NoSoftwarePatents Campaign Sponsors Call Industry to Action

http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=474

NOSOFTWAREPATENTS.COM SPONSORS
1&1 INTERNET AG AND MYSQL AB
CALL THEIR INDUSTRY COLLEAGUES TO ACTION
AGAINST EU SOFTWARE PATENTS

Munich (21 March 2005).  Two sponsors of the NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign
today called on their industry colleagues to commit financial resources to
the ongoing fight against software patents in the EU.  An open letter was
signed by the CEOs of 1&1 Internet AG, a German company that is the world's
largest Web hoster (4.5 million domains), and MySQL AB, Europe's largest
open-source software company.  Both companies have been supporting the
NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign from the outset in order to complement the
activities of volunteer group FFII (Foundation for a Free Information
Infrastructure) in the areas of public information, media relations and
lobbying.  Through content in 17 languages, NoSoftwarePatents.com addresses
a pan-European audience.

1&1 CEO Andreas Gauger and MySQL CEO Mårten Mickos say they have "various
political and psychological success factors" going for them.  However, they
expect their opponents, which are mostly large corporations from the USA and
Europe, to stage "a last-ditch lobbying 'blitzkrieg' backed by multi-million
euro budgets" in order to "impose a US-style software patent regime" on
Europe.  Those activities would turn Brussels into "the world capital of
lobbyism" during the next several months.  Given increasing concerns in the
US and other countries over the impact of software patents, the decision by
the EU could have global consequences.

To the chief executives who made today's Call to Action, strengthening the
resistance to software patents is simply "the right economic choice".  They
stress that a single patent litigation can cost any one company "more than
it takes all of us collectively to win this political battle".

Prospective partners are requested to write to
[email protected].  The ownership of defensive patents, which
are also held by some of the current sponsors, does not stand in the way of
a partnership with the NoSoftwarePatents campaign.

The complete Call to Action is available on the Internet at the following
address:
http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/docs/050321calltoaction.pdf

Florian Mueller, who manages the campaign, sees two different reasons for
the addition of new partners: "We need more resources to counterbalance the
immense lobbying efforts of our opponents.  However, the most important
thing is to prove to politicians that there are serious business interests
involved.  Every single letter is an important contribution, but by far not
enough to win when looking at everything that our opponents try in order to
have their way."

The campaigner stresses that "positioning" would have a decisive influence
on the political decision: "If the perception is that 'the economy' stands
against 'the community', then we're definitely going to lose.  We know that
numerous companies share our concerns and some of them are quite sizeable,
but we really have to prove that to the European Parliament.  Primarily
we're now looking for closed-source software companies with revenues that
are at least in the double-digit million euro or dollar range."

Current Status of the EU Software Patent Directive

On 7 March, the EU Council, commonly referred to as the "Council of
Ministers" because it is comprised of ministers from the member countries of
the union, adopted its "common position" on software patents.  The decision
was taken against strong resistance by various national parliaments and
despite a request by the European Parliament to restart the entire process
on the controversial directive.  A long list of countries, among them six
that had originally supported the proposal, added unilateral declarations by
which they basically distanced themselves from the decision and suggested
substantial amendments in the further process.

The Council's proposal is now on its way to the European Parliament, which
is widely expected to begin a second reading in mid April and to vote on
possible amendments, or rejection, in early July.  In order to take any such
decision, the EP now needs a majority of its component members, which
represents a minimum number of 367 votes irrespective of absences and
abstentions.  If the EP amends the proposal, then it goes back to the EU
Council and then on to a possible conciliation proceeding, which in turn
might be followed by third readings in either institution.

About the NoSoftwarePatents.com Campaign

The NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign was launched on October 20th and is
supported by three IT companies (1&1, Red Hat, and MySQL AB).  The views
expressed by the campaign are those of the campaign manager and not
necessarily those of the aforementioned companies.

Through Web content in 17 languages, the campaign addresses a pan-European
audience.  More information on the campaign is available on its Website.

Contact Information

For further information concerning this announcement or the
NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign, please contact:

Florian Mueller
Campaign Manager, NoSoftwarePatents.com
telephone +49 (8151) 651850
[email protected]