[pp.int.general] Bullshit EU consultation

[Amelia Andersdotter]

  Dear Richard,

On 2013-01-04 21:01, Richard Stallman wrote:
> I am having trouble correlating
> http://ameliaandersdotter.eu/2012/12/17/commission-ipred-consultation-answering-guide-citizens-w-copyrights/
> with the consultation questionnaire, which is entitled
> "Civil enforcement of intellectual property rights:
> publc consultation on the efficiency of proceedings and
> accessibility of measures".  The suggestion page talks
> about "Questionnaire, page 1" and I can't even see
> what that could mean.
>
> The questions in this one are so narrowly targeted on enforcing these
> unrelated laws for profit that it's hard for me to see any answers I
> could give.  It asks me the "value" of my "IPR portfolio".  The FSF
> holds copyrights, but we don't think of them as a "portfolio", and I
> can't value them in money.  How much is everyone's freedom to share
> GCC worth in euros?  It asks us to "evaluate the significance" of them
> in terms of "performance and growth".  No answer to that either.
> It asks how infringement impacts the "value" and "investment".
> I can't answer that either.
>
> Are we talking about two different surveys?
>

I think that the answer you gave above is a perfectly valid answer. You 
do indeed hold a large amount of copyrights but you do not relate to 
them in their monetary terms, but in their value for the work that is 
being undertaken by your association.

However, as I explained, you may find that it is appropriate for you to 
answer some questions differently from what we have recommended. The 
FSF, and even you personally, are not European citizens and therefore 
can't be "citizens with copyrights" or "citizens without copyright".

On the first page of the survey - you must write to the Commission and 
request that they send you a link to the survey (this is explained in 
the instructions) - you will fill in in what capacity you are answering 
the consultation. If you answer as an "organisation" (FSF) or as "other" 
(you personally, as an American citizen), the questions you will get are 
slightly different. They will however be more close to the questionnaire 
you would get as a citizen WITH copyrights than as a citizen WITHOUT 
copyrights.

I have explained some of the differences in a previous e-mail, but we 
have no published guides for organisations or "others" since we presumed 
it to be relevant for the vast majority of our target audience. The FSF 
should also have sufficient resources to work out their own responses.

Potentially, you should request that FSFE try to make a response for 
this consultation. If you wish to see the different questionnaires 
presented to different types of entities, this is possible after you've 
requested the questionnaire link from the COmmission. You can flip 
between different types of questionnaires as long as you don't "submit" 
your final responses by clicking on the "submit" button which is at the 
bottom of both page 1 and 2 of the questionnaire, in the link that the 
COmmission transmits to you.

If you wish to know more about how consultations are interpreted by the 
Commission, there is an explanatory text at the bottom of the blog post 
which contains the suggested answers.

best regards,

Amelia