Re: [Fsfe-uk] "Software patent fight moves to Parliament"

[Ralph Janke]

Tom Chance wrote:
Tom Chance wrote:

> On Friday 21 May 2004 17:55, P.L.Hayes wrote:
>  
>
> > On Friday 21 May 2004 14:30, James Heald wrote:
> >    
> >
> > > Good advice from Richard Allan MP.
> > >      
> > Is it though?
> >    
>
> I'd simply say: "it's worth a try" :-)
>
> I should think there's a chance that we could convince enough Labour and Lib 
> Dem MPs for them to then win over some of their fellow MEPs who have sounded 
> sympathetic but who have then voted for software patents.
>
>  
I think you can win over Labour and Lib Dem  MEP's the moment when they 
notice they might not get elected
if they don't take this issue serious. As long as there is not real 
pressure from other candidates from other parties
that might be able to win against them, you probably will not win 
against the money of the donors on the other side.

In democracy two principles are usually important in election:

The primary motivation:

How much donation will a candidate/party get from which group in order 
to finance their campaign. That
is why you will find big corporations allows donate to all major parties 
in a more or less equal way.

The primary fear:
Not being elected because of the stand/opinion in a certain issue. This 
is not a positive, but negative motivator. That is
why most candidates are waffling over the issue and want to have it 
somewhat both ways, or give enough that they hope
people on both side on the issue don;t find their stand offensive, 
meaning turn them away.

Unfortunately Intellectual property as an issue has not risen yet to a 
point like ecology has in the the 80s. The topic itself started
combined with some civil rights and democracy demands the founding of 
the Green party in Germany. Today they are in the governing
coalition (actually for the second term). Since the Green Party in 
Germany has shown that a Party on issues not on political tradition
can win seats in parliaments, the other parties have started to take 
this issue of ecology serious.

I hope we will be able to mount a similar grassroots movement on the 
issue, because doesn't matter how this particular directive will be decided.
The fight about this issue will go on far some longer time. I think we 
need to revise a plan that is tatical (this election, this directive) as 
well as strategic
(Not only against patents, but agrresively positive - what kind of 
society do we want to see regarding intellectual property). The strategy 
hopefully
will give us the framework for our tactical plans in the future driving 
staedily in the same direction.

We haev to see it like a momentum wheel in a steam engine. Steady impuls 
on the momentum wheel will bring the movement and will be very difficult
to stop or reverse if we all put the positive impulse on it. As longer 
the movement is going as more power it will gain.

> I shall approach two local Labour MPs who I'm friendly with to guage their 
> reaction. I should imagine it will border on confusion ;-)
>
>  
I did this with a local council Labour guy. He refered me to Michael 
Cashman MEP for West Midlands. I have send that guy an e-mail, but 
haven't heard
anything back. Did anybody else hear from this guy ?

> Regards,
> Tom
>
>  
My 2 cents....

Ralph