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Torvalds And Cox Write EU Parliament On Patents

Posted by timothy on from the sorry-we-patented-writing-already dept.

replicant_deckard writes "Linus Torvalds and Alan Cox have sent an open letter to the members of the European Parliament. They ask for strict limitations to software patents, argue for open standards and ask the members of the parliament to follow FFII's voting recommendations. Vote on the controversial software patents directive will be on Wednesday and it is expected to be a very close one. Well, do you believe these guys have any impact in Brussels?"

1 of 293 comments (clear)

  1. Phone, write, fax, meet, but don't just email by Sanity · · Score: 1, Redundant
    As someone that has personally persuaded their MEP (who previously had nothing to do with tech issues) to actively support the anti-swpat cause, I can say that we can and have made a difference - but we haven't won the battle yet. If you live in the EU and care about these issues take the time to contact your MEP and see where they stand on this issue - but remember:
    • Emails are less than worthless, remember: meet > phone > write > email
    • Be polite, and STATE YOUR ARGUMENT CLEARLY. These people are generally well-meaning, but can often get confused if bombarded with 100 reasons why swpats are bad (even if all of them are valid). Most MEPs are keen to protect competition so start with "Software patents will hurt competition" and work from there.
    • Don't make it about Free Software, the software industry as a whole is in danger - not just free software.
    This is one of the first real opportunities the geek community has to make a real difference in politics - but it takes work, are you going to put your time and efforts where your mouth is?