Free software will relay to the European Parliament
An Intergroup will defend Free Software in the European Parliament. A much-needed face the powerful lobbying of commercial publishers.
It was not until a future session of Parliament, probably in February, to see which will form the Parliamentary Intergroup on "New media, free software and open information society." It has however been announced by the EPP (European People's Party group in which sit the French deputies of the UMP), ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, which includes the Modem François Bayrou) and the Greens. Remember that He takes at least three groups to create an intergroup, that is an informal meeting between members around a specific theme. These inter transcend political parties and may have an influence on European decisions.
The role of the latter will include the interests of free software in the discussions of Parliament. "An Intergroup is transversal and interdisciplinary in nature, says Alix Cazenave, accountable governance of April, the association for the promotion and defense of free software. He will speak during the discussion around open source guidelines which may be involved. In 2001, the Intergroup could have intervened in the discussion of the Directive EUCD (European Union Copyright Directive), which has given rise to the Law on Copyright and Related Rights (DADVSI) in France. The problems posed by this text vis-à-vis the free software and have been addressed during the discussion. "
"The Intergroup will not be the lobby of the free"
What role will the Intergroup? "It's not a lobby. It is composed of parliamentarians and can not be financed by an editor. We will ensure that the Intergroup is not exploited and hijacked by industry, "says Alix Cazenave. Until now, the interests of free software were defended to the European institutions by several organizations like lobby, precisely, including the Open Forum Europe, particularly attached to the defense of open standards, and FSFE (Free Software Foundation Europe ). For their part, publishers can rely on the work of the ESA (European Software Association) or AFDEL to defend their interests in Brussels.
The April and Associazione per il Software Libero, his Italian alter ego, the signatories call the Free Software Pact, launched at the last European elections, to join the two groups. Thirty-four MEPs had signed with 17 French ... (Corinne Lepage, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, José Bové, among others). The election is over, which ones will join the Intergroup?
