Re: european elections and software patents

[Jama Poulsen <jama@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, May 18, 2004 at 11:09:29PM +0200, Joost van Baal wrote:
> On Tue, May 18, 2004 at 10:30:18PM +0200, Johan van Selst wrote:
> > Joost van Baal wrote:
> > > For those who'd like to take software patents policy into consideration
> > > when deciding who to vote for at upcoming European elections:
> > > http://vrijschrift.org/swpat/press/stemming.html .
> > 
> > Well, it's not like the parliament has much to say about this...
> > See http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5215020.html and other sources.
> 
> Hm, ye, that's just one reason not to go voting.  Another one is
> on http://www.bof.nl/docs/pers_nedap_04052004.pdf :-)

"In antwoord op Kamervragen heeft minister De Graaf, vlak voor het
bekend worden van de Ierse beslissing om het gebruik van de machines af
te lasten, laten weten dat naar zijn mening de machines voldoen aan
de Nederlandse eisen. In Nederland worden de stemmachines getest door
TNO. De testrapporten zijn echter niet openbaar, omdat ze zijn opgesteld
in opdracht van Nedap. De Nederlandse overheid heeft geen beschikking
over de software waarvan de machines gebruik maken. Deze software is geen
open source."

OK, so we got:
1. ongoing  EU bookkeeping fraud,
2. fast exit procedures for whistleblowers in the EU machine,
3. structural corruption in the European commission,
4. large-scale, structural corporate lobbying towards the democratic European
   parliament,
5. a legislation process which puts heavy constraints on the parliament in
   second reading (2/3 majority vote needed).
6. non-transparent voting machines, which might be unreliable,
7. ...

I hope the queen saves from this democrazy!

Jokes aside, it is disturbing to see all the ongoing abuse of the EU
superstate. There are so many important issues the EU is getting wrong IMO,
combined with its undemocratic work flows, its just really sad.

Jama Poulsen
http://debianlinux.net
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