[Fsfe-ie] Plenary patent debate summary online now

[Ciaran O'Riordan]

A summary of todays plenary session debate about the software
patent directive is now online:

http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade2?PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+PRESS+DN-20030923-1+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&L=EN&LEVEL=2&NAV=X&LSTDOC=N#SECTION1

(linked from http://lwn.net/Articles/ if you don't like huge URLs)

After reading it, it's still anyones guess what will happen
tomorrow.  They will have found a fax from us waiting for them
when they returned from the session.  Lets hope it hits home.

two excerpts:
 "Proinsias DE ROSSA (PES, Dublin) quipped that those Members without a
  legal or technical background may find this issue difficult to
  grasp. What is clear, he said, that "doing nothing was unacceptable."
  Legal certainty was essential for the IT industry, he stated."
(I don't know how to take that, but he was the only Irish MEP quoted)

and:
 "Arlene McCarthy regrettably added that in all the years that she had
  been an MEP, she had not been treated in such an aggressive
  manner. She said she and her staff had been bullied and harassed."
(I'm guessing she's looking for sympathy or compassionate consideration)

ciaran.