[pp.int.general] Bullshit EU consultation

[Markus Drenger]

Hello Richard,

yes, this survey is biased. We are aware of this and thank you for
reminding us again. But leaving consultations up to the IPR lobbyists is
no good either.

The survey you mentioned is focused on the enforcement of immaterial
rights (see IPRED ) and does not deal with patent rights itself. There
is a second consultation dealing with this at the moment (
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2012/trade-secrets_en.htm
).

We need to raise awareness for the european immaterial rights
legislation and lobby for a reform of copyright, patents and such.
We use those consultations to tell the EC that there is public awareness
and if they screw up they will face acta-like protests. Answering the
consultation may also help MEPs to point out that there are citizens out
there who do not consent with the direction of the EC.

Currently we can use those 2 consultations to inform people while using
well-known arguments (3-strikes, secondary liability, web censorship)
which is great for campaigning.
Also, the european parliament voted recently in favor of the Unitary
Patent which will have devastating effects like software patents as the
European Patent Office has demonstrated earlier that it ignores the
european acquis and limitation on software patents by granting excessive
patents on software. The only way to stop this is to campaign in order
to have the member states of the european union not to ratify the
unitary patent.

sincerely,
Markus