.. articleMetaData:: :Where: Dieren, the Netherlands
Apparently the EU is not totally democratic either. A few months ago the Software Patents Working Group of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure managed to lobby succesfully against software patents and managed that the EU Parliament restricted patentability of software. But now the EU Council just send that agreement to the scrap heap and made a draft behind close doors to allow direct patentability of computer programs, data structures and process descriptions., which is something truly evil as it breaks with the traditional system of patent law.
Luckily there are a few MEPs who are rallying against this insult of the European Parliament. It was bound to happen of course with Ireland being the chair of the EU, with a website sponsorred by Micro$oft. So what can you do? Go to this site and sign up for the Call for Action II. You can also start calling your MEP, and make sure to vote for an anti-patent candidate in the june 10's European Parliament elections. (In the Netherlands for example Johanna Boogerd). But also, spreading the word about this blatent violation of democracy and make sure there is more coverage in the press is always a good thing.