FSF Campaign against Microsoft's Plan to Enforce "Secure Boot"

[geoffrey mendelson]

On Oct 24, 2011, at 1:56 AM, Amos Shapira wrote:

I wrote:
>>
>> The FSF is struggling to regain some semblance of public support  
>> after RMS's
>> disastrous FSF boycott of Israel and his comments about Steve Jobs.  
>> Do the
>> world a favor and let the FSF die with dignity, instead of being  
>> remembered
>> as a bunch of racist FUDslinging lunatics.
>

Amos wrote:
> Were there echoes of this argument outside Israel?


Yes, the hi-tech field is both heavily invested in Israel and  
populated by Jews. It spread like wildfire even making the BBC and  
other media. So while people who support the "Palestinian cause",  
where cheering that he made a stand, everyone with investment in  
Israel, or a business dependent upon Israeli products, or Israeli  
developed technology was aghast.

It's one thing to not have a Jew in your country club or marry your  
children, but it's completely different to have your stock portfolio  
become worthless paper.

RMS's comments on Steve Jobs where much nicer than he was given credit  
for. However the press was looking for a way to get rid of him, and  
that was it.

I am a US citizen, I vote in US elections, and I file US tax returns.  
There some things I leave to US residents and if I were a resident of  
Massachusetts I would have filed complaints to the Secretary of State  
and the IRS that RMS's boycott, as President of the FSF, of Israel was  
cause to dissolve the corporation and revoke their tax exempt status.

The founders of the FSF tried to do a legal trick when they  
incorporated to get more ability to "spread their message", but it  
also restricts them from such activity.

I did not file those complaints, but I expect that other people also  
read their articles of incorporation (it's on their web site), spent  
10 seconds with google looking up the law behind it, (wikipedia has a  
good article) and did file complaints.

Geoff.




-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson,  N3OWJ/4X1GM
My high blood pressure medicine reduces my midichlorian count. :-(