Leftfield suggestion.

Typedef

No, not the band.

Press Release
For immediate publication.

====================================================================
Sept 23 Demonstration against EU Software Patent Directive
====================================================================

Strasbourg, September 16, 2003

The Proposal for a software patent directive, which will be submitted to the
European Parliament for decision on September 23nd, is giving rise to yet
another wave of protests.

The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament organise a press conference in
Brussels on 17 September with an impressive list of guests
(http://www.greens-efa.org/en/press/detail.php?id=1521&lg=en)

The LUG of Strasbourg, together with the FFII and the Eurolinux Alliance are
calling for participation in a rally comprising a street performance in
Strasbourg on September 23nd, starting at 14.00 from Place Kleber and going
to the European Parliament. This action will be accompanied by online
demonstrations.

Behind the organisers is a coalition of organisations representing 2000
software companies and 250,000 individuals, mostly software professionals.

On August 27th, a rally in and near the European Parliament in Brussels
attracted 500 participants. Leaders of the scientific communities and
software business world took the directive proposal apart and condemned it
in every respect.

The proposal would, according to the organisers, "legalise thousands of
logic patents that have been granted by the European Patent Office against
the letter and spirit of the law, making if impossible for national courts
to continue to revoke these patents". This would protect the interests of
patent holders and patent lawyers, i.e. the people whom the Commission
called "an economic majority", discarding the evidence against software
patents provided by 94% of the respondents to its consultation on software
patents (Eurolinux petition).

The program in Strasbourg is approximately as follows:

11:00-12:30 | Kléber Place | Rally in the streets of Strasbourg marching to
the European Parliament
12:30-14:00 | Demonstration in front of the European Parliament with
performance, balloons, patent chain, speeches.

"The European Patent is defined by the Munich Convention , an international
treaty ratified by 19 countries, and is independent of the Treaty of Rome.
Article 52 stipulates that patents for computer programs are forbidden.
Nevertheless, the European Patent Office has granted hundreds of patents on
software programs," says Eric Bischoff of the Strasbourg LUG. "To accept
this European Directive is suicidal for the European SME and SCE; this would
be equivalent to placing all European small businesses at the mercy of large
American and Japanese companies, which hold 65% of all European Software
Patents."

"The vast majority of our supporters will certainly not be on Place Kléber
on September 23. Those who can not come to Starsbourg can show their support
online", says Hartmut Pilch, president of FFII. "We have proposed a series
of ways in which this can be done. There is certainly a way for everyone.
Better make access to your webpage a bit more difficult now for one or two
days than lose your freedom of publication for the next ten years. Note that
if the McCarthy report is approved without drastic amendments, copyright and
freedom of publication will become worthless. Programmers and Internet
Service Providers will be regularly sued for patent infringement. The
deadline for democratic scrutiny is September 23rd and it is your last
chance to make your voice heard in the European patent decisionmaking
process."

====================================================================
You may find more information about the Week of Action :
http://swpat.ffii.org/news/03/demo0914/

Contacts:
Guy Brand,
Flammekueche Connection, Strasbourg
http://strasbourg.linuxfr.org/
E-Mail : lug@strasbourg.linuxfr.org
Phone : +33-3-88 606 606

Permanent URL of this Press Release
http://strasbourg.linuxfr.org/pat/

====================================================================

About the Eurolinux Alliance -- www.eurolinux.org

The EuroLinux Alliance for a Free Information Infrastructure is an open
coalition of commercial companies and non-profit associations united to
promote and protect a vigourous European Software Culture based on
copyright, open standards, open competition and open source software such as
Linux. Corporate members or sponsors of EuroLinux develop or sell software
under free, semi-free and non-free licenses for operating systems such as
GNU/Linux, MacOS or MS Windows.


About the FFII -- www.ffii.org

The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) is a non-profit
association registered in Munich, which is dedicated to the spread of data
processing literacy. FFII supports the development of public information
goods based on copyright, free competition, open standards. More than 250
members, 300 companies and 15,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act
as their voice in public policy questions in the area of exclusivity rights
(intellectual property) in the field of software.


About the LUG of Strasbourg -- strasbourg.linuxfr.org

The LUG of Strasbourg is a group of Linux and Open Source Software users in
Strasbourg. This group works for popular education through Open Source
Software adoption by every one by organizing conferences, information
stands, presentations and install-parties opened to the public.

I propose that on the 23rd boards also implements the frontpage 60 second redirect, which explains, why the proposed patents are bad, proposes why we are against them (assuming the admins agree) and encourages the reader to contact their MEP to stop this.

Just a thought.

dahamsta

Seconded.

DeVore

On the 23rd hundreds of thousands of angry nerds will rise up!! (and then sit down again, panting heavily).

Sorry, I very much doubt we'll redirect anyone anywhere. I've no problem with people making an issue out of this in the relevant forum(s) but people who come here for their Motor forum and Rugby forums, couldnt give two hoots about software patents.

What do I do when another person comes along with a worthy/heartfelt campaign... ?

Personally, I'm against patents fyi. I'll talk to the other admins but I'd be against the type of action you are suggesting.

DeV.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

Puck

I'd support this.
You did the IOFFL Blackout, which had nothing to do with Rugby or Motors and which took the whole site down apart from a protest page if I recall correctly. Why not this?

maxheadroom

Originally posted by DeVore
people who come here for their Motor forum and Rugby forums, couldnt give two hoots about software patents.

What if someone patents something ridiculous like "a system for storing conversational information in a database and presenting it in a text based manner on a web page" (or more seriously, some technical innard of PHP) - then they wouldn't have their motor or rugby forums at all...

DeVore

a. Yes they would, we'd just be breaking one more law )

b. The software manufacturer would be the one in trouble, noone presses patent claims against software users.

c. Re: Databases and storage etc... Two words: Prior Art.

Patents are a BAD THING though. I dont think they would be the end of the world though, I mean, look how much luck other copyright holders are having enforcing their copyrights...

I think we turned our front page black if I recall, I dont think we redirected people to somewhere they didnt think they were going (as is being suggested).

Maybe some other kind of protest/demonstration?

Typedef

I'd be all for turning the front page black and sticking some noticable text in saying why etc, etc.

The net effect would be the same, namely registering our opposition to Software Patents (which are bad).

So yeah, a black page, (as opposed to a redirect) accomplishes the same thing I'd say.

MarcusGarvey

Actually Dev, you blocked all navigation from the frontpage the day of the blackout. You just put a note on the mainpage and that was it. The site was pretty mucyh offline except for the posters who remembered the exact url for forums.

dahamsta

DeV, at the last protest a couple of weeks ago many, many people posted a page that explained the problem in a couple of paras and asked people to visit the EFFI website about it, but retained a link to the rest of the site.

adam

Typedef

True, many pages did a redirect after a specified amount of time to their regularly scheduled front pages, which gave you time to read and understand what was going on, before being moved along.

I thought it was a fairly good way of doing to ***.

ecksor

I agree with DeVore. A compromise such as a one day ad or banner or some other support of things we see as worthy or good might be a route to investigate.

I'm not necessarily against the idea of a 'software patent' as a concept or a right (I'll have to think more about that one), but I do think that they are bad things and that the route we're going with it has pitfalls and I tend to support anything that informs or educates. However, where is the balance? Where is the opposing argument or point of view?

dahamsta

Here you go ecksor.

http://swpat.ffii.org/players/amccarthy/index.en.html

(I'm kidding, I'm kidding!)

adam

Typedef

Hmm.

Have we decided whether or not this should go ahead?

/looks around

ecksor

I think not. Redirecting users elsewhere is hostile in my opinion. Most of our users don't care. I encourage you to explore some of the alternatives I suggested above.

I'd be quite open to putting a graphic on the front page with a link. But, I'd also be inclined to invite someone to submit an opposing point of view to link to. Call it an 'awareness day' or whatever.

Typedef

A graphic would be just as effective.

Perhaps this one?

The standard one against patents?

DeVore

Sorry, machine problems keeping me offline a lot lately.

Didnt get back to this. I agree with Ecksor and would give ads or a link. Redirecting is a bad thing and imho IOFFL was a considerably more Boards-Oriented day then the patents issue.

DeV.