FYI:

I received this answer to my e-mail:


""
BTW, I've something to add if you send a reply to it:

People wanting to help with the council which have subscribed the
national mailing list and need instructions on how to help with
the council / Urgent Call should subscribe

        http://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/consilium-parl

And ask for updates / national todos there (not all <country>-parl 
lists have got people which know what's up and I'm not sure if
we are subscribed on all (well, I may be on many of the new ones,
but it's better to use good infrastructure)

Bernhard
""


On Tuesday 27 July 2004 13:11, Ante Wessels wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> As we all know, softwarepatents can hurt open source projects enormously.
> If you only have 20 seconds, http://webshop.ffii.org will convince you.
> About anything can be patented. Open Source projects do not have the
> resources to fight softwarepatent infringement claims. One absurd claim can
> kill a project. KDE makes a wonderful product. KDE has come so far, it is
> intolerable to see it threatened. The time has come to defend what this
> community has made. Through my involvement with KDE I ended up at the FFII
> nl.
>
> The FFII has had a major influence on the European Parliament. The
> influence on the Council of Ministers was less strong, may 18 it reached a
> political agreement pro softwarepatents. Still, that first round isn't
> over. The vote has to be formalized. In the Netherlands a motion was
> adopted, urging the minister to withdraw the vote. In Germany, the Deutsche
> Bank has published a report that says softwarepatents are bad for
> innovation, they ask the government to oppose softwarepatents. More things
> will happen. These things often happen at the national level. The coming
> months will be crucial. In my opinion, prior to the Council meeting in
> which the vote will be formalized, the FFII needs to be a fast moving
> organisation that can get a message from the center to all the capitals.
> Unfortunately, the FFII isn't as strong in some countries as it is in
> others. KDE is better localized in Europe.
>
> And now, well, I have a Dream. My dream is that the FFII can sometimes tap
> into some of that (wo)manpower KDE has in Europe. Sometimes texts need to
> be translated, a letter to a parliament send. It would be great if some KDE
> contributors and users would join the national lists of the FFII:
> http://swpat.ffii.org/group/todo/ , pl-parl, fr-parl, etc. It would be
> great if the aKademy would pay attention to softwarepatents.
>
> "Everything of worth is vulnerable" the Dutch poet Lucebert wrote. IMHO, we
> have to stand up to defend it. It may be one of the last summers we can
> enjoy KDE as it is. Why not issue a KDE call to arms? If the Deutsche Bank
> moves, KDE can march.
>
> The only thing we have to fear is the future, if we do not shape it
> ourselves.
>
> Together we can do it,
>
> Ante
>
>
> http://webshop.ffii.org
> http://swpat.ffii.org/group/todo/
> http://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000175949.pd
>f
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ******
> The most up to date info for kde artists can be found at the wiki:
> http://wiki.kdenews.org/tiki-index.php?page=KDE+Artists
> old:
> http://kde.ground.cz/tiki-index.php?page=KDE+Artists
>
> Scripts for kde artists, like svg2png4kde, add border, add drop shadow,
> change filename, file conversion:
> http://home.uwnet.nl/~vita/linux/index.html
>
> Web course italian, poem generator, poetry, stories and visual art:
> http://home.uwnet.nl/~vita

-- 

vriendelijke groet,
cordialemente,

Ante



******
The most up to date info for kde artists can be found at the wiki:
http://wiki.kdenews.org/tiki-index.php?page=KDE+Artists
old:
http://kde.ground.cz/tiki-index.php?page=KDE+Artists

Scripts for kde artists, like svg2png4kde, add border, add drop shadow, change 
filename, file conversion:
http://home.uwnet.nl/~vita/linux/index.html

Web course italian, poem generator, poetry, stories and visual art:
http://home.uwnet.nl/~vita