[Gllug] EU patents

[Alistair Mann]

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Thus spaketh Mick Farmer on Monday 30 June 2003 2:05 pm:
> Dear GLLUGers,
>
> The problem is that the eurocrats are not morons.  They are,
> in fact, quite clever and adept in the areas that matter to
> them, e.g. their salaries and their jobs.

I agree. Describing them as morons, while amusing, is not accurate and not 
helpful.

What would be helpful is lobbying. But lobbying is an olde worlde solution for 
dealing with politics, an olde worlde problem. When Open Sourcers are 
geographically distant, and by their nature unable to fund lobbying out of 
profits, it's difficult to see how effective lobbying can be pulled off. 

I'm minded to think instead that an effective solution is education: open 
source advocates in local businesses and local communities inevitably come 
into contact with local politicians, and other local influentials. I've found 
that people say "Oh yes, I've heard of Linux -- what's that?", and I tell 
them how open source has solved my clients problems. For politicos, ending up 
with a hope that local taxes can go down because they're not being paid into 
an American bank account -- MS's -- is just the sort of thing that sticks in 
their mind. "Lower taxes? That means votes! An American account?! OS means 
waving the flag, and that means votes!"

I doubt anything can be done about tomorrow's battle, at least by me. But open 
source will still make sense 5, 10, 50 years down the line, and the battles 
then will have been won long before.
- -- 
Alistair
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