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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · 21h

The #european #standards being developed to allow compliance with the Cyber Resilience Act have unusually high participation from #OpenSource community members. As a result many of the draft standards are being developed in markdown and are available for public review in ETSI's Gitlab instance […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · 1d

Who could possibly have foreseen that having random web apps collect copious personal information in order to check for user age could create a golden trove for hackers?

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/oct/07/discord-data-breach-proof-of-age-id-leaked

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · 8d

The @EUCommission would like to hear your views on the governance and sustainability of critical open source software. The survey closes October 5th.

https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/FOSSEPS_Governance_and_Sustainability_Survey

#OpenSource #governance #sustainability

Study of the European Commission: Survey on the Governance and Sustainability of Critical Open Source Software

ec.europa.eu

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · 13d

A reminder to Bluesky users that if you reply to me but you haven't bridged your account to the Fediverse I can't respond even if I see your message because Bluesky doesn't allow me to.

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Sep 2

It's likely that if you know what the EU's Digital Markets Act is about that you have comments on it. There is a consultation open to which you can contribute your experiences and views […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Sep 2

The UK #standards organisation BSI has oned public comments on the revision of the ISO 9001 "quality" standard. You can contribute here:

https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/Projects/2023-02879

British Standards Institution - Project

standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com

Reposted by Simon Phipps

Rabble @rabble.nz · Aug 29

These age verification laws are in effect a lock-in that means we only can use Meta products, or from companies that will follow their economic model, and the idea of an open source open protocol solution is impossible. It’s all about combining state and corporate power.

Spooky Sarah Perez 🎃 @sarahp.bsky.social · Aug 29

Mastodon says it doesn’t ‘have the means’ to comply with age verification laws

Mastodon says it doesn't 'have the means' to comply with age verification laws | TechCrunch

Decentralized social network Mastodon says it cannot comply with age verification laws, like in Mississippi and elsewhere, and says it's up to individual server owners to decide.

techcrunch.com

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Aug 27

UK readers: The next draft of Microsoft's OOXML specification is available for your comments on the BSI web site.

https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/projects/2022-02363

#standards

British Standards Institution - Project

standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com

Reposted by Simon Phipps

Marcel Waldvogel @marcel.waldvogel.family.ap.brid.gy · Aug 27

No comment.

Randall Munroe's "Dependency" XKCD comic with changed text.

A brittle construction of toy bricks; on top labelled "All of modern civilisation", one small critical piece at the bottom labeled "A country which we all relied upon until January"

Original: CC BY-NC 2.5, https://xkcd.com/2347/

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Jul 25

The EU has published guidance on the AU Act, https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/118340

Notable highlights for me:
* Llama definitely fails to qualify as #OpenSource for exemption purposes, para 83 makes that clear.
* Monetisation that does not affect the availability of […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Jul 3

Observing more & more people with agendas talking about "AI Openness" instead of #OpenSource #ai so they can be vague and not have to commit to delivering actual freedoms. "Open" is an event leading to freedom, not a scale concealing monetisation.

Watch out for phrases like "it's open enough" […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Jul 3

Would you like to end the constant drumbeat of ill-informed legislative proposals that threaten to destroy end-to-end #encryption in #OpenSource #software? Are you from #europe? Can you demonstrate your expertise? Then why not apply to join the European Commission's Expert Group for a Technology […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Jul 1

I've been an advocate for @swheritage ever since @zacchiro told me about the idea in 2015, and have contributed in various ways ever since. So I am honoured to have been invited to serve on its new Advisory Board and excited about the next steps this cultural cornerstone will take […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Jul 1

I'm hearing that the @EUCommission is willing to sideline its AI Act to try to barter favours from the US. There are a bunch of US companies who have been working hard to make it so.

https://www.techpolicy.press/how-us-firms-are-weakening-the-eu-ai-code-of-practice/

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Jun 26

Now is the start of the last day to apply for funding to support engagement in European #standards from StandICT, who have a fund allocated by the European Commission.

https://www.standict.eu/index.php/standicteu-2026-9th-open-call

standICT.eu 2026 - 9th Open Call | StandICT.eu 2026

www.standict.eu

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Jun 20

OSI has a new API! There has actually been an OSI license API for many years thanks to the efforts of some of the directors a decade ago. Since it was manually maintained, it kept getting out of date.

I am delighted that OSI now has a new API integrated into its WordPress instance that uses the […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · May 17

There is something pleasingly symmetric about the ACT EU Citizen's Initiative (requiring the @EUCommission to bring forward legislation banning "conversion therapy" targeted against gender diversity) reaching its threshold to become binding on the day of the #eurovision final […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · May 16

Grazing on the #eurovision finalists and the most fascinating has to be the Latvian group Tautumeitas whose folk inspired entry is spellbinding. I found them on #bandcamp and their self-titled album is great!

https://tautumeitas.bandcamp.com/album/tautumeitas

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · May 13

Looks like #firefox has moved to GitHub https://github.com/mozilla-firefox/firefox

Firefox Moves to GitHub

Comments

github.com

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · May 2

Pleased to see #redis returning to an #OpenSource license.

https://redis.io/blog/agplv3/

Redis is now available under the the OSI-approved AGPLv3 open source license.

The rise of hyperscalers like AWS and GCP has unlocked incredible speed and scale for startups and enterprises alike. But for companies rooted in open source, it has posed a fundamental challenge: how do you keep innovating and investing in OSS projects when cloud providers reap the profits and control the infrastructure without proportional contributions […]

redis.io

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Apr 30

The Open Source Lab (OSL) at Oregon State University (OSU) hosts over 500 #OpenSource projects and is globally important. It faces a funding crisis that will see it shut down later this year if it can't secure $250k from sponsors.

If your company depends on open source software, you probably […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Apr 26

There's long been a view held by certain cynical entrepreneurs that they can go with #OpenSource to build a user base then bait-and-switch software freedom away once it is established. That's bad.

What's worse is to donate to an open source Foundation then pretend you have the right to "take […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Apr 24

The @EUCommission wants to know if it should plough money into #cloud and #ai #development. I know there are lots of #OpenSource people with views, so maybe express them here […]

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Simon Phipps @meshed.cloud · Apr 24

#CyberSecurity community! The @EUCommission wants to know if it should revise the CyberSecurity Act (this act is the mandate of the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and governs the European Cybersecurity Certification Framework, it is NOT the CRA).

If you have feedback, especially from an […]

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