Some government entities put up fierce resistance to free software because they do not want to run afoul of ethics laws that prohibit them from accepting gifts - if free software has value, then government officials are not allowed to receive the code without paying for it.

This week the Venezuelan Education Ministry began its program, dubbed Project Canaima, to provide primary schools with mini laptops, and incorporate the technology into the education system.

US State Department workers have begged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to let them use Firefox.

Norway embraces ODF and maybe Ogg too; ODF in general spreads rapidly

In a symbolic show of support for Free Open Source Software and the OpenDocument Format, Brazilian President Lula da Silva recently attended the Linux-related FISL 10 conference in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he gave an address underscoring the importance of Free Open Source Software.

Portugal's National Association for the promotion of Free Software (Ansol) accuses the government Office of Construction and Property (INCI) of having broken procurement rules after it admitted on Monday that it had signed a 268,000 euro contract with Microsoft for the government's website on Public Expenses, Base, without a public tender.

When the third largest city in Germany rebuffed Microsoft, even people in the US were talking about it. While the software revolution has quieted down, the change goes ahead with zeal.

On June 7, 2009, Swedish voters elected a member of the PiratPariet (Pirate Party) to the European Parliament. A second parliamentary seat will go to the Pirate Party this fall if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified and Sweden gains an additional two seats.