PRESS RELEASE FFII -- [ Europe / economy / ICT ]

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Spanish universities demonstrate against software patents
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Madrid, 27 April 2005 -- In a nation-wide event to take place at noon
today, students, teachers, and faculty-members across Spain will
participate in anti-software-patent demonstrations to be held at their
respective universities.

Events such as conferences, information sessions, exhibitions and
petition signings have been held at the well over thirty participating
universities during the last weeks, building up to April 27. The goal
of today's demonstrations is to publicly display nonacceptance of the
Council directive, and request that the European Parliament either
re-amend the directive to keep software free from patentability as it
did in its first reading, or, as the only viable alternative, to reject
the directive in the second reading.

As Alberto Barrionuevo, FFII representative in Spain, points out:
"Students want to make it highly explicit that they fear an adoption of
the Council's directive would allow for unlimited patentability of
software, inflicting significant harm on small- and medium-sized
enterprises. This in turn would lead to large losses of employment
opportunities in Europe, create unhealthy dependence on the largest
multinational corporations, and severely limit the incentives as well
as the opportunities for innovation."

The demonstrations are supported by large number of varied groups and
organizations including FFII, Proinnova, the national association of
computer science students (RITSI), the second largest of the national
trade unions (CC.OO.), the professional associations ATI and AI2, and
several others, including over thirty computer associations, research
groups, business associations, etc.

At each university a pre-written statement will be read out, with
Richard M. Stallman being the person doing so at Madrid Polytechnical
University (UPM). The full statement and list of organizations can be
found at http://lucha.proinnova.org/.

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More Information
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* Statement and list of supporting organisations
     http://lucha.proinnova.org/

* Permanent link to this press release:
     http://wiki.ffii.org/EsUnivDemo050427En

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Contact Information
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Alberto Barrionuevo (FFII Spain)
abarrio at ffii org
tel. +34 639 70 84 94

Felipe Wersen
fwersen at ffii org
tel. +34 636 808 545

Hartmut Pilch (Munich Office)
info at ffii org
tel. 49 89 18979927

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About FFII -- http://www.ffii.org
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The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) is a
non-profit association registered in several European countries, which
is dedicated to the spread of data processing literacy. The FFII
supports the development of public information goods based on
copyright, free competition, open standards. More than 500 members,
1,200 companies and 75,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act
as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion rights
(intellectual property) in data processing.


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