Rather belatedly, here are notes from the last IFSO meeting, for
those who could not attend.
Notes from 12 February 2004
Present:
Ben North,
Ciaran O'Riordan,
David Cathcart,
Eibhear OhAnluain,
Glenn Strong,
Harry Tormey,
Malcolm Tyrrell,
Mel McWeeney,
Teresa Hackett
* Malcolm Tyrrel agreed to pursue the idea of an IFSO logo
and had a friend producing a drawing that might be useful
* There was an idea that A4/A5 "flyers" or handouts could be
useful for talks and events. Glenn agreed to draft one.
* We generally agreed that having an IFSO address for letters (rather
than using the address of the individual writing the letter) was
desirable. Ciaran volunteered his address in the short term and the
issue of a PO box was raised again, possibly as a medium term goal.
* The closure of Benshaws requires a new venue. This was to be thrown
out to the list for discussion, but Mahaffey's was discussed as a possibility.
* Glenn agreed to pursue the ifso.ie domain[1]
* Several new memberships were accepted
Most of the meeting was spent discussing the recent/upcoming directives.
Postings on the list have summarised much of this information already.
* Teresa had various updates on the IPRE
- ISP's are concerned about the effect this may have on Common Carrier status.
- There is a vote on the 11th of March [2]
- Data protection people are concerned about
circumvention (for instance as applies to RFID tags)
- Consultation process: it was strongly suggested that we need to lobby/argue
for a UK style consultation process.
* Teresa also had information on Software Patents
- Ciaran was preparing a letter on this
- Lobbying within Ireland and talking to MEP's should continue - Mary Harney
would be an appropriate person.
- it
was proposed we make contact with Green MEP Nuala Aherne on this subject.
* Mel explained the difficulty he had obtaining a blank (no OS) laptop
and his conversation with the Competition Authority on the subject.
[1] There is movement on this; I should have the paperwork done this week
[2] James Heald of FFII has since posted on list about this as well.
--
Glenn Strong
