Media contact
Donald Robertson, III
Licensing and Compliance Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
licensing@fsf.org
About the Respects Your Freedom (RYF) program
The "Respects Your Freedom" certification program certifies retailers who sell hardware in a manner that respects the rights of their users and that comes with only freedom inside. In order to gain certification, retailers go through a rigorous review process, in which the Free Software Foundation reviews every aspect of the user experience, from initial purchase through flashing modified versions of firmware. At every level, the retailer must adhere to the program's strict certification criteria, ensuring that users are never even directed to nonfree software or documentation.
Once they have gained certification, vendors are granted the privilege of using the RYF certification mark on the certified device and associated sales pages. The device is then listed here on our site to make it easy for users to find devices they can trust. Of course, the retailer must continue to adhere to the program's criteria in order to maintain their certification. If you think there may be an issue with a currently certified retailer, don't hesitate to let us know at report-nonfree@fsf.org.
About the Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to run, change, share, and contribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at https://fsf.org and https://gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at https://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
More information about the FSF, as well as important information for journalists and publishers, is at https://www.fsf.org/press.