Nominated for Europeans of the Year awards!

ANTI-SOFTWARE PATENT CAMPAIGNER=20
FLORIAN MUELLER NOMINATED FOR THE
"EUROPEANS OF THE YEAR" AWARDS

Brussels (22 September 2005) =96 Florian Mueller, the founder of the
NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign, has been nominated for the most =
prestigious
award in EU politics, the "EV50 Europeans of the Year". The campaigner, =
who
successfully opposed an EU directive on software patents, now has the =
chance
to become "EU Campaigner of the Year" or even the overall "European of =
the
Year".

The European Voice, a major EU-focused weekly, today started an Internet
poll in which Mueller runs against such celebrities as Bono Vox (U2), =
Bob
Geldof, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and political leaders =
including
British prime minister Tony Blair and German chancellor Gerhard =
Schroeder.
The poll is open to the public at this address: =
http://www.ev50.com/poll/=20

In a first reaction, Mueller said that he is "honored by this =
nomination",
but he was quick to share the glory: "I really owe this to all activists =
and
citizens who supported our cause, especially to the FFII (Foundation for =
a
Free Information Infrastructure)". Mueller has previously been listed =
among
the "top 50 most influential people in intellectual property" by =
Managing
Intellectual Property magazine:
http://www.managingip.com/default.asp?page=3D9&PubID=3D198&SID=3D525600&I=
SS=3D17456&
LS=3DEMS47649=20

Software patent critics are also pleased to see that Michel Rocard, the
European Parliament's rapporteur on the software patent directive, has =
been
nominated for the "MEP of the Year" award. On 6 July, an overwhelming
majority of MEPs voted 648-32 against the EU Council's proposal for a
"directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions".
Campaigners like Mueller and the FFII were worried that the proposed
legislation would have given software patents a much stronger legal =
status
in Europe.

The FFII's Brussels representative, Erik Josefsson, was among the first =
to
congratulate: "I'm extremely proud that Florian Mueller and Michel =
Rocard
have been nominated because they represent countless European citizens =
who
are concerned over software patents. Hopefully many will vote for the =
two,
so that Europe's political leaders fully appreciate the importance of =
our
cause."

Stefan Zickgraf, the managing director of leading SME organization =
CEA-PME,
said: "We are very happy about Florian Mueller's nomination because we
worked very closely and successfully with him and the FFII. The way in =
which
small and medium-sized businesses took political action against software
patents is unprecedented in Brussels, and the result should encourage =
all
SMEs to play a more active political role in the future." CEA-PME
(Conf=E9d=E9ration Europ=E9enne des Associations de Petites et Moyennes
Entreprises) is the Brussels-based umbrella organization of 22 member
associations from 19 European countries, representing in total more than
500,000 small and medium-sized enterprises.

The EV50 winners will be announced on 29 November. A gala evening at the
Palais d'Egmont in Brussels will be hosted by former European Parliament
President Pat Cox. The EV50 awards are supported by Belgian Prime =
Minister
Guy Verhofstadt. The European Voice is a publication of the Economist =
group.

NOTE: Florian Mueller founded the NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign in 2004 =
and
managed it until March of 2005. He then gave his website to the =
Foundation
for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), the leading European =
pressure
group that opposes the patentability of computer programs.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Florian Mueller
[email protected]
phone +49-8151-21088