[Fsfe-ie] swpat MEP voting guide?

[Justin Mason]

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hey all -- is there such a thing yet?  here's what I've drafted
quickly; I'd appreciate comments (esp on the last bit, which seems
interesting)....



  Here's the current situation with the MEP candidates for the elections
  on 11th June, if you thinking of voting based on their software-patent
  stance.

  - The Labour Party, sadly, haven't yet come up with a concrete policy on
    the issue -- but the Dublin candidate, Ivana Bacik, has (verbally)
    stated her opposition.

  - The Greens, however, are actively campaigning against them, their
    candidates clearly understand and have communicated with voters on the
    issue in the past, and the cross-Europe party policy is clearly
    stated.

  - Eoin Dubsky is an independent candidate, standing on a primarily
    anti-war platform. He's stated his opposition to software patenting
    clearly and publically. He's also a total techie -- with RSS feeds and
    a Redbrick.dcu.ie account! ;)

  - FG's position is totally unclear, as usual... ;)

  - And in the other corner: FF and the PDs as parties are whole-heartedly
    supporting software patenting; in fact, they're the ones running the
    EU Council which just pushed through software patenting law despite
    the democratic mandate from the European Parliament. boo.

  *However* there's a bizarre situation with the latter two.  This page:
  http://beauprez.net/softpat/lobbybase/search.php?country=IE , notes that
  some specific members of the UEN and PPE factions in the european
  parliament are actually quite helpful, and voted anti-swpat as
  frequently as the Greens in the last session!

  Notably: Liam Hyland (FF) Gerard Collins (FF), and Mary Banotti (FG)
  voted the "right way".


- --j.
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