He joins other visionaries like Aaron Swartz, Jimmy Wales, and John Perry Barlow, who have all made significant contributions to the advancement of the global Internet. The Internet Hall of Fame inducted Stallman for his contributions as creator of the GNU Project, main author of the GNU General Public License, and his philosophical contributions as founder of the free software movement. Richard has been named an Innovator, a category which recognizes and celebrates individuals who made outstanding technological, commercial, or policy advances and helped to expand the Internet's reach.

The future of a troubled Internet was on Richard's mind as he learned of his induction. He says, "Now that we have made the Internet work, the next task is to stop it from being a platform for massive surveillance, and make it work in a way that respects human rights, including privacy."

We at the FSF are working hard to stop NSA surveillance, protect the free Internet from DRM, and develop replacements for network services that spy on their users, but we need your support to achieve these goals.

Help us further this vision by becoming a member of the Free Software Foundation or volunteering today.

Nearly 30 years after he first published the GNU Manifesto (stay tuned for coming September celebration plans), Richard Stallman's ideas have spread the world over. Thanks to the support of people like you, the free software movement continues to grow. Please join us in congratulating Richard and all of the other 2013 inductees to the Internet Hall of Fame.