software and open standards to the general public, professionals and institutions in the French-speaking world. In the digital era that is ours, it also aims to inform the public on the dangers of an exclusive appropriation of information an knowledge by private interests. The association is made up of individuals, companies, associations and organizations from various backgrounds who share the values of freedom.

Mobilizing its volunteer members and its full-time employees allows April to participate actively in the recognition of Free Software through many varied activities.

April is the preferred partner for the promotion and defense of Free Software.

You can support Free Software and April's actions by making a donation now or by joining April now.

Please don't hesitate to contact us.

Goals

The goals of April are:

Promoting free software amongst the general public, professionals, associations and public authorities;
Raising awareness of the stakes of open standards and interoperability;
Obtaining political, legal and regulatory decisions favourable to the development of free software and to the information commons;
Defending the rights of users and creators of Free Software;
Promoting the sharing of knowledge and skills.

Actions

Raise awareness of free software in new audiences
Inform elected officials and policy makers and promote liberal legislation in ICT, patents and copyright
Participate in program committees or juries ( "Solutions Linux", "Paris Capital du Libre", "Trophées du Libre")
Get involved in organizing the World Meeting of the Free Software ("Rencontres Mondiales du Logiciel Libre")
Forge partnerships with institutions (Ile de France [1], Caisse des Dépots[2]), NGOs (Fondation pour le Progrès de l'Homme[3]), public institutions (Cité des Sciences[4], Univeristé du littoral[5])
Give about forty conferences per year
Relay information and actions in the media
Take part in several dozen events per year
Attend the structures that influence French government policy (Forum des Droits sur l'Internet[6], CSPLA[7] ...)
Raise policy makers and institutions' awareness of the challenges of transition to free software and accompany them in their move

You can also consult the actions, campaigns, overseen issues and working groups of April.

You can consult the public mailing lists, open to the association's non-members as well.

[1] the most populated region in France (corresponding to the greater Paris area) [2] A public financial institution [3] Foundation for the Progress of Humankind [4] City of Science in Paris [5] University of the littoral on the Opal coast [6] Forum on the rights related to the Internet [7] High Concil of the Literary and Artistic Property

Difference between "lobbying" and "advocacy"

Contrarily to French people, Anglo-Saxons distinguish lobbies (defending specific interest) from advocacy groups (defending a given vision of the greater good). To learn more about the difference between "lobbying" and "advocacy", see the following page.

April Team

April is headed by a board consisting of volunteer members and has a permanent team. The list of board members and full-time employees of the association is available at: http://www.april.org/association/ca.html. A history of the members of the association's board since the creation is also available.

Former full-time employees, trainees

Former permanent at April:

Alix Cazenave was Public Affairs Officer for April from October 2007 until May 2010.
Christophe Espern was officer for April from October 2006 to July 2007 (he was mainly in charge of legislative and institutional issues).

Former trainees at April:

Internship, from 15 May to 31 July 2008, of Benedicta Pascal, student doing her master II law of innovation, communication and culture - industrial property, PLA, Biotechnology, Paris XI, Sceaux. Internship subject: the impact of software patents on innovation, free competition and free software: survey of the state of the art, PALS project, future projects.
Alain Enam (Master student in law of new technologies and the Information Society, University of Paris 10 Nanterre) completed an internship from 1 April to 13 June 2008.
Fabrice Dos Santos Pessanha (Master 2 student in law of new technologies and information society at the University of Paris-X) has completed a course from April to June 2007.
Thibault Grouas(then student of the Master 2 Right of New Technologies and of Information Society at the University of Paris X Nanterre) completed an internship FSF France / April from 20 March 2006 to end June 2006.
Helena Boissinot (student in the first year of BTS "Executive Assistant" in high school Jacques Feyder at Epinay sur Seine) conducted a course from 9 May to 16 June 2006.

Campaigns

Defend the interests of the free software players: against the risks of software patents, against challenging the principle of interoperability by the DADVSI bill (copyright and related rights in society ' information)
Inform about the dangers of DRM ( "Digital Rectrictions Management") [1]
Raise awareness of the dangers of exclusive appropriation of information and knowledge by private interests
Take action against illegal bundled sales (software + computer)
Prevent the dangers of the "treacherous computing", improperly called "trusted computing"
Contribute to national debates on ICT
Promote free software in the association community
Add free software as a theme of electoral campaigns: Candidats.fr

You can also consult the actions, campaigns, overseen issues and working groups of April.

You can consult the public mailing lists, open to the association's non-members as well.

[1] The official and improper term is Digital Rights Management

Highlights

The most striking fact is that April has greatly contributed to public awareness that computer freedom is a societal issue and that free software goes beyond technical issues. Ten years ago, the topic was only known by a few advanced users. The years passing, free software has become a societal and strategic issue for companies and institutions. Globally, synergies between the different players are increasingly developing. In a decade, the situation around free software has greatly evolved, and the association is proud to have contributed to this.

You can also consult the actions, campaigns, overseen issues and working groups of April.

You can consult the public mailing lists, open to the association's non-members as well.

Keep informed about April's actions

To follow the association's news: see the following page.

April's presence on social networks

April is present on some social networks.

Testimonials

Some partners or actors of free software have accepted to testify about the importance of the association.

Positions

You can visit the page which presents the positions of the association.

Key figures

Over 13 years of action (association founded in 1996)
2642 members
2368 individuals
274 legal entities:
- 157 companies or company networks
- 95 associations
- 10 local collectivities
3 full-time employees:
- a general delegate
- an executive assistant
- an public affairs officer
Over 4 000 volunteer hours

Members

Corporate members
Planet April which gathers the members' blogs
April's who's who

Partners

April has many partners. You can find the complete list of them of the following page: Partners.

Speakers for conference

If you want someone from April to intervene at a conference or to an event to introduce Free Software and / or the association, you can check the list and details of potential speakers. You can also contact us directly.

Press center

April offers a specific area for journalists, media, analysts or news website managers. You will find our press-presentation, our press releases, how to quickly contact us and subscribe to our press mailing list (to receive our press releases).

Who's who

Some members of April are on the who's who of the members of the association.

See the guide to appear in the who's who (option available only for members).

Communication materials

The logo of April in various formats.
Various communication materials are available (logo, flyer, affiches...)
Various elements for holding a stall, including April's logo on a tarpaulin and a kakemono.
For journalists, visit the press center of the association.

Goodies

T-shirts
Badges "DRM" (25 mm)
Other goodies in our shop

April's fools

Each year, April is accustomed to follow April's fool tradition.

April and other players of the Francophone Free Software community

April is the major player regarding Free Software in the French-speaking world. The association works regularly hand in hand with other French structures whose goals are similar to those of April, such as ADULLACT, FNILL, AFUL, etc.

What's the difference between April and Aful?

Aful is, since its general assembly on January 31st 2009, the French-speaking Association of Free Software Users. Since 1998, it was the French-speaking Association of Free Software and Linux Users.

The Aful, founded in 1998, is a friend of April, which was created in 1996. While Aful highlights the benefits of the use of free software, April prefers to speak first in terms of principles.

From 2005, April chose to find the relevant means considering the stakes, and namely to constitute a team of full-time employees rather than remain only with volunteer members. April has 2642 members and a team of three full-time employees. The Aful works only with volunteers and has about 270 members.

In the end, the simplest is to compare the kind of actions that both associations mention in their annual moral reports. April's moral reports are publicly available both in a full version and in a short version. Aful's ones are only accessible to its members.

Both associations' actions complement one another.

What difference between April and FNILL?

April promotes Free Software in all areas, and defends the rights of users of free software, whoever they are. FNILL is a professional association which aims in particular at defending the interests of its member companies.

April therefore based its approach on promoting a common good (Free Software) and defending the universal rights associated with it (the four freedoms), whereas the FNILL is promoting an economic sector.

Of the 2642 members of April, 157 membres are businesses. FNILL claims members.

Both associations' actions complement one another.

What's the difference between April and professional associations or professional groups?

April promotes Free Software in all areas, and defends the rights of users of free software, whoever they are. The professional associations or professional groups related to Free Software aim usually at being regional structures that facilitate synergies between professional players and institutional players, with business as its main target.

April therefore based its approach on promoting a common good (Free Software) and defending the universal rights associated with it (the four freedoms), whereas professional organizations are promoting an economic sector.

April's actions are complementary to those of such professional associations and several professional associations are April members.