[Legal] Fw: Re: [Osdem]Something concerning Software Patent was suppose to happend the Wednesday after FOSDEM...

[Alexander Bokovoy]

FYI:

----- Forwarded message from Xavi Drudis Ferran <xdrudis на tinet.org> -----

Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 22:02:41 +0100
From: Xavi Drudis Ferran <xdrudis на tinet.org>
To: osdem на lists.raphinou.com
Subject: Re: [Osdem]Something concerning Software Patent was suppose to happend the Wednesday after FOSDEM...
In-Reply-To: <003801c1cdd5$73a50fd0$420915ac на dglaude>
User-Agent: Mutt/1.3.25i
Reply-To: osdem на lists.raphinou.com

El Sun, Mar 17, 2002 at 06:01:57PM +0100, David GLAUDE Mailing deia:
> If I remember well the presentation the first day at Fosdem.
> One of the talker told us that something was about to be announced
> just after FOSDEM and that we should expect to get something on Wednesday.
> 
> It was the talker closely related to EC and he could not tell us about it.
> 
> Did someone watched the news and had seen what I have not seen?
> Any URL pointing to that announcement.
> 
Yes indeed. And I think is worse than he was thinking (e.g. software product 
claims are allowed)

The European Comission Directorate General Interior Market published 
a proposal for a directive to legalise software patents (Feb 20th 2002). 
It appears to have been written in the most part by a Bussiness Software Alliance 
lawyer (BSA is a gang of Microsoft, Adobe, etc.)

It's wording is confusing and their press releases contradict reality and 
the directive text, see it all uncovered at

http://swpat.ffii.org/vreji/papri/eubsa-swpat0202/index.en.html

There is a paneuropean effort to convince our politicians to reject 
that proposal, and any help is wellcome. 

All French political parties have already spoken against it, 

http://lists.ffii.org/archive/mails/news/2002/Mar/0005.html

the French government stands against it 
http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/france020301/index.en.html

Also politicians in Germany
http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/tauss020312/index.en.html

The Dutch labour party
http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/pvda020220/index.en.html

But there is strong lobbying by the patent movement and UK seems to 
be for software patents. We need to talk to our representatives everywhere. 
(State governments, MEPs, and anyone who can influence them: unions, 
businesses, political parties, NGOs... ).
No help is too small. If you want to get informed and contact politicians 
and the press you'll get plenty of information in the swpat.ffii.org 
website (and some others).  If you don't want to go too deep in legalese/politics, 
you can still help by contributing translations (German to anything would 
be handy, but also any other), art, press contacts, collecting press coverage
and testimonials, etc. Contact Eurolinux or even myself.

http://www.eurolinux.org/contact/index.en.html

Yo can also join the patents на aful.org mailing list

<mailto:sympa на aful.org?subject=subscribe%20patents

If you haven't yet, you can sign the petition at 

http://petition.eurolinux.org 



-- 
Xavi Drudis Ferran
xdrudis на tinet.org


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----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
/ Alexander Bokovoy
Software architect and analyst             // SaM-Solutions Ltd.
---
Man must shape his tools lest they shape him.
		-- Arthur R. Miller