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<TITLE>FW: Please vote against software patents in an Internet poll</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>V podporo proti patentiranju programske opreme (patentabilnosti racunalnisko izvedenih izumov) pojdite na povezavo <A HREF="http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/vote.html" TARGET="_blank">http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/vote.html</A> in po tamkajsnjih navodilih izpolnite glasovalni listic <A HREF="http://www.ev50.com/poll/" TARGET="_blank">http://www.ev50.com/poll/</A>.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Lep pozdrav,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Ales</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>-----Original Message-----</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>From: FFII [<A HREF="mailto:feedback@ffii.org">mailto:feedback@ffii.org</A>] </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Sent: 31. oktober 2005 3:08</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Subject: Please vote against software patents in an Internet poll</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Dear supporter of the FFII[1],</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>The FFII has kindly enabled me to contact you with this campaign message on my own behalf. You are soon going to receive an email from the Board of the FFII. The FFII will announce this year's General Assembly, which is going to take place in Brussels on 29 November. If you plan to attend, please make a note in your calendar!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>In the meantime, please consider voting for me (and other candidates who I</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>recommend) in the public Internet poll for the "EV50 Europeans of the Year"</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>awards, the most prestigious series of awards in EU politics. It would send a strong message to politicians, the press and the public if a vocal opponent of software patents were elected as the new "European of the Year".</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>We can simultaneously ensure that a couple of our political allies, especially Michel Rocard MEP, also receive awards, while the proponents of unlimited software patentability (such as commissioner McCreevy) should come away empty-handed.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>The poll is open to the worldwide public (including non-Europeans), and the idea is explained on this page:</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/index.html" TARGET="_blank">http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/index.html</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Specific voting recommendations are available on this page:</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/vote.html" TARGET="_blank">http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/vote.html</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Those pages are available in 14 languages. You will also find an email form on that site, which makes it quick and easy to inform others of this campaign, and banners for your website.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Richard Stallman (President of the Free Software Foundation), Tim O'Reilly (book publisher and conference organizer), Alan Cox (Linux kernel maintainer), Rasmus Lerdorf (PHP) and Monty Widenius (MySQL) have endorsed our voting recommendations in a press release:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.ag-ip-news.com/GetArticle.asp?Art_ID=2254&lang=en" TARGET="_blank">http://www.ag-ip-news.com/GetArticle.asp?Art_ID=2254&lang=en</A></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Should I win, the FFII will receive the prize money, and will be duly credited in my acceptance speech and a subsequent press release.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>In addition to the general information that you find on the website, let me also say a few things about the unique relationship between the FFII and myself.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>By participating in an FFII conference in April of last year, I became more aware of the political controversy over software patents. By subsequently participating in various FFII activities, I realized that citizens like us can indeed influence a political debate. With the financial support of three corporate sponsors (1&1, Red Hat, MySQL), I then founded the NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign as a complement to the FFII's own website and lobbying. From the conceptual stage on, I cooperated closely with the FFII.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Without the FFII, I would not have become involved, let alone been impactful or successful, in the fight against an ill-conceived piece of patent legislation.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>About six months ago, I handed the NoSoftwarePatents.com site to the FFII, and if you look at the voting form for the EV50 awards, then you will notice that the NoSoftwarePatents.com name is right next to my name. I'm running on the NoSoftwarePatents ticket, and in the name of a website that will, hopefully, be a cornerstone of future FFII campaigns in the software patent context.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>The FFII and I jointly received this year's CNET Networks UK Technology Award in the Outstanding Contribution to Software Development category. It would only have been fair if we had always been jointly nominated for such awards and honors, but even where that is not formally the case, it's still the way I view it in practice.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>For your convenience, here is another link to the voting recommendations:</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/vote.html" TARGET="_blank">http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/vote.html</A></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Thank you for considering to lend me your support, and once again, thanks to the FFII for everything!</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Best regards,</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Florian Mueller</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>florian.mueller@nosoftwarepatents.com</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>--------</FONT>
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