It feels like every day this past year, we woke to news of an assault on our freedoms engineered through software: companies pilfering from our free software commons, device manufacturers remotely deleting ebooks behind readers' backs, Big Media hatching new schemes for digital restrictions and spying, and governments around the world conspiring to expand and coordinate their digital subjugation of citizens.

The word "community" gets bandied about, but in these times, it really is important that we build professional and social solidarity around a core set of ideals. It's critical that we hang together, both to advance our positive ideas for a better world and to stop those trying to turn software against its users.

Signing up as a member of the Free Software Foundation means joining a growing society -- now over 3,000 members strong in 48 countries -- of computer users, software engineers, hackers, students, and freedom activists.

We offer some supporting benefits to help members of this society improve their free software advocacy efforts:

• An online forum dedicated to discussion among members
• A USB membership card containing a bootable distribution of GNU/Linux
• Reduced rates for in-depth free software education and certification from the Free Technology Academy
• An invitation to join our annual gathering at the LibrePlanet conference
• A discount (20%) on all books and GNU Gear in our own store at http://shop.fsf.org

If you support the goal of a free software society, please join with your peers around the world in taking this important step.