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Apply for participation in trainings for usage of social media for democracy

Trainings for new technologies for lobbying, advocacy and raising public awareness about causes

http://metamorphosis.org.mk/activities/povik-za-prijavuvanje-na-uchestvo-vo-obuki-za-koristenje-na-socijalni-mediumi-za-demokratija.html

New premises of the Metamorphosis Foundation

The Metamorphosis Foundation has a new address: ul. “Apostol Guslarot” 40, Skopje, near the elementary school “Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi”.

Location of the Metamorphosis Foundation

Internet restrictions curtail human rights, says US

Many governments have used the internet to curtail freedom of expression at home, the US state department says in its latest annual human rights report.

Свет | 12.3.2010

World Day Against Cyber Censorship

Reporters Without Borders will celebrate World Day Against Cyber Censorship on 12 March. This event is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to...

Свет | 10.3.2010

China to punish hackers, says no Google complaint

China has pledged to punish hackers who attacked Google if there is evidence to prove it, but said it has yet to receive any complaint from the world's top search engine.

Свет | 8.3.2010

France's Parliament pursues its goal to censor the Internet

On 16 February, the National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament, passed the first draft of the so-called Loppsi 2 bill allowing the authorities to control the Internet under the pretex...

ЕДРИ | 5.3.2010

Germany's President signs an Internet bill against his own government

Despite the fact that the German Government had decided not to apply the internet censorship law (Zugangserschwerungsgesetz) proposed by the former Government in April 2009, the new bill was signed on...

ЕДРИ | 3.3.2010

Conference: “e-Panels: Fostering citizens’ participation and volunteering in a wider Europe”

The Center for Regional Studies and Cooperation “Studiorum” and the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) are organizing an International Conference to launch the project “e-Panels: Fostering...

Македонија | 2.3.2010

More in: EDRI, World, Macedonia


Announcement: Citizens Have the Right to Choose
Considering that the computer literacy trainings for the general population announced by the Government of Republic of Macedonia are in general a positive move for development of information society, the Metamorphosis Foundation and the NGO Free Software Macedonia encourage the Government to provide right to choose for the citizens, by offering trainings for use of free and open source software (FOSS) also.

FOSS alternatives, such as OpenOffice.org and Abi Word provide the same functionality as the office software announced by the government, and also provide the following clear benefits, especially in the context of the current economic situation:

  • Free dissemination, without the need to purchase licences to use it
  • Lowering the piracy rate, and lowering the criminalization of IT users
  • Using open standards-based document formats, enabling accessibility to content regardless of currently used technology (ISO/IEC 26300:2006)
  • Ability to localize and upgrade the software according to local needs, without the need to pay anyone for the right to do it. Most important office FOSS applications are already localized in Macedonian and Albanian languages.
  • Avoiding vendor lock in, i.e. promotion of the principles of protection of competition.
  • Enabling true ownership, not de facto renting of the software for both work and private use.
  • The use of FOSS as public good is recommended by the National Strategy for Information Society Development, accepted by consensus by the Parliament of RM.
  • European Commission considers FOSS is key for ICT competitiveness, and development of digital industry in the EU.


FOSS use would drastically lower the price for the computers the Government announced to purchase in the framework of the project "A computer for every student." For instance, "One Laptop Per Child," the most famous project of that kind in the world, uses exclusively FOSS solutions, because they are the only suitable alternative covering both the financial and the hardware requirements.


Macedonian citizens continue to show great interest in FOSS use. The latest example is the support they collectively provided by partially covering the expenses for publishing the CD "Get Your Job Done," distributed in 5.000 copies.

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