[Fsfe-uk] SWPat: Discussion on IRC

[Alex Hudson]

Hi all.

First, a quick update on the software patent situation for those who
haven't been able to keep track. A directive has been passed by the
European Parliament which is generally favourable for those who believe
pure software patents should not be allowed - this is now due to go past
the EU Council of Ministers (this is apparently not what it calls
itself, however ;) who represent the various Governments. The danger now
is that this good directive will be vetoed, or heavily amended, by the
Council, undoing all of the good work. If the directive is vetoed, it is
likely an inter-governmental treaty would be negotiated, which is likely
to be a much worse state to be in.

People from FFII, AFFS and other interested parties are now
co-ordinating the next steps in this campaign. The best page for this in
the UK is:

        http://www.ffii.org.uk/council.html

To answer people's questions, encourage people to write to their MPs and
to discuss steps beyond that there will be an IRC meeting tomorrow
evening:

        Server: irc.oftc.net    Channel:  #uk-swpat-talk

This is scheduled to begin at 19:00, and we're allowing the first half
hour for people to ask questions about what has happened. From about
19:30 onwards the discussion will turn to actions beyond letter writing.
Don't worry if you haven't used irc before, it's pretty simple and if
you like you are free to sit back and watch.

Also, in case you are not aware, there is a mailing list at ffii.org.uk
(ffii-uk) which is the main UK mailing list on this topic (many of the
European lists are quite high traffic). I'm also hoping these irc meets
will become a weekly thing, at least while they are useful, so don't
worry if you miss tomorrow.

There is also going to be a talk by Richard Stallman in Sheffield on the
subject of Software Patents - there will be more information about this
event being published tomorrow. If there are people you think would
benefit from listening to this talk (it's pretty accessible to
non-technical people) - perhaps your local MP, or a minister ;) - you
may want to mention it to them.

Cheers,

Alex.