This talk details the currently-planned litigation strategy of FOSS Users e.V. (https://foss-users.eu) for the next decade. We are also looking for the community for feedback on other possible strategies. The first part of our current strategy is to get precedent that copyleft violations can be pursued with injunctions against consumer rights infringements in Germany. This is best done with the most obvious violation first: lock down of LGPLed libraries. The next issue will be proprietary Linux kernel modules using EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPLed interfaces.

This talk wants to explore the options we, as a community, have to safeguard copyleft and software freedom. To this end, the talk takes a two-pronged approach. First, it calls on the community to come up with clever ideas about how to enforce copyleft licenses and protect our commons from more and more savvy and blatant violators. Second, the main part of the talk will be to present my ideas so far on how we should move forward in the next decade. Subject to community feeback on these ideas, I propose that we frame copyleft violations as consumer rights infringements and have a consumer association getting injunctions against these infringements. More broadly speaking, we need a community of hobby legal experts taking the burden from the developers to enforce copyleft. If these hobbyists pursue violations in a rewarding way, they can sustainably take on the task of enforcing the developers' will. The presentation will conclude with discussion of how the audience can contribute. First, they could become members of the consumers association already incorporated in Germany, of FOSS Users e.V. . Under German law, consumers associations need at least 75 members to be allowed to sue. Second, they could donate money for copyleft enforcement. Third, they could make suggestions for improvements to the plan and contribute new ideas to incorporate.