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[Sheflug] Europarl Hearing on Software Patents
Hi
This just dropped into my mailbox. Thought that someone else might
like to read it....
Thank you for signing our
Petition for a Software Patent Free Europe
http://petition.eurolinux.org/
a while ago, and for allowing us to inform you about upcoming
actions.[1]
We now need your participation again. The European Parliament is
likely to ratify a Software Patent Directive, possibly with helpful
amendments, in May. Detailed news are found at
http://swpat.ffii.org/news/index.en.html
Your participation can have a decisive influence.
Here are a few things to do:
(1) Sign our Amendment Proposals by clicking
http://petition.ffii.org/eubsa/en
or, if you already have a user ID, by logging into the
FFII/Eurolinux Community Tool
http://petition.ffii.org/
and then navigating through "Signing Appeals".
(2) Now you are logged into a system which makes it easy to
select and contact Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)
Click
==> My MEPs
==> I would rather select an MEP myself
==> [ selection criteria ]
==> [ 1 MEP ]
(3) Directly phone your MEP, express your concern about the
"Software Patent Directive Project", find out who in this MEP's
office is studying the matter, how they think and whom they
follow, and inform us by filling in the "Confidential Note" field.
It is very important that MEPs hear *your* voice directly
and not just the voices of a few "Eurolinux lobbyists".
(4) Write to the person with whom you just phoned.
Perhaps also publish a position statement on your website.
Keep it simple[2] but feel free to ask for our assistance in
formulating.
In any case, send us copies/pointers.
(5) The Green and Liberal Fractions of the European Parliament are
calling on representatives of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) to
speak at a hearing on May 8th about the Software Patent Directive
Project. There will also be a demonstration with theatre and
speeches in front of the parliament building and a scientific
conference starting on May 7th.
Information about the event schedule is appearing at
http://swpat.ffii.org/events/2003/europarl/05/
and you can register as a participant through the
petition.ffii.org
Community Tool. If you would like to help with organisational
work
(e.g. onsite work in Brussels, organising driving communities etc)
please sign up at
http://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/bxl
If you would like to speak at one of the events, please contact me
directly.
Please consider speaking at the hearing, if you can speak for a
company. Companies from Eastern Europe (future member countries)
are
also (and even particularly) welcome.
(6) Donate for our lobbying expenses. We are spending at least
30,000 EUR on top of a lot of unpaid voluntary work, and we will
not be able to pay all our bills unless you come forward with
donations.
The bank account for a donation is
Country: DE (Germany)
Bank Code 70150000
BIC (bank identifier code): SSKMDEMM
SWIFT: SSKM DE MM
Name of Bank: Stadtsparkasse Muenchen
Bank's Postal Address: DE 80335 Muenchen / Lotstr 1
Account: 31112097
IBAN (international bank account number)[3]:
DE78701500000031112097
Account Owner: FFII e.V.,
Account Owner's Postal Address: DE 80636 Muenchen /
Blutenburgstr 17
Keyword: europarl
FFII is acknowledged as a public-interest association and we will
send you a receipt that at least in Germany makes the donation
tax-deductible. It would be great if you could get started with at
least one of the above items right now.
For brevity, we are writing in English only this time, but we will try
to answer your questions or replies in the language of your choice.
Yours sincerely
Mit freundlichen Gruessen
Amicalement
kore, adios, ciao, groeten, na schledanou, saygilar, geia xara ...
--
Hartmut Pilch, FFII & Eurolinux Alliance tel.
+49-89-12789608
Protecting Innovation against Patent Inflation
http://swpat.ffii.org/
140,000 signatures against software patents
http://noepatents.org/
[1] If someone abused your email address or for some other reason you
do not want to be a signatory of our petition, please say so clearly
and we will remove your signature. Note that as long as you are a
signatory and the reasons for this petition continue to exist, you
may occasionally (not more than 1x/month) receive short mails such as
this one, which are strictly limited to helping you achieve the aims
which you have endorsed.
[2] Avoid speculative assertions, just explain your interest, e.g.
- you want to create/use software without having to worry about
patents (explain what your stakes in software are, why copyright
works fine for you, why you are more innovative without patents).
- you have trusted in Art 52 EPC (European Patent Convention,
Convention sur le Brevet Europeen CBE, Europaeisches
Patentuebereinkommen EPUe),
according to which "programs for computers" (Programme fuer
Datenverarbeitungsanlagen, programmes pour ordinateurs) are not
patentable inventions (patentfaehige Erfindungen, inventions
brevetables), see also http://swpat.ffii.org/analysis/invention/
You want the European Parliament to restore the trust in the law
which the European Patent Office (EPO) has recently destroyed.
- Words such as "computer-implemented invention" or "technical",
as used in the proposal, make no sense to you, the software expert.
The directive says its wants "clarification" but, at least for people
such as yourself, it makes things extremely unclear and confusing.
Does your MEP really understand this supposed "clarification"?
"Computer-implemented invention" (inventions mise en oevre par
ordinateur, computer-implementierte Erfindung) is a new word created
by patent lawyers in order to suggest that "programs for computers"
are, contrary to what is written in Art 52 EPC, patentable
inventions. You feel strongly offended by the title of the proposed
"Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions"
and threatened by its contents. No more junk laws, please!
- You support the
Call for Action
http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/demands/
and urge your MEP to support it likewise (some MEPs are already
listed as signatories). - You could also propose to meet your MEP,
possibly around the May 7/8 events, to which your MEP is invited.
[3] We are told that, using the IBAN, money can now be transferred
between european countries for the domestic fee, thanks to a recent
EU internal market harmonisation directive which can be enforced
against banks.
___________________________________________________________________
Sheffield Linux User's Group -
http://www.sheflug.co.uk/mailfaq.html
GNU the choice of a complete generation.