[Fsfe-ie] MEP letter, updated, final comments?

[Ciaran O'Riordan]

On Sun, Aug 24, 2003 at 02:02:20PM +0100, Malcolm Tyrrell wrote:

> Can we really ask for *all* the amendments be adopted?

You're asking the wrong continent :)

No one seems to know the voting habits of MEPs, I suppose we've
never fought for a legal decision in the EU before.  Hartmut
Pilch, Prez of FFII, lead organiser of anti s/w patent movement
doesn't seem to know.

So far there are 70 amendments, opinions, etc to be voted on.
I don't know if MEPs vote in blocks or if they examine
and understand all amendments.

I do know that not all of the CULT and ITRE amendments are
critical but I haven't sifted through them to decide which
is which.  Interestingly, no one else seems to have done so either.
Maybe this indicates that europeans are incompetant, or maybe
it means that movement leaders know that MEPs don't examine
amendments one by one.

> The amendments
> from the different groups will surely overlap and override each other.

CULT, ITRE, and Greens/EFA are all against this directive.  I've been
told that it's extremely rare for conflicting amendments to be adopted.
I don't know how this is gaurded against.  (Maybe the plenary is
conservative about adopting any amendments at all.)

> How about something like this:
> 
> The CULT and ITRE committees, and the Greens/EFA have drafted numerous
> amendments in an attempt to fix the many problems with this directive.
> Of these, I regard the amendments of the CULT committee to represent the
> best approach. If these amendments, or similar alternatives, are not
> adopted, I request that you vote No to the directive itself.

I'll change it to something like you suggest.

thanks.