[gnome-nl] Economic Majority Conference on 29 June in Brussels (fwd)

[Reinout van Schouwen <reinout cs vu nl>]

Beste mensen,

Met het risico dat de meesten van jullie dit mailtje al via andere 
kanalen hebben binnengekregen... Maar mochten er nog ondernemers 
meelezen die zich afvragen wat ze zouden kunnen doen om het gevaar van 
softwarepatenten af te wenden: zie hieronder!

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Dear Sir or Madam,

CEA-PME and FFII invite you to a conference on 29 June "Claiming Economic
Majorities: the Software Patent Case" hosted by MEP Zuzana Roithová (CZ)
in cooperation with other members of the EPP group.

The plenary vote of the second reading on the software patent directive
will be held around 5 July. This conference serves as the last opportunity to
inform MEPs of the necessity to substantially amend the current draft of
the Council in order to achieve the majority needed for these amendmends
in the plenary vote.

If you are an SME representative you are invited to speak for 2-3
minutes and sit in a privileged panel during the session. The authentic
voice of entrepreneurs is particularily needed since the support for
FFII's postion has been weakened in EPP (and also in ALDE) due to
intense lobbying from EICTA, BSA, CompTIA and other organisations,
falsely claiming they represent you and your company's interest.

We ask you to take time to study the paper "FFII proposals to EPP"
http://wiki.ffii.org/FfiiEpp0506En in order to underline your concerns
with concrete patent policy advice and enable you to get an informed
discussion going. Two basic principles are outlined: the definition of
technology as applied natural science and freedom of publication. Once
choosen, the needed directive amendments follow. If you need further
advice we will help you at brussels ffii org 

We hope you will use your presence in the European Parliament to get
into personal talks with the delegate(s) of your region. It is
recommended to make appointments in advance. On request, we will provide
commented contact details of MEPs from your country available for you
in a separate email. Ideally, you should come to Brussels already by
Monday evening so that personal talks could start right on Tuesday
morning (including to invite the MEP to the conference). If you prefer,
you also can arrive over the weekend.

Kind regards, Steffen Maas, FFII Brussels


Location
========

- European Parliament in Brussels, Room ASP5E2


Arrival
=======

- The arrival is organized individually by the participants. We will
support you with booking flights, etc.

Contact: Holger Blasum, blasum ffii org, +49-89-18979927


Registration / Hotel
====================

- In order to gain access to the parliament, prior registration to the
conference is absolutely necessary. We therefore ask all participants to
register through the online form as soon as possible:

   http://www.economic-majority.com/konf050629/register/

- During the registration process it is possible to book a hotel in your
name. In case you prefer a different hotel we will be glad to support you.

Hotel contact: Holger Blasum, blasum ffii org, +49-89-18979927


Schedule
========

June 26 Sun
20:00   - Meeting and dinner at "Maison du Dragon" for week-end
          arrivals

June 27 Mon
all day - Personal talks with MEPs
19:00   - Arrival 1 and check-in
20:00   - Meeting and dinner at "Maison du Dragon"

June 28 Tue
all day - Personal talks with MEPs
19:00   - Arrival 2 and check-in
20:00   - Meeting and dinner at "Maison du Dragon"

June 29 Wed
08:30  - Registration in the accreditation centre of the EP
09:00  - Start of the conference
12:00  - Lunch break
13:00  - Continuation of the conference
15:00  - Personal talks with MEPs

The most recent agenda is available at the conference page:
http://www.economic-majority.com/konf050629/


Conference contact:
==================

Steffen Maas
- FFII Brussels Organisation
+32-484561020