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Microsoft, a sponsor for the presidency of the EU?
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Brussels, 14th May.
At the initiative of Olga Zrihen, Member of the European Parliament from
the Belgian PS, of the internet section of the French socialist party
"TemPS réels" and of the VOV, Virtueller Ortsverein, the German virtual
section SPD, a protest action will take place in front of the
permanent representation of Ireland to the European Union this Monday,
17 May 2004 at 1300 (Rue Froissart 89, 1040 Bruxelles), during which
CD-ROM containing free software will be distributed, notably to the
Irish diplomats, as a signal of the existence of a free european
alternative to the monopoly of the American company, Microsoft.
The European draft legislation on software patents, crucial for the
future of the European information industry, after the first lecture
of the European Parliament, that substantially amended the initial
proposition of commissioner Bolkestein, is on the agenda of the
"competitiveness" council of ministers of the 17 of May. This proposal
for a directive directly puts in confrontation the material interests of
the SMEs that comprise the bulk of the European software industry to
that of the big multinationals, such as the American Microsoft.
Now we note that, Microsoft officially sponsors the Irish presidency of
the European Union . According to Olga Zrihen, member of the European
parliament Belgian socialist party, "We have the right to question this
situation: the presidency of the EU, which is a central element of the
European legislative process, and is supposed to obey the democratic
principles, accepts to be sponsored by a private company whose economic
interests are directly put into cause by a legislative proposition on
the agenda of the Council!...............
Source & Article complet : http://lwn.net/Articles/85301/
http://lwn.net/
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