Re: An Open Letter On Software Patents and EU Election (fwd)

On Sun, 2004-06-06 at 08:24, Tom Chance wrote:

> To the people who know more about Lib Dems than me -- would it be likely that 
> he might start leading the Lib Dems a little more towards a proper anti-swpat 
> standpoint, rather than the effectively-pro-swpat view they hold now? 

I doubt it, since he seems so attached to the 'softly softly' approach
towards the Commission and Council. Of course if the vote had gone the
way LD MEPs voted there probably wouldn't be any chance to influence the
result now and there'd likely be no debate: the Council would certainly
not be persuaded to adopt anti-swpat positions if the EP had rejected
them and the EP couldn't introduce them again in 2nd reading. So much
for appeasement.

It should be noted that LibDem MEPs (unlike MPs and Cowley Street, see
http://www.jenruss.plus.com/russ/SoftwarePatents/ld.html) do not mention
the party's policy when they reply to constituents. I get the feeling
they don't really care about the issue, or don't know enough about it.
And they'd rather voters did not know of the policy, because it implies
that the MEPs are obliged to stand up to the Commission, something they
are not minded to do.

Alex