Allianz Group will suffer because of software patents
October 4th, 2004
Dear Mr. Diekmann,
Have you ever considered offering general insurance for stock brokers
against the risk of losing money? As absurd as this sounds, the
European Commission is seriously considering equivalent measures at
the moment.
The European Council and the European Commission seek to introduce
software patents in Europe. This is not only threatening any company
doing business in Europe, [1]a number of international scientists also
see it as a grave risk to European economies. Adding to the studies
already known, recent publications by [2]Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC)
and [3]Deutsche Bank Research further underline the damaging effect of
software patents. As [4]The Register quotes PwC: "The mild regime
[...] in the past has led to a very innovative and competitive
software industry with low entry barriers. A software patent, which
serves to protect inventions of a non-technical nature, could kill the
high innovation rate."
The reality of software patents is well-known for its purely
speculative character. Although generally endorsed by noble goals such
as promoting innovation, studies from the [5]Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT) or the [6]German monopoly commission show that
software patents are harmful to innovation.
Software patent applications could be considered like the chips that
are bet on a roulette table that -- if successful -- will win you the
jackpot in form of a multi-billion Euro litigation. Any large
corporation making use of software could find itself on the receiving
end of such a bet. The more money at play and the more software used,
the higher the chance of being targeted. Valuable companies such as
Allianz group -- which are in the main dependent on software revenues
are especially at risk of being adversely affected by the legalisation
of software patents in the EU.
While I believe the plans of the European Commission should already
have you quite worried, the current plans are going to affect you in
another aspect, as well.
Having to acknowledge the harmful and potentially devastating effect
of software patents on European companies and national economies, the
European Commission recently introduced the idea of another directive
aimed at creating a [7]compulsory insurance against software patents
for all European enterprises. This insurance should obviously be cheap
enough so that it does not immediately kill the European economy
altogether.
You, as CEO of Allianz Group will have to insure your enterprise,
because you are at risk of being the target of a multi-billion Euro
software patent litigation. This is essentially the same as asking for
cheap compulsory insurance of all stock brokers against losing money
-- and we are certain that you see the flaw in that logic.
We would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this problem with you
further, but now time is of the essence. The European Council is
planning to decide in November and the European Parliament will then
have to make a final decision early next year.
With kind regards,
Georg Greve
President
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)
www.fsfeurope.org
References
1. http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release-de/2004q2/000030.html
2. http://www.pwc.com/Extweb/pwcpublications.nsf/docid/EC6DE73A846581CE80256EF…
3. http://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000175949.pdf
4. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/15/pwc_swpat_are_a_threat/
5. http://www.researchoninnovation.org/patent.pdf
6. http://swpat.ffii.org/archiv/zitate/index.de.html#mopoko0207
7. http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/indprop/patent/docs/patent-lit…
The first part of the hearing in the appeal procedure by Microsoft Vs
the EC has finished yesterday at 12.30pm. The Court heard from Jeremy
Allison, introduced by Carlo Piana from the Milan-based Tamos & Piana
law firm, on behalf of the Free Software Foundation Europe.
Allison's intervention has been very clear: Microsoft has worked
closely with the Samba Team in the past to achieve interoperability
between Windows systems and other operating system (including
GNU/Linux). "The SAMBA team and the FSFE are simply asking for the EC
to protect European consumers and to re-establish collaboration towards
a free and competitive market", says Stefano Maffulli, Chancellor of the
Italian Chapter of the FSFE. Moreover: "Neither the SAMBA Team, nor the
FSFE (which is representing SAMBA interests in the hearing), have ever
asked to see any part of Microsoft's source code. All that European
consumers need is to know the communication standards (protocols) used
by Microsoft Windows systems to implement their network services. This
is in order to allow non-Windows computer systems to interoperate with
Microsoft Windows systems."
The full text of the intervention is available by request; just write
to:
press-it(a)fsfeurope.org
The text will be soon made available on the FSFE website:
http://fsfeurope.org/
FSFE members are available for interviews and further details.
Contacts:
Stefano Maffulli <maffulli at fsfeurope.org>
Tel: +39 02 34 537 127
Fax: +39 02 34 531 282
Cel: +39 347 14 93 733
About the Free Software Foundation Europe:
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a charitable
non-governmental organisation dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the Freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition-
allow equal participation in the information age. Creating awareness
for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and
giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are
central issues of the FSFE. The FSFE was founded in 2001 as the
European sister organisation of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
Further information: http://www.fsfeurope.org
--
Joachim Jakobs <jj(a)office.fsfeurope.org>
Press Speaker - FSF Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
In der Roede 24, 64367 Mühltal (Tel: +49-179-6919565)
FSFE not inclined to pay legal costs of Microsoft
"No settlement in sight, FSFE ready for battle"
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) casts doubts on the increasing
rumors that Microsoft is willing to settle the antitrust case against
the EC Commission, which is due to come to Court later this week.
"We have not been approached by either party by any accounts. This
seems more like a smoke screen trying to distract from Airbus having
confirmed withdrawal from the case. With the hearing just a few hours
away, we also do not see the possibility to discuss any such proposal
at this stage," Carlo Piana, FSFEs legal counsel to the case,
comments. "Having seen the copious amount of pages of CVs for the
experts that Microsoft intends to bring to court, we are instead
preparing for two days of intense legal battle. We are quite confident
that our comparatively smaller team will give them a hard time and
provide the Commission with a great deal of support, as we have done
so far," Piana concludes.
"We are indeed ready for the battle, but we do hope that others will
stand up to support us in this fight as we are currently financing the
costs of this litigation from our rather limited funds," Georg Greve,
president of the FSFE confirms. "In this regard it should be a rather
interesting encounter: On the one side our small, but highly competent
team, hard-pressed even for the smallest of expenses. On the other
side Microsoft, which hired two of the most prestigious law firms in
Europe with their remarkably expensive lawyers working around the
clock with unlimited funds."
The costs seem indeed expensive since Microsoft with its legendary $49
billion cash reserve applied for the parties siding with the European
Commission to bear their legal costs in case the European Commission
loses the case. At the current stage, the result Microsoft can expect
is something equivalent to an acquittal for want of evidence.
If the other parties, such as FSFE, would then have to pay the cost of
Microsoft, it would be much like the surfer paying dental care to the
shark. "We appreciate the humoresque quality of this demand, but we
are certainly not inclined to give in to it!" Georg Greve concludes.
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the Freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition-
allow equal participation in the information age. Creating awareness
for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and
giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are
central issues of the FSFE, which was founded in 2001 as the
European sister organization of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
Further information: http://www.fsfeurope.org
--
Joachim Jakobs <jj(a)office.fsfeurope.org>
Press Speaker - FSF Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
In der Roede 24, 64367 Mühltal (Tel: +49-179-6919565)
FSFE: "Microsoft's bugs result in the corporation having a multiple
personality" - "customers should know who they are dealing with!"
Having been plagued by permanent problems with viruses, worms and
other bugs, software-giant Microsoft seems to be developing a multiple
personality. "Microsoft's customers should wonder about the sanity of
their business partner", remarks Joachim Jakobs, Press Speaker for the
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE).
Last Wednesday the German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported that
Microsoft tried to stop the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) from
becoming involved as interested party in Microsoft's appeals procedure
against the European Commission at the European Court. Microsoft's
lawyers wrote only one line about the appeal in their two-page letter,
making no formal objection to the process. Only to ramble in great
lengths for the rest of the letter why the FSFE has no reason to be
involved in the case. A spokesperson of the corporation
contradicted these statements when speaking to the Handelsblatt
newspaper by stating that more involved third parties would benefit the
case: the more, the merrier. Whether this sudden change of mind is
somehow related to Microsoft's request that the involved Third Parties
pay their lawyers is not entirely clear.
Jakobs draws a short summary of these apparently contradictory
statements: "It seems somewhat as if Microsoft's left hand did not know
what its right hand was doing. However, this is more like Dr Jekyll and
Mr Hyde, depending on what seems more useful at the time." Either
alternative should make Microsoft's business partners uncomfortable:
they should realise that anything that upholds its monopoly seems fair
to Microsoft. The FSFE suggests that market participants take a view of
this confused policy, which is dangerous to the European economy. It
seems like Microsoft is intent on ignoring the experience from
numerous free software trials worldwide over the past years.
"We would also like to remind all private and corporate users of
software that building and preserving freedom in an information society
is sometimes an expensive undertaking," concedes the president of FSFE,
Georg Greve. Donations to the FSFE [1] will be appreciated.
[1] http://fsfeurope.org/help/donate.html
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the Freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition -
allow equal participation in the information age. Creating awareness
for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and
giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are
central issues of the FSFE, which was founded in 2001 as the
European sister organization of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
Further information: http://www.fsfeurope.org
--
Joachim Jakobs <jj(a)office.fsfeurope.org>
Press Speaker - FSF Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
In der Roede 24, 64367 Mühltal (Tel: +49-179-6919565)
Dear Prime Minister,
Dear Dr. Balkenende,
The new Commission of the European Union would like to speed up the
"Lisbon"-Process to make Europe the "most competitive knowledge-based
economy by 2010". This is a reasonable aim which is worthy of support by
European citizens. However, the EU is considering legislation which will
have adverse effects on the software market. We - the Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) - would like to call your attention to this
important issue. With your help it may be possible to avoid this problem
before it gets off the ground in the EU.
Software patents are used to hinder competitors software innovation.
This is the sole reason that a virtual waste paper basket is patented,
the incorporation of applications into a website is patented, and or the
ordering of gifts via the internet is patented. These ideas are not very
innovative, but they are necessary to make the whole application run and
be usable by anybody. It is just the same as with a car: To get access
to the real innovations you need to use trivial features such as a
steering wheel.
In the last few weeks we have seen what happens to project management
in business and public administration because of a demanding project,
such as in Munich. A member of the city council feared that the project
might infringe a patent - and the project got into trouble for a whole
week, although software giants IBM are interested in managing this
project because of its international prestige. This was paralleled
worldwide, as similar projects are supposedly threatened as well.
>From now on any introduction of SAP will be in danger. The same way it
might get impossible to implement additional security features to
eliminate a bug in a web server - because there might at any time be
someone who speculates whether the ideas behind the implementation are
"protected" by software patents. For these reasons voices in the US
would like to get rid of the innovation blockade which are "software
patents".
30,000 software patents already exist in the EU; this contradicts the
spirit of the present patent law in the EU. Three quarters of software
patents are held by non-European companies. To give software patents a
legal basis may be a decision which would make the EU far less
competitive. That is why we would like to ask the European Council to
revise its agreement on software patents of May 18th. Instead the
Council should decide to make sure innovation can take place and not be
restricted by software patents in the future.
During the dutch Presidency of the European Union you have the best
opportunity to initiate this revision. In the interest of Europe you
should not hesitate to make this revision.
Yours sincerely
Georg Greve
President
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the Freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition -
allow equal participation in the information age. Creating awareness
for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and
giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are
central issues of the FSFE, which was founded in 2001 as the
European sister organization of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
Further information: http://www.fsfeurope.org
--
Joachim Jakobs <jj(a)office.fsfeurope.org>
Press Speaker - FSF Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
In der Roede 24, 64367 Mühltal (Tel: +49-179-6919565)
1. Announcing Wilhelm Tux as a new associate organisation
2. Software patents discussion
3. Donating to the FSFE in the United Kingdom
4. Speech at the KDE Community World Summit
1. Announcing Wilhelm Tux as a new associate organisation
Wilhelm Tux, a Swiss organisation for Free Software, has become an
associate organisation of the FSFE. The FSFE now has 9 associate
organisations in 8 different countries. Wilhelm Tux is the first
European associate organisation that resides in a country not being an
EU member state.
2. Software patents discussion
The FSFE has always pointed out that software patents are a big threat
for companies and individuals developing or using software, no matter
whether if it is free or proprietary. Recent software patent discussions
relating to the ongoing migration to Free Software in Munich seemed to
create the wrong impression for some people, namely that the software
patent problem only exists for Free Software, and the FSFE is happy that
it could help to clarify this point.
The FSFE also congratulates Mr. Ude, the mayor of Munich, who is showing
himself to be highly reasonable and competent: He continues the
migration without delays while both evaluating the risks potentially
created and speaking out against introduction of software patents in
Europe.
3. Donating to the FSFE in the United Kingdom
Due to substantial bank fees charged for international money transfers,
small donations or standing orders are too expensive to be send directly
to the Free Software Foundation Europe bank account. To rectify this,
FSFE in July 2004 entered into an agreement with UK based associate
organisation AFFS to collect donations and transfer them in larger
batches.
http://www.fsfeurope.org/help/donate-2004-uk.en.html
4. Speech at the KDE Community World Summit
Bernhard Reiter gave a speech at the KDE User and Administrator
Conference, which was part of the KDE Community World Summit in
Ludwigsburg, Germany. He spoke about social and political aspects of
Free Software.
You can find a list of all FSF Europe newsletters on
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html
Introducing Wilhelm Tux, the new FSFE associate
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and Wilhelm Tux proudly
declare that Wilhelm Tux, a Swiss Free Software organisation, has
officially become associate organisation of the FSFE.
Becoming part of the network and competence centre for Free Software
is something that the Swiss Free Software enthusiasts had planned for
some time now: "This is indeed great news for all members and friends
of Wilhelm Tux, as this adds a new brick to the road ahead promoting
Free Software in Switzerland. We are eager to continue raising the
interest for Free Software in a Free Society, especially in Switzerland
universally known as a land of Freedom", says Myriam Schweingruber,
president of Wilhelm Tux. Her colleague Alex Schröder adds:
"Our active members and friends are working in all parts of Switzerland,
beyond geographical or lingustic barriers, be it in the German, the
French or the Italian, not to forget the Romansh part of the country to
raise the interest in Free Software and also the philosophical, social
and economical issues related to it."
The collaboration with the FSFE is of great importance as its work
has always been an example to Wilhelmtux and "of course we hope
to contribute with our work in the construction of a Free Society",
Myriam Schweingruber concludes.
"We are very happy to have taken our co-operation with Wilhelm Tux to
the next level," Georg Greve, president of FSFE comments. "We had
very good co-operation and contact before, so this was a rather easy
and joyful decision for us. We are very much looking forward to
working with our Swiss friends for more Freedom."
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the Freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition -
allow equal participation in the information age. Creating awareness
for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and
giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are
central issues of the FSFE, which was founded in 2001 as the
European sister organization of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
Further information: http://www.fsfeurope.org
--
Joachim Jakobs <jj(a)office.fsfeurope.org>
Press Speaker - FSF Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
In der Roede 24, 64367 Mühltal (Tel: +49-179-6919565)
1. FSFE supporting European Commission in their case against Microsoft
2. Widely noticed interview in "Die Zeit"
3. Writing new licenses often counterproductive
4. RSS feeds for FSFE news and events available
5. FSFE supports the declaration of Caceres
6. Investigations on the impact of Free Software on companies
1. FSFE supporting European Commission in their case against Microsoft
In 2001 the European Union, through the DG Competition of the European
Commission (lead by Prof. Monti), started investigating Microsoft's
dominant position in the desktop operating systems market. The Free
Software Foundation Europe was invited by the EC to represent the
interests of the Free Software movement.
Together with the Samba team, which the FSFE involved in the case and
with which it cooperated closely, we were able to provide much of the
arguments that the European Commission based its decision upon.
Microsoft recently appealed against the antitrust decision and the DG
Competition called upon FSFE in cooperation with the Samba team again
to now join the efforts of the Commission to defend that decision.
FSFE, representing itself and the Samba team as well as the interests
of the Free Software Community, has participated in the preliminary
hearing held in Luxembourg on 27th of July.
Sun, which originally started the antitrust trial in Europe, declined
to participate to the appeal, so the list of the supporters of the
Commission are: Novell, RealNetworks, CCIA (Computer & Communication
Industry Association), SIIA (Software and Information Industry
Association) and FSFE.
In the course of the upcoming months, FSFE will read and comment on
all the documentation submitted by Microsoft to sustain the idea that
"disclosing documentation on interfaces and protocols is harmful" for
their business and for consumers.
These will be busy months, so if you know anybody that values being
able to use SAMBA and could support our efforts, please tell them to
support our work with their donation.
<http://www.fsfeurope.org/help/donate.en.html>
2. Widely noticed interview in "DIE ZEIT"
"DIE ZEIT", a well-respected German newspaper, has printed an
interview with Georg Greve that has been cited in several other
newspapers and news services. Georg Greve explains why software
patents are job- and economy-killers: "Many companies are facing a low
liquitidy and can spend their money only once: either on software
patents, or on innovation."
3. Writing new licenses often counterproductive
There seems to be a trend that more and more projects create new
licenses for Free Software instead of using the well established ones
used by thousands of existing projects. The FSFE emphasises that the
GNU GPL, the GNU LGPL and the BSD-style license are excellent for most
- if not all - projects. Claims that the GPL is not fully applicable
outside the U.S. have been proven wrong by a recent court decision in
Germany.
4. RSS feeds for FSFE news and events available
Our web team has created automatic RSS feeds for news and upcoming
events. Feeds are focus and language dependent. The URL for the news
feed is:
http://www.<focus>.fsfeurope.org/news/news.<language>.rss
while you find the event feed at:
http://www.<focus>.fsfeurope.org/events/events.<language>.rss
For example, for German speaking news and the German focus, you would
choose http://www.germany.fsfeurope.org/news/news.de.rss as the URL.
For your convenience, the news and event pages contain links to the RSS
feed URLs.
5. FSFE supports the "Declaration of Caceres"
During the Free Software Summer Event of the University of Extremadura
in Caceres, Spain, Georg Greve gave a presentation on the Free
Software Foundation Europe and participated in a panel discussion
about software patents.
As closing highlight of the university course, the participants made
the "Declaration of Caceres" against software patents drafted by
Hispalinux, which was read out in Portuguese by Marcelo D'Elia Branco,
German by Georg Greve, English by Maureen O'Sullivan and finally
Spanish by the vice-rector of the University, Fernando Sanchez
Figueroa.
The FSFE officially supports this declaration, which reads:
"Freedom, equality and fraternity, the old Europe's values applied
to technology, have achieved the biggest innovative space ever
imagined. Software Patents are the countermeasure that augments
costs, bureaucracy and legal costs to stop European progress."
6. Investigations on the impact of Free Software on companies
The University Bocconi in Milan, Italy held a conference to discuss
the impact Free Software has on Italian companies. Stefano Maffulli
was invited to hold a speech in the name of the FSFE.
You can find a list of all FSF Europe newsletters on
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html
Essen, Aug 5th 2004
In reaction to the decision by the City of Munich to re-evaluate its
migration plans to Free Software, the Free Software Foundation Europe
points out that software patents are equally a significant problem for
both Free Software and proprietary software alike.
"Without doubt, software patents are a roadblock to innovation.
They will extort a high price that has to be paid by all European
citizens through loss of competitiveness, and also jobs", says Georg
Greve, President of the FSFE.
Software patents can not be a reason to stop migration from non-free to
Free Software. While Free Software is going to suffer along with all of
industry and society, there is no need to fear for its existence or
legal safety any more than there is need to fear such legal insecurity
with regard to proprietary software.
"Therefore, the FSFE encourages the municipality of Munich to not allow
being stopped on its way to freedom by tactics of spreading Fear,
Uncertainty and Doubt", says Georg Greve. He also adds: "As a related,
but different issue we also suggest them to increase the pressure on the
German government to refuse software patents once and for all."
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition-
allow equal participation in the information age. Creating awareness
for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and
giving people freedom by supporting development of Free Software are
central issues of the FSF Europe, which was founded in 2001 as the
European sister organization of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.
Further information: http://www.fsfeurope.org
Contact:
Georg C. F. Greve <greve at fsfeurope.org>
Tel: +49-40-23809080
Fax: +49-40-23809081
[for immediate release]
FSFE to challenge Microsoft in its appeal against
European Commission
(Essen/Luxemburg) The European Commission sought to help the IT market
grow in the best possible way for consumers and citizens of the
European Union with its antitrust ruling against Microsoft.
EU Commissioner Mario Monti imposed a penalty of nearly 500 millions
Euro and additional conditions. One of these is the publication of the
software interfaces. This information is important for example to the
Free Software project SAMBA. SAMBA connects the UNIX and GNU/Linux
World with Microsoft's operating systems. Via this gateway SAMBA
reduces customers addiction of the monoculture which is fostered by
the Redmond based software giant. Without the information on the
interfaces SAMBA cannot work properly.
Although it seems questionable whether that ruling would truly stop
the monopoly, Microsoft seems to be worried and has entered appeal
against it in front of the European Court.
After having participated as third party in the antitrust case before,
the Free Software Foundation Europe has participated to the
preliminary hearing on Tuesday 27th of July 2004 to enter court in
order to defend the decision of the European Commission and the
freedom to use Free Software SAMBA.
Among general interests of Free Software, the FSFE will specifically
be representing the interests of the SAMBA team, a Free Software
cooperation developing the only remaining competing implementation of
the SMB/CIFS protocols that permit interoperability between various
operating systems and the MS Windows family.
The Italian lawyer Carlo Piana, of the milanese firm Tamos Piana &
Partners, will represent the interests of FSF Europe and of SAMBA
team, the developers of the remaining alternative implementation of
the SMB/CIFS protocols that permits interoperability between various
operating systems and the MS Windows family. He commented: "FSFE
simply could not remain outside this litigation. The decision of the
Commission represents an important precedent which is of utmost
importance in the sofware market and for the whole society. Freedom,
not just money, is at stake. I am therefore very proud of this
appointment".
"This case is about preserving the last remaining obstacle to total
Microsoft dominance of the Microsoft-compatible server market. It is
not only about defending freedom for users, but mainly freedom of
businesses." says Georg Greve, president of the FSFE, adding "We call
on all businesses to support us in this struggle. Those who ignore
that call today have to expect to have only one choice to buy storage
and directory services from tomorrow."
Information about the FSFE fundraising campaign can be found at
http://fsfeurope.org/news/2004/news-20040701.en.htmlhttp://fsfeurope.org/help/donate.en.html
More background information on the Microsoft investigation is available
on http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ms-vs-eu/ms-vs-eu.en.html
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may
participate in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use,
copy, modify and redistribute software - as described in the Free
Software definition - allow equal participation in the information
age. Creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software
politically and legally, and giving people freedom by supporting
development of Free Software are central issues of the FSF Europe,
which was founded in 2001 as the European sister organization of
the Free Software Foundation in the United States.
http://fsfeurope.org
Press Speaker:
Joachim Jakobs <jj at office.fsfeurope.org>
Cell: +49-179-6919565
Other Contacts:
Georg C. F. Greve <greve at fsfeurope.org>
Tel: +49-40-23809080
Fax: +49-40-23809081
Stefano Maffulli <maffulli at fsfeurope.org>
Tel: +39 02 34 537 127
Fax: +30 02 34 531 282
Cel: +39 347 14 93 733
More information for the press available at
http://fsfeurope.org/press/