Only one month after the letters for the PDF readers campaign of Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) were sent, 172 public institutions have removed advertisements for proprietary PDF readers from their websites.
Particularly outstanding were the responses from Croatia, Russia and Slovenia. In Croatia almost all reported institutions deleted the advertisement. Half of those contacted in Russia and Slovenia also fulfilled FSFE's request.
"Several institutions replied stating that they agree with our concerns, and that they will modify their websites", said campaign manager Matthias Kirschner. Among those are a number of ministries, parliaments, law enforcement agencies and the Belgian Prime Minister’s chancellery.
Campaigns like this are made possible by a community of volunteers and financial supporters. FSFE is following up with the remaining organisations in order to get the rest of the advertisements removed.
Background information:
Under their PDF readers campaign (pdfreaders.org campaign), FSFE have turned the spotlight on government organisations advertising specific proprietary software to open PDF files. With the help of activists across Europe, FSFE contacted these organisations (using a model letter) and explained to them how to improve their websites so that they respect neutrality and the users' freedom of choice.
Further information: