Contact: Leon Dulce FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tel. No.: 02.440.1430 September 17, 2010

Mobile: +63916.223.7569
Email: secretariat@cp-union.com

ADVOCATES PUSH FOR CHANGE IN 2010'S

BIGGEST SOFTWARE FREEDOM AFFAIR

Advocates of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the Philippines are pushing to inform broadest number
of Filipinos on the role of technology in social change with the 2010 main celebration of Software Freedom Day
(SFD) to be held on September 18, 2010 with registration starting at 8:00 AM at the College of Education in the
University of the Philippines Diliman Campus. SFD is an international celebration of FOSS that has been
participated by over 900 teams in over 120 countries last year, enjoying simultaneous events in the Philippines
from Luzon to Mindanao with live web feeds.

In 2010, the Philippines saw the ICT sector mobilize for in guarding the nation's first nation-wide automated
elections, contributing its technical know-how in advocating for a transparent, fair and credible electoral exercise.
The FOSS community contributed to the efforts, with free and open electoral monitoring tools such as the Vote
Report PH (http://votereportph.org) powered by Drupal and Ushahidi. SFD Philippines 2010 seeks to make this
effort a year-round advocacy.

The morning plenary sessions will introduce participants to the basics and philosophy of FOSS to orient
everyone in the principles of this software movement. Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño will discuss the current
state of the FOSS Act of 2010 and legislative strategies for the local tech industry. The Computer Professionals'
Union (CPU), the main organizer of the event, will be discussing the use of FOSS in social advocacies.

The latest versions of free operating systems and applications can be copied and written on a CD or USB on
site, as such everyone is enjoined to bring their own blank CDs and USBs. Various freebies will be given away
and software freedom day t-shirts and pins will be for sale during the event. With various partner schools and
organizations pledging to fully support the event, the event expects over 500 participants this year.

The Software Freedom Day 2010 network of organizers and supporters include CPU, the UP Network for
Educational Technology, The Educational Technology Area of the UP Diliman College of Education, and the UP
Linux Users Group as the main organizer and hosts. Partners include 98 Labs, the Office of Rep. Casiño,
TXTPower, SnT-in-a-Box, Pilipinas I-Cafe Consumer Cooperative, Drupal Pilipinas, Pinoy Blender Users Group,
Joomla Pilipinas, Novare Technologies, Mozilla Philippines, Sabaw Media Art Kitchen, Web Geek Philippines,
Knowledge Channel, and Word Camp Philippines.

School organizations and partners include the Junior Computer Professionals' Union, UP Physics Association,
UP Engineering Student Council, PUP Taguig Computer Society, Adamson University Computer Science
Society, AdU CS Web Team, Adu Open Source University Meetup, and the Asian Academy of Business and
Computers.

Those who cannot attend the event but would like to view the live broadcast can visit www.sfdphilippines.org.
Updates, resources and the programme of activities can also be found in the site.
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