From humaneasy care2x.org Mon Jun 6 17:51:11 2005 From: humaneasy care2x.org (Lopo de Almeida) Date: Mon Jun 6 17:50:06 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] Google's Summer of Code Contest deadline is June 14, 2005 Message-ID: <200506061751.11757.humaneasy@care2x.org> Google's Summer of Code This initiative is expressly designed to get the brightest minds on campus contributing code to open source initiatives and inventing new open source programs. After all, while altruistic motives are praiseworthy and the rewards of peer recognition sweet, the idea of a financial prize for stellar work predates the Nobel Commission ? and who really needs money more than broke college students? So here's the skinny: Google will give $4,500 to applicants who successfully work with a sponsoring organization or advisor to create innovative or useful open source software. Google will also get you a t-shirt to go along with the cash. Refer to their flyer or visit code.google.com/summerofcode.html to learn more and submit your idea for a project. The deadline for applications is June 14, 2005. Mambo is also participating as a mentoring organisation in Google's "Summer of Code" program. ************** The above message come from the Mambo website. I think that we may have in Portugal and other countries students that don't know about this and the time is running fast. Of course, if some students would like to work on a project related to e-health it would be just great. Hope it help. 1, Lopo -- Care2x - Integrated Healthcare Environment http://www.care2x.org mailto:humaneasy@care2x.org Project Team Member Humaneasy Consulting http://www.humaneasy.com mailto:geral@humaneasy.com From diogomcs mail.pt Tue Jun 14 01:34:42 2005 From: diogomcs mail.pt (Diogo Miguel Constantino dos Santos) Date: Tue Jun 14 01:29:10 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] Festa de =?iso-8859-1?q?Lan=E7amento?= do Debian Sarge Message-ID: <1118709283.22868.33.camel@Enigma.Casa> A Associação Nacional para o Software Livre (ANSOL) em colaboração com a Memória Persistente (M16E), Wondertur e Goldbit. Têm o prazer de anunciar que: no dia 18 de Junho a partir das 14 horas, vai realizar-se na Village da Praia das Maís, uma festa de comemoração do lançamento da mais recente versão Stable da distribuição de GNU/Linux da Debian, a Debian Sarge. No evento para além do convívio entre os utilizadores e curiosos em geral, vai decorrer também uma install party, ou seja, os utilizadores mais experientes vão ajudar (quem quiser e levar o seu computador), a instalar Debian Sarge. Os utilizadores mais experientes estarão também disponíveis para uma visita guiada pelo sistema para que os curiosos percam o medo de instalar o sistema e para que se ganhe consciência das verdadeiras capacidades dos sistemas GNU/Linux em geral e da distribuição Debian Sarge em particular. Serão também distribuidos cds de instalação da distribuição. Estão todos convidados para participar nesta festa! Podem sempre aproveitar para fazer um passeio maior, passando a manhã nas belas praias e locais históricos do Concelho de Sintra durante a manhã e visitar-nos durante a tarde. As entradas são gratuitas. Mais informações em: http://ansol.org/ansolwiki/DebianSargeReleaseParty Sobre a ANSOL (http://www.ansol.org/): A ANSOL é uma associação portuguesa sem fins lucrativos que tem como fim a divulgação, promoção, desenvolvimento, investigação e estudo da Informática Livre e das suas repercussões sociais, políticas, filosóficas, culturais, técnicas e científicas. Sobre a Memória Persistente (http://www.m16e.com): A Memória Persistente é uma empresa sediada em Fontanelas, dedicada ao desenvolvimento de software e ao desenho e manutenção de sistemas de informaçao e pioneira em Portugal no desenvolvimento de soluções de código livre. Sobre a Wondertur: http://www.wondertur.com Sobre a Goldbit (http://www.safeway.pt): A Goldbit é uma marca de computadores fabricados pela Safeway Ibérica, uma empresa de Sintra dedicada à distribuição e aluguer de equipamento informático. -- Diogo Santos (diogo.santos@ansol.org) Associação Nacional para o Software Livre http://www.ansol.org/ From carlos m16e.com Tue Jun 14 23:19:57 2005 From: carlos m16e.com (Carlos Correia) Date: Tue Jun 14 23:21:21 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] Re: [Eventos] Festa de =?iso-8859-15?q?Lan=E7amento_do_Debian_Sar?= =?iso-8859-15?q?ge_-_BARRACA!!!?= In-Reply-To: <1118709283.22868.33.camel@Enigma.Casa> References: <1118709283.22868.33.camel@Enigma.Casa> Message-ID: <42AF580D.3080007@m16e.com> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Diogo Miguel Constantino dos Santos wrote: | A Associação Nacional para o Software Livre (ANSOL) em colaboração com a | Memória Persistente (M16E), Wondertur e Goldbit. Têm o prazer de | anunciar que: no dia 18 de Junho a partir das 14 horas, vai realizar-se | na Village da Praia das Maís, uma festa de comemoração do lançamento da | mais recente versão Stable da distribuição de GNU/Linux da Debian, a | Debian Sarge. | BARRACA!!! s/Praia das Maís/Praia das Maçãs -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFCr1gN90uzwjA1SJURApoKAKDEhnj6C7GNrk+O0jLab6E/awkApACg1xyq zAXyh56hmRlcmggcivu5xrI= =inoW -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From carlos m16e.com Tue Jun 14 23:38:13 2005 From: carlos m16e.com (Carlos Correia) Date: Tue Jun 14 23:39:36 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] Re: [Eventos] Festa de =?iso-8859-15?q?Lan=E7amento_do_Debian_Sar?= =?iso-8859-15?q?ge?= In-Reply-To: <1118709283.22868.33.camel@Enigma.Casa> References: <1118709283.22868.33.camel@Enigma.Casa> Message-ID: <42AF5C55.3020305@m16e.com> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Diogo Miguel Constantino dos Santos wrote: | A Associação Nacional para o Software Livre (ANSOL) em colaboração com a | Memória Persistente (M16E), Wondertur e Goldbit. Têm o prazer de | anunciar que: no dia 18 de Junho a partir das 14 horas, vai realizar-se | na Village da Praia das Maís, uma festa de comemoração do lançamento da | mais recente versão Stable da distribuição de GNU/Linux da Debian, a | Debian Sarge. | Onde se lê "Praia das Maís" deve-se ler "Praia das Maçãs". Já agora, e para quem conhece o local, trata-se da antiga Colónea de Féria das CP. Cumprimentos, Carlos Correia - -- MEMÓRIA PERSISTENTE, Lda. Tel.: 219 291 591 - GSM: 967 511 762 e-mail: geral@m16e.com - URL: http://www.m16e.com AIM: m16e - ICQ: 257488263 - Jabber: m16e@amessage.de Skype.com username (VoIP): m16e.com -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD4DBQFCr1xU90uzwjA1SJURAtO0AJYv7WeHc4VuoLBbhbwThRgisC3cAKCgR5xO 1CPEvy1hKY23bmI6lSoFcw== =lDs8 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From diogomcs mail.pt Thu Jun 16 00:28:51 2005 From: diogomcs mail.pt (Diogo Miguel Constantino dos Santos) Date: Thu Jun 16 00:23:23 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] APDC organiza =?iso-8859-1?q?col=F3quio?= sobre patentes de software Message-ID: <1118878131.30916.2.camel@Enigma.Casa> APDC organiza colóquio sobre patentes de software Sana Lisboa Hotel 21 de Junho, 14h30 - 18h30 Informações em: http://www.apdc.pt/actividades/eventos/coloquio/coloquio_computer_inventions_f2.html Inscrições em: http://www.apdc.pt/actividades/eventos/coloquio/coloquio_computer_inventions_insc_f2.html Parece-me que seria útil que pessoas com a posição anti-patentes de software participem no evento, por isso sugiro que se inscrevam se puderem. cumprimentos -- Diogo Santos (diogo.santos@ansol.org) Associação Nacional para o Software Livre http://www.ansol.org/ From sergio moredata.pt Thu Jun 16 20:41:26 2005 From: sergio moredata.pt (Sergio Ferreira) Date: Thu Jun 16 20:41:17 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] [Fwd: =?iso-8859-1?q?Col=F3quio_APDC_21_Junho-Ainda_n=E3o_se_insc?= =?iso-8859-1?q?reveu=3F=5D?= Message-ID: <42B1D5E6.2050404@moredata.pt> O que irá acontecer aqui ? -------------- próxima parte ---------- Uma mensagem embebida foi limpa... De: "Laura Silva" Assunto: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Col=F3quio_APDC_21_Junho-Ainda_n=E3o_se_inscreveu=3F?= Data: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 18:37:44 +0100 Tam: 30870 Url: http://listas.ansol.org/pipermail/ansol-geral/attachments/20050616/9496ddba/ISO-8859-1QColF3quio_APDC_21_Junho-Ainda_nE3o_se_inscreISO-8859-1Qveu3F-0001.eml From rms ansol.org Thu Jun 16 21:25:46 2005 From: rms ansol.org (Rui Miguel Seabra) Date: Fri Jun 17 00:21:55 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] =?iso-8859-1?q?Manifesta=E7=E3o?= contra farsa de Patentes de Software Message-ID: <1118953546.2753.57.camel@roque> Saltou-se o conteúdo do tipo multipart/signed -------------- próxima parte ---------- _______________________________________________ Comunicado de Imprensa da ANSOL - Associação Nacional para o Software Livre http://www.ansol.org/ Se não desejar os comunicados de imprensa da ANSOL, por favor contacte-nos para direccao@ansol.org From rms ansol.org Fri Jun 17 01:10:19 2005 From: rms ansol.org (Rui Miguel Seabra) Date: Fri Jun 17 01:12:06 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] =?iso-8859-1?q?Manifesta=E7=E3o?= contra farsa de Patentes de Software [GRALHA CORRIGIDA] Message-ID: <1118967019.2753.71.camel@roque> Saltou-se o conteúdo do tipo multipart/signed -------------- próxima parte ---------- _______________________________________________ Comunicado de Imprensa da ANSOL - Associação Nacional para o Software Livre http://www.ansol.org/ Se não desejar os comunicados de imprensa da ANSOL, por favor contacte-nos para direccao@ansol.org From jmce artenumerica.com Fri Jun 17 18:58:40 2005 From: jmce artenumerica.com (J M Cerqueira Esteves) Date: Fri Jun 17 18:58:30 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] APDC organiza =?ISO-8859-15?Q?col=F3quio_sob?= =?ISO-8859-15?Q?re_patentes_de__software?= In-Reply-To: <1118878131.30916.2.camel@Enigma.Casa> References: <1118878131.30916.2.camel@Enigma.Casa> Message-ID: <42B30F50.6050709@artenumerica.com> Diogo Miguel Constantino dos Santos wrote: > Parece-me que seria útil que pessoas com a posição anti-patentes de > software participem no evento, por isso sugiro que se inscrevam se > puderem. Pena o preço de 200 EUR... Até por não ser dos mais capazes para manter a calma perante barbaridade, não sou dos melhores candidatos para participar, mas acho que a ANSOL devia ter pelo menos uma pessoa lá dentro (mais eficaz do que a manifestação cá fora?) e posso contribuir nem que seja um pedacinho do custo. Por outro lado (mas não tenho rodagem destes spin-events para o justificar) suspeito que a coisa estará cuidadosamente planeada para prevenir intervenções "inconvenientes" do público... ou não? TTFN jmce -------------- próxima parte ---------- Um anexo que não estava em formato texto não está incluído... Nome : signature.asc Tipo : application/pgp-signature Tam : 256 bytes Descr: OpenPGP digital signature Url : http://listas.ansol.org/pipermail/ansol-geral/attachments/20050617/9e97c63e/signature.pgp From danielpc fastmail.fm Sat Jun 18 18:35:21 2005 From: danielpc fastmail.fm (Daniel Carvalho) Date: Sat Jun 18 18:35:00 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] APDC organiza =?ISO-8859-1?Q?col=F3quio?= sobre patentes de software In-Reply-To: <42B30F50.6050709@artenumerica.com> References: <1118878131.30916.2.camel@Enigma.Casa> <42B30F50.6050709@artenumerica.com> Message-ID: <1119116121.10483.236658962@webmail.messagingengine.com> Também gostava de dar uma contribuição financeira (uns 20euros...) É em 21 de Junho. faltam 3 dias. Aproveito para dizer que não tenho as quotas em dia (a ANSOL tem quotas?). > Por outro lado (mas não tenho rodagem destes spin-events para o > justificar) suspeito que a coisa estará cuidadosamente planeada para > prevenir intervenções "inconvenientes" do público... ou não? No site da APDC está escrito: "Assim sendo, a APDC convidou um conjunto heterogéneo de oradores, cada um com uma valiosa experiência profissional, académica ou política, que tentarão esclarecer o que está em jogo," portanto acho que vai haver oradores com opiniões diferentes. Também no público deverão existir pessoas contra e a favor, embora talvez um lado em maioria. Já fui a outras debates com situações de desiquilibrio deste tipo. A parte mais interessante é no fim das palestras, quando começa o debate. As pessoas do público tém que se inscrever para depois fazer as perguntas. As vezes o tempo é curto por isso só as primeiros a se inscrever tém palavra! boasorte daniel > TTFN > jmce > > -- Daniel Silva danielpc@fastmail.fm From rms 1407.org Sat Jun 18 18:56:02 2005 From: rms 1407.org (Rui Miguel Seabra) Date: Sat Jun 18 18:55:41 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] APDC organiza =?ISO-8859-1?Q?col=F3quio?= sobre patentes de software In-Reply-To: <1119116121.10483.236658962@webmail.messagingengine.com> References: <1118878131.30916.2.camel@Enigma.Casa> <42B30F50.6050709@artenumerica.com> <1119116121.10483.236658962@webmail.messagingengine.com> Message-ID: <1119117362.2848.10.camel@roque> On Sat, 2005-06-18 at 18:35 +0100, Daniel Carvalho wrote: > No site da APDC está escrito: "Assim sendo, a APDC convidou um conjunto > heterogéneo de oradores, cada um com uma valiosa experiência > profissional, académica ou política, que tentarão esclarecer o que está > em jogo," > > portanto acho que vai haver oradores com opiniões diferentes. A julgar pelas presenças e as suas interligações entre si, NÃO. 14H30 - EICTA Extremista pró-swpat 15H00 Leonor Trindade (INPI) - Key-Note Speaker e Moderador Moderador pró-swpat. PT Inovação -> tanto quanto sabemos, pró-swpat Siemens Communications Portugal -> pró-swpat Carlos Oliveira - Mobicomp -> desconheço a posição oficial mas dadas as dependências em empresas de telemóveis -> pró-swpat (quase certo) Gonçalo Quadros - Critical Software -> não sei Vítor Marques - Number Five -> não sei 17h00 - As "Computer-Implemented Inventions" e as Entidades Públicas José Albuquerque Tavares - Unid. de Coord. do Plano Tecnológico -> um target ou um player? • A Perspectiva da Comissão Europeia -> extremista pró-swpat • A Perspectiva do Governo Manuel Heitor - SE o Secretário de Estado da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior -> um target ou um player? > Também no > público deverão existir pessoas contra e a favor, embora talvez um lado > em maioria. Espero que haja gente que possa ir... > Já fui a outras debates com situações de desiquilibrio deste tipo. A > parte mais interessante é no fim das palestras, quando começa o debate. > As pessoas do público tém que se inscrever para depois fazer as > perguntas. As vezes o tempo é curto por isso só as primeiros a se > inscrever tém palavra! Nesses outros debates também se paga 200 EUR para participar? Este debate deveria ser aberto... Rui -- + No matter how much you do, you never do enough -- unknown + Whatever you do will be insignificant, | but it is very important that you do it -- Gandhi + So let's do it...? Please AVOID sending me WORD, EXCEL or POWERPOINT attachments. See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html -------------- próxima parte ---------- Um anexo que não estava em formato texto não está incluído... Nome : não disponível Tipo : application/pgp-signature Tam : 189 bytes Descr: This is a digitally signed message part Url : http://listas.ansol.org/pipermail/ansol-geral/attachments/20050618/2bd0fba1/attachment.pgp From rms 1407.org Sat Jun 18 19:31:26 2005 From: rms 1407.org (Rui Miguel Seabra) Date: Sat Jun 18 19:31:00 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] APDC organiza =?ISO-8859-1?Q?col=F3quio?= sobre patentes de software In-Reply-To: <1119117362.2848.10.camel@roque> References: <1118878131.30916.2.camel@Enigma.Casa> <42B30F50.6050709@artenumerica.com> <1119116121.10483.236658962@webmail.messagingengine.com> <1119117362.2848.10.camel@roque> Message-ID: <1119119486.2848.13.camel@roque> On Sat, 2005-06-18 at 18:56 +0100, Rui Miguel Seabra wrote: > Carlos Oliveira - Mobicomp -> desconheço a posição oficial mas dadas as > dependências em empresas de telemóveis -> pró-swpat (quase certo) Embora, tendo conhecido no passado o Carlos Oliveira, espero mesmo muito estar completamente enganado ... Rui -- + No matter how much you do, you never do enough -- unknown + Whatever you do will be insignificant, | but it is very important that you do it -- Gandhi + So let's do it...? Please AVOID sending me WORD, EXCEL or POWERPOINT attachments. See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html -------------- próxima parte ---------- Um anexo que não estava em formato texto não está incluído... Nome : não disponível Tipo : application/pgp-signature Tam : 189 bytes Descr: This is a digitally signed message part Url : http://listas.ansol.org/pipermail/ansol-geral/attachments/20050618/c2efc4f1/attachment.pgp From humaneasy care2x.org Wed Jun 22 16:24:01 2005 From: humaneasy care2x.org (Lopo de Almeida) Date: Wed Jun 22 16:23:26 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] The patent pitfalls on China's road of clones Message-ID: <200506221624.01369.humaneasy@care2x.org> Interesting article about patents. ************************************ The patent pitfalls on China's road of clones By Chris Buckley International Herald Tribune *SHENZHEN, China* Andy Chen's dancing Christmas tree may not have been the most crucial invention since the days of his hero, Thomas Edison. But Chen, an inventor from Taiwan, said he thought his tree would at least win him a slice of China's $10-billion-a-year toy and game exports business. With the press of a button, as he demonstrated in his small workshop here, his plastic and metal creation gyrates and shakes to a frenetic rendition of "Jingle Bells." As his U.S. patent puts it, Chen's invention is a "dynamic, collapsible, rotating toy that is full of fun and amusement, that can be extended or retracted, rotate, play music and flash lights." Chen, who has lived in Shenzhen in southern China for nearly a decade, said he thought he had a hit for the Christmas market and had done everything right to ensure a profit on the $40,000 and five years that he invested in his invention. He courted customers in the United States and Europe and won patents in the United States, China and Taiwan in 2001 to protect his invention. But just when he had secured an order from an American buyer for as much as $20 million, Chen said, he ran into a problem that many businesses in China face: Clones of his product suddenly appeared at Chinese markets and trade fairs, and a shipping container filled with them turned up in Los Angeles. His American company dropped the deal, fearing the product would lose its novelty before the genuine shipment arrived. Since then, years of litigation against rival factories have brought Chen no compensation. "I didn't make any money from it," Chen said in an interview. "A lot of patents don't make money. It's the copiers who make money because they don't have any research and development costs." In 2004, counterfeit products accounted for almost 8 percent of China's economic activity, according to estimates cited in a report by the business consultancy A.T. Kearney. The U.S. secretary of commerce, Carlos Gutierrez, has warned China to crack down on the counterfeiting of patents, copyrights and trademarks or face repercussions from Washington. American and European trade groups have threatened to press for action before the World Trade Organization. Experts differ over the direction that China's protection of patents is heading. But there is little disagreement that, while China remains a powerful magnet for international investment, imitation and outright copying are unlikely to disappear soon. "China's IPR is improving in terms of China's objectives, but that improvement may not be in the interest of global IP owners," said Ken DeWoskin, who advises companies investing in China for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Beijing, using the abbreviation for intellectual property rights. "Improvement in this case doesn't mean China's going to become like North America or Europe." China has more than 10,000 toy manufacturers and makes 75 percent of the world's toys, including 60 percent of those sold in the United States, according to statistics provided by the China Toy Association. Chen, who has worked as a television editor, packaging maker and Internet entrepreneur, thought he saw an opportunity in combining Taiwan's expertise in mechanical engineering with the mainland's low-cost manufacturing. He set up a company, Uni-Pro Creative Product Developing, to make moving toys. Several years ago, he said, he had an idea: Why not create a Christmas tree that moved and played carols? Chen eventually developed a version of his tree that could be made for $4. He had always been aware of the threat of counterfeiters, he said, so he closely guarded his prototypes and applied for patents in China and the United States. Other entrepreneurs, Chinese and foreign, have done the same. In the face of complaints about China's lack of respect for intellectual property, the government has encouraged businesses here to take out patents. The number of invention patents approved in China grew from 54,000 in 2001 to 70,000 in 2004, and last year local applicants surpassed foreign ones for the first time. Shenzhen has been making a special effort to encourage businesses to register and protect their patents, said Lan Hanling, chief of the law department of the city's Patent Administration Office. China previously treated inventions as common property, she said, citing a saying: "When one household makes an invention, a hundred more can benefit from it." But the Shenzhen government, she said, now wants to encourage innovation by protecting inventors' rights. But even here, Chen found that having a patent was not enough. The loosely worded description of his invention meant competitors could copy the tree without directly infringing on the patent, Chen said. Gordon Gao, a patent lawyer at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker who advised Chen, said, "Everyone else in southern China saw the patent." Soon they were devising ways to copy it without attracting lawsuits. Chen sued a local company, Win Hing, that produced a tree similar to his, but a local court rejected his case, finding that the other tree did not infringe on Chen's patent. Litigation against Kiuhung, a toy company in Hong Kong, over control of Chen's patent also fizzled. Win Hing has been dissolved, and representatives of Kiuhung declined to comment on the dispute with Chen. While China has been developing rules and laws to protect copyrights and patents, many businesses - even large multinational companies - fail to protect themselves by applying for rigorous patents and copyrights and then pressing their complaints through courts and intellectual property offices, Gao said. "If you do have a strong patent, you will always get an injunction," he said of China's courts. "I have yet to find a case where a patent was effective but failed." Others are less optimistic. China's patent and copyright rules are becoming more sophisticated, but the changes are tilted toward entrenching the advantages of Chinese companies, especially state-owned corporations in high-value industries like computers and software, medicine and telecommunications, said DeWoskin, the adviser with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He objected to the idea that China was evolving, however fitfully, toward the type of patent protection that companies have in the United States. "That's just not happening," he said. "They're heading in a completely different direction." Even Chinese officials involved in intellectual property issues say China should not "bow to" Western demands to overhaul its rules. "The U.S. government's abuse of the intellectual property rights system isn't just seriously damaging the interests of Chinese businesses and the public," Wei Yanliang, a researcher in the State Intellectual Property Office, wrote in a recent issue of the Chinese-language magazine Business Watch. "It's seriously impeding China's progress toward rule of law." He said China's expansion of a crackdown on counterfeiting suggested that Beijing had "totally bowed to American intellectual property hegemony." Even more than legal differences, investors and experts said, China's role in the global process of rapid, made-to-order manufacturing is putting profound pressure on traditional notions of copyright protection. The pressure to introduce products quickly into ferociously competitive markets tends to make patent approvals an afterthought. Novelty items depend on rushing products to market to meet fickle tastes. This often requires sharing technology with factories and clients before patents are approved, 12 to 18 months after an application is made, Chen said. "If you wait that long," he said, "you're dead in the marketplace." http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/21/business/patent.php ************************************ Best, Lopo -- Care2x - Integrated Healthcare Environment http://www.care2x.org mailto:humaneasy@care2x.org Project Team Member Humaneasy Consulting http://www.humaneasy.com mailto:geral@humaneasy.com From rms 1407.org Sun Jun 26 11:01:07 2005 From: rms 1407.org (Rui Miguel Seabra) Date: Sun Jun 26 11:00:17 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] Contacto URGENTE com Eurodeputados Message-ID: <1119780068.19450.47.camel@roque> Olá, Como diz em: http://www.ffii.org/~gibuskro/meplist É urgente contactar AGORA os nossos Eurodeputados para lhes solicitar que impeçam as patentes de software na Europa. Para o fazer, ele/ela deverá seguir a lista de votação sugerida pela FFII para o voto em plenário, previsto para 6 de Julho de 2005. Antes ainda disso, deveriam subscrever as emendas de compromisso sugeridas por Michel Rocard, em grupo ou individualmente. Mais abaixo, em http://www.ffii.org/~gibuskro/meplist/#PT Encontram-se as instruções de como contactar com os Eurodeputados Portugueses. O melhor mesmo é visitá-lo/a pessoalmente, mas em alternativa o FAX também é uma boa opção. Correio normal e email deverão ser os últimos recursos, por ordem decrescente de eficiência. You could find bellow, how to contact a MEP from your Country. Best is to go and see her/him in a personal interview. Fax is also a good option. Snail mail and email are last options. A tabela disponível no início mostra as coordenadas para todos os Eurodeputados, e para obter o contacto individual de cada um deve utilizar essa tabela em conjunto com os dados dos seus Eurodeputados preferidos. Abraços, Rui -- + No matter how much you do, you never do enough -- unknown + Whatever you do will be insignificant, | but it is very important that you do it -- Gandhi + So let's do it...? Please AVOID sending me WORD, EXCEL or POWERPOINT attachments. See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html -------------- próxima parte ---------- Um anexo que não estava em formato texto não está incluído... Nome : não disponível Tipo : application/pgp-signature Tam : 189 bytes Descr: This is a digitally signed message part Url : http://listas.ansol.org/pipermail/ansol-geral/attachments/20050626/f75c4f02/attachment.pgp From rms 1407.org Sun Jun 26 18:36:23 2005 From: rms 1407.org (Rui Miguel Seabra) Date: Sun Jun 26 18:35:30 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] web-demo contra patentes de software Message-ID: <1119807383.19450.72.camel@roque> Não esquecer a Web-Manif apelada no site noepatents.eu.org Exemplo do conteúdo (podem gravar e utilizar à vontade) em http://www.ansol.org/ O meu site pessoal também teve adaptação, com a engine do scoop é necessário alterar mesmo o block index_template Rui -- + No matter how much you do, you never do enough -- unknown + Whatever you do will be insignificant, | but it is very important that you do it -- Gandhi + So let's do it...? Please AVOID sending me WORD, EXCEL or POWERPOINT attachments. See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html -------------- próxima parte ---------- Um anexo que não estava em formato texto não está incluído... Nome : não disponível Tipo : application/pgp-signature Tam : 189 bytes Descr: This is a digitally signed message part Url : http://listas.ansol.org/pipermail/ansol-geral/attachments/20050626/d48218b3/attachment.pgp From cpatrao moredata.pt Tue Jun 28 17:24:14 2005 From: cpatrao moredata.pt (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Carlos_Patr=E3o?=) Date: Tue Jun 28 17:23:17 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] =?iso-8859-1?q?Algu=E9m_sabe_quantos_computadores_e?= =?iso-8859-1?q?xistem_na_Administra=E7=E3o_P=FAblica_=3F?= Message-ID: <42C179AE.9010404@moredata.pt> Olá. Gostaria de saber quantos computadores existem na AP, nos vários institutos públicos e nas empresas públicas, alguém conhece estes dados ou onde se possam obter ? Abs. From rms 1407.org Tue Jun 28 17:54:57 2005 From: rms 1407.org (Rui Miguel Seabra) Date: Tue Jun 28 17:54:01 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Algu=E9m?= sabe quantos computadores existem na =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Administra=E7=E3o?= =?ISO-8859-1?Q?_P=FAblica?= ? In-Reply-To: <42C179AE.9010404@moredata.pt> References: <42C179AE.9010404@moredata.pt> Message-ID: <1119977697.2766.9.camel@roque> On Tue, 2005-06-28 at 17:24 +0100, Carlos Patrão wrote: > Gostaria de saber quantos computadores existem na AP, nos vários > institutos públicos e nas empresas públicas, alguém conhece estes dados > ou onde se possam obter ? Teoricamente, se essa informação estiver compilada, desde Maio que não pode ser segredo :) Rui -- + No matter how much you do, you never do enough -- unknown + Whatever you do will be insignificant, | but it is very important that you do it -- Gandhi + So let's do it...? Please AVOID sending me WORD, EXCEL or POWERPOINT attachments. See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html -------------- próxima parte ---------- Um anexo que não estava em formato texto não está incluído... Nome : não disponível Tipo : application/pgp-signature Tam : 189 bytes Descr: This is a digitally signed message part Url : http://listas.ansol.org/pipermail/ansol-geral/attachments/20050628/3b45af5d/attachment.pgp From cpatrao moredata.pt Tue Jun 28 17:58:49 2005 From: cpatrao moredata.pt (=?UTF-8?B?Q2FybG9zIFBhdHLDo28=?=) Date: Tue Jun 28 17:57:50 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] =?UTF-8?B?77+977+9?= In-Reply-To: <1119977697.2766.9.camel@roque> References: <42C179AE.9010404@moredata.pt> <1119977697.2766.9.camel@roque> Message-ID: <42C181C9.4000005@moredata.pt> Rui Miguel Seabra wrote: >On Tue, 2005-06-28 at 17:24 +0100, Carlos Patrão wrote: > > >>Gostaria de saber quantos computadores existem na AP, nos vários >>institutos públicos e nas empresas públicas, alguém conhece estes dados >>ou onde se possam obter ? >> >> > >Teoricamente, se essa informação estiver compilada, desde Maio que não >pode ser segredo :) > > > E onde é que ela existe ? No INE ? Abs. >Rui > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >Ansol-geral mailing list >Ansol-geral@listas.ansol.org >http://listas.ansol.org/mailman/listinfo/ansol-geral > > From diogomcs mail.pt Wed Jun 29 07:11:10 2005 From: diogomcs mail.pt (Diogo Miguel Constantino dos Santos) Date: Wed Jun 29 07:03:40 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Algu=E9m?= sabe quantos computadores existem na =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Administra=E7=E3o?= =?ISO-8859-1?Q?_P=FAblica?= ? In-Reply-To: <42C179AE.9010404@moredata.pt> References: <42C179AE.9010404@moredata.pt> Message-ID: <1120025471.25470.35.camel@Enigma.Casa> Ter, 2005-06-28 às 17:24 +0100, Carlos Patrão escreveu: > Olá. > > Gostaria de saber quantos computadores existem na AP, nos vários > institutos públicos e nas empresas públicas, alguém conhece estes dados > ou onde se possam obter ? A informação das empresas publicas não sei se estará incluída (porque são mais autónomas do ponto de vista administrativo), mas penso que o Instituto de Informática do Ministério das Finanças, tem informações a respeito do resto. cumprimentos -- Diogo Miguel Constantino dos Santos From cpatrao moredata.pt Wed Jun 29 16:04:14 2005 From: cpatrao moredata.pt (=?ISO-8859-15?Q?Carlos_Patr=E3o?=) Date: Wed Jun 29 16:03:10 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] =?ISO-8859-15?Q?Algu=E9m_sabe_quantos_co?= =?ISO-8859-15?Q?mputadores_existem_na_Administra=E7=E3o_P=FAblic?= =?ISO-8859-15?Q?a_=3F?= In-Reply-To: <1120025471.25470.35.camel@Enigma.Casa> References: <42C179AE.9010404@moredata.pt> <1120025471.25470.35.camel@Enigma.Casa> Message-ID: <42C2B86E.6090002@moredata.pt> Olá. Esses dados estão publicados ? Como é que eu faço para obter esta informação ? faço um requerimento ? Se for necessário meter um requerimento para obter esta informação, não faria mais sentido o mesmo ser feito através da ANSOL já que é uma informação fundamental para se saber, por exemplo, quantos computadores por funcionário público existem ? Abs. Diogo Miguel Constantino dos Santos wrote: >Ter, 2005-06-28 às 17:24 +0100, Carlos Patrão escreveu: > > >>Olá. >> >>Gostaria de saber quantos computadores existem na AP, nos vários >>institutos públicos e nas empresas públicas, alguém conhece estes dados >>ou onde se possam obter ? >> >> > >A informação das empresas publicas não sei se estará incluída (porque >são mais autónomas do ponto de vista administrativo), mas penso que o >Instituto de Informática do Ministério das Finanças, tem informações a >respeito do resto. > > > >cumprimentos > > From edrigram edri.org Thu Jun 30 10:18:51 2005 From: edrigram edri.org (EDRI-gram newsletter) Date: Wed Jul 6 13:28:39 2005 Subject: [ANSOL-geral] EDRI-gram newsletter - Number 3.13, 29 June 2005 Message-ID: <7673.82.92.116.56.1120071141.squirrel@82.92.116.56> ============================================================ EDRI-gram biweekly newsletter about digital civil rights in Europe Number 3.13, 29 June 2005 ============================================================ Contents ============================================================ 1. Heated debate on ID cards in the UK 2. French NGOs: no consensus possible on biometric ID-card 3. Police backdoor discovered in Italian alternative server 4. US Supreme Court: liability for P2P software providers 5. Dutch study fails to prove usefulness and necessity data retention 6. Freedom of information in Germany and the UK 7. OSCE conference on media freedom on the Internet 8. Preview G8-meeting in Gleneagles 9. Rome II: Applicable law and freedom of expression 10. Update on Alvar Freude case 11. EDRI granted observer status in CoE HR group 12. EDRI contribution to WIPO prep-meeting Development Agenda 13. Support EDRI! 14. Agenda 15. About ============================================================ 1. Heated debate on ID cards in the UK ============================================================ On 28 June the UK government narrowly won a vote on its identity card proposals in the House of Commons, seeing its majority halved to just 31. The previous day the UK Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, expressed strong concerns over the government's plans for a biometric national identity card and database. He particularly criticised the scheme's "disproportionate and excessive" storage of personal information and the wide range of uses that would "permit function creep into unforeseen and perhaps unacceptable areas of private life". On 27 June the London School of Economics published "The Identity Project: an assessment of the UK Identity Cards Bill and its implications". The report looks at the potential costs and benefits of the government's proposals, and finds that the scheme may be both more expensive and less effective in targetting problems such as terrorism, illegal immigration and identity fraud than the government has claimed. The report is the outcome of a 6-month research project involving over 100 industry, government and academic experts. It has caused controversy in the UK, with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary Charles Clarke forced to dispute its detailed cost estimates of around 435 euro per card. Behind this headline figure the report highlights a number of other potential problems with the scheme, ranging from the untested technology involved, the compatibility of the legislation with the European Convention on Human Rights, to the risks of unauthorised access to the scheme's central database of personal information. The UK Home Office has also finally published the results of a trial of the technology to be used with the proposed card. 10.016 volunteers took part, but even within this group of ID enthusiasts there were severe problems with the biometrics that the government claim will make a card totally secure. 10% of non-disabled participants and 39% of disabled participants were unable to have their irises stored. 4% of non-disabled participants and 9% of disabled participants could not have their irises checked against a stored record. The fingerprints of 20% of participants could not be checked. These results would be disastrous in a national scheme that included over 50 million adults. All of these problems mean that there is likely to be extremely strong opposition when the Bill reaches the House of Lords, where the government does not have a majority. The Lords could force the government to delay the Bill for at least a year. ID cards 'will reveal details of daily life' (28.06.2005) http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,1516069,00.html LSE report The Identity Project http://is.lse.ac.uk/idcard/identityreport.pdf UK passport service biometrics enrolment trial (May 2005) http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs4/UKPS_Biometrics_Enrolment_summary.pdf (Contribution by Ian Brown, board member EDRI) ============================================================ 2. French NGOs: no consensus possible on biometric ID-card ============================================================ A coalition of 6 French organisations against the French biometric card project INES (among them EDRI-member IRIS, see EDRI-gram 3.11) remains convinced that 'no consensus is possible' to accept the project if modified according to the suggestions made by the Internet Rights Forum ('Forum des droits sur l'Internet' or FDI, a private association mainly funded by the French government.) The Forum was asked to organise a public debate about the project. The results were published on 16 June 2005 and presented to the French ministry of Interior. The FDI organised both online and off-line debates between February and May 2005. Public meetings were held in 6 main French towns, and the online forum collected over 3000 messages from 683 unique contributors. In addition, a poll was conducted amongst a representative sample of 950 persons. Although the poll showed that 74% of the respondents are in favour of the INES project, 75% in favour of a national fingerprint database and 63% in favour of making the biometric ID card mandatory, the online and off-line debates also produced strongly argumented criticisms of the INES project. As a follow-up, the FDI report calls for a number of actions and modifications: better studies on identity fraud; the de-coupling of the project from the passport system; studies on the risks of using a single identifier; shifting responsibility for the project to the data protection authority; the creation of a new social contract between the citizen and the state; studies on the contact-less nature of the chip; a clear statement from the Government on whether the card will be required for commercial transactions; assurances that the card will be free at enrolment (though individuals could be charged for renewal or loss); and a clear Parliamentary debate on the obligatory nature of the card. The dangers highlighted by the report confirm the earlier fears and warnings of the NGO coalition. However, the report fails to address the main issue with a biometric ID card; the profound change in the relation of power between the citizen and the state, as noted by the French NGO coalition in a press release published on 20 June 2005. The coalition remains convinced that the project should be withdrawn and that a truly large public debate should be opened. A petition calling for such a debate has already been signed by 1500 organisations and individuals within 1 month, among them members of the French Parliament. "The social contract remains founded on the presumption of mutual trust and on the preservation of everyone's freedoms", the coalition reminded, rejecting the FDI proposal of a so-called 'social contract' where the citizen may obtain 'online, free and permanent access to his administrative files' in compensation of 'an increased control of his individual identity and identity documents' by the State. It is likely that the project implementation, or even discussion by the Parliament, will be postponed. The new French Interior minister declared in a public meeting on 20 June that the project "will profoundly impact the daily life of French citizens for a long time. If European provisions impose us to quickly set up a biometric passport, the situation is different for the electronic ID card. I don't want us to engage in this project without having taken the necessary time to think about all its consequences." Indeed, rumours indicate that the draft law has been withdrawn from the French Data Protection Authority, which is now waiting for the new version. But there is no sign that the new project will show more than minor changes: "the question is not to discard evolutions which, for some, are necessary, but rather to identify where we want to go, at which conditions, and at which price", the Interior minister added. French NGO coalition press release (in French, 20.06.2005) http://www.iris.sgdg.org/info-debat/comm-ines0605.html French Interior minister public declarations (in French, 20.06.2005) http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/rubriques/c/c1_le_ministre/c13_discours/2005_06_20_prefet FDI report on the French biometric ID card debate (in French, 16.06.2005) http://www.foruminternet.org/publications/lire.phtml?id=914 English overview of the project and the debate: LSE Report, Chapter 7, France section, pp.66-70 (27.06.2005) http://is.lse.ac.uk/idcard/identityreport.pdf EDRI-gram 3.11, French campaign against biometric ID card (02.06.2005) http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number3.11/biometrics (Contribution by Meryem Marzouki, EDRI-member IRIS) ============================================================ 3. Police backdoor discovered in Italian alternative server ============================================================ On 21 June 2005 the Italian collective Austistici/Inventati discovered a major police backdoor in their server. The server hosts a large number of websites, mailboxes, mailing lists and Internet services for NGOs, grassroots activists and public interest associations. The backdoor was installed over a year ago, on 15 June 2004 by the Italian "Polizia Postale" (Postal Police), after a seizure ordered by the Procura di Bologna (Office of the Public Prosecutor in Bologna) in the context of an investigation into the anarchist collective Crocenera. The legal owners of the server ('Investici', a legally recognised association) were not informed, nor by the police nor by the public prosecutor. The provider claimed that the downtime - caused by the Police putting the server off-line - was due to a power outage. The police gained access to the private SSL certificate stored on the server and installed several tools to monitor, intercept and decrypt all the traffic going through the server - not only the traffic that was actually relevant to the investigations. There is no actual proof that any data (not relevant to the case under investigation) were collected, but the possibility is definitively there. Austistici/Inventati are most furious about the fact that the server was secretly monitored, intercepted and decrypted for a whole year. All the traffic that passed through the server from over 30.000 people was potentially intercepted. Their basic rights to privacy and presumption of innocence until proven guilty, as granted under the Italian constitution, have been violated. The collective discovered the backdoor on 21 June 2005, after three hundred, seventy-one days of potential snooping of personal and/or sensitive information. A first step will be a formal complaint to the Italian Data Protection Authority; the general legal strategy is still being discussed. The server is still being hosted by ISP Aruba (based in Arezzo, Italy), but Autistici/Inventati has clearly warned everyone that communication going through that server is to be considered highly insecure and they are looking for a new housing provider. PRC (Partito della Rifondazione Comunista) members Titti de Simone and Elettra Deiana, and Green Party members Mauro Bulgarelli and Paolo Cento have already issued formal questions to the Minister of Communications in order to find out whether the Postal Police, the Procura di Bologna and Aruba S.p.a. have acted according to Italian laws on privacy and freedom of speech. Aruba has issued a public press release, stating that it just complied to Italian criminal laws and that it would reserve its right to sue Autistici/Inventati and/or any other interested party for libel and slander. Autistici/Inventati web site http://www.inventati.org/ English summary: "It's not a private matter - it's a matter of privacy" (21.06.2005) http://www.autistici.org/ai/crackdown/ Press releases (in Italian) http://www.autistici.org/ai/crackdown/stampa.html Reply from the ISP: Caso Autistici, la replica di Aruba (28.06.2005) http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=53734&r=PI (Contribution by Andrea Glorioso, Italian consultant on digital policies) ============================================================ 4. US Supreme Court: liability for P2P software providers ============================================================ The US Supreme Court has handed down a slashing verdict for the makers of peer to peer software. In the case of MGM versus Grokster and StreamCast the judges find the software producers liable for copyright infringements committed by users of the software. The court uses three arguments for this theory of extended liability. First of all, the CEOs clearly "marketed themselves as Napster alternatives" and "took active steps to encourage infringement". Secondly, they didn't make any effort to prevent the sharing of copyrighted files. And thirdly, they gain a profit from selling advertising space. "Since the extent of the software's use determines the gain to the distributors, the commercial sense of their enterprise turn on high-volume use, which the record shows is infringing." The Supreme Court has ordered the lower court to reconsider its decision from 2001 with the new doctrine. In the 2001 case, and in the appeal in 2004, the software producers successfully claimed protection from liability, based on the 1984 landmark decision in the Sony (Betamax) v. Universal City Studios case. Since the VCRs were mainly used for timeshifting (substantial noninfringing use), the producer could not be held liable for possible infringing use. In the earlier cases against the P2P software makers, the courts also took into account the software providers had no actual knowledge of infringement, did not monitor the behaviour of users and had no involvement in any infringement other then providing the software. The US Electronic Frontier Foundation provided legal council to the case from the beginning. Fred van Lohmann, the EFF senior intellectual property attorney commented: "Today the Supreme Court has unleashed a new era of legal uncertainty on America's innovators. The newly announced inducement theory of copyright liability will fuel a new generation of entertainment industry lawsuits against technology companies. Perhaps more important, the threat of legal costs may lead technology companies to modify their products to please Hollywood instead of consumers." Supreme Court case 545 MGM v. Grokster et al (27.06.2005) http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/MGM_v_Grokster/04-480.pdf Press release EFF (27.06.2005) http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_06.php#003748 ============================================================ 5. Dutch study fails to prove usefulness and necessity data retention ============================================================ On 22 June 2005 the Dutch Erasmus University published a report about the usefulness and necessity of data retention for law enforcement purposes. The report is the first public research in Europe into the actual use by law enforcement of historical traffic data. The researchers looked at 65 police investigations that were provided by the Dutch ministry of justice as good examples of the usefulness for traffic data for law enforcement. They conclude 'in virtually all cases' the police could get all the traffic data they needed, based on average availability of telephony traffic data of 3 months. The researchers also warn they can't qualify the usefulness of these data as direct or indirect evidence, or the representativeness of the sample of cases for law enforcement in general. But after failing to meet this essential test, the researchers organised talks with several anonymous police representatives. Based exclusively on those talks, the report recommends 1 year mandatory data retention, for Internet even to a much wider extent than the current European proposal. Besides logging every incoming and outgoing IP-request from each customer's computer(s) and registering every service used by customers, ISPs should also log URLs and the obligation should be extended to hosting providers and internet-cafes. On the other hand, the report mentions no need at all for data about modern messaging services, such as SMS, EMS and MMS, or new data services such as GPRS and UMTS, or failed caller-attempts. Dutch EDRI-member Bits of Freedom immediately issued a press release stating that the report can only be qualified as a police wish-list, without any substantial evidence for the necessity of data retention. Members of the special European Legal Affairs Committee of the Senate debating on the report on 28 June 2005 clearly agreed with this vision. In a unique confrontation with his own christian-democrat minister of Justice, MP Hans Franken thoroughly blasted the report and the decision making process so far. Fully supported by the other government coalition partner (right-wing liberals) and the major opposition parties, he said the government completely failed to meet the essential proportionality test decreed by Article 8 of the ECHR. The government did not prove the necessity, did not consider any less infringing alternatives to general data retention, and did not do any valid investigation into the costs and economic impact of the proposal. Last but not least, the government apparently did not consider the effectivity. The 68 year old Franken clearly caught the minister by surprise when he summed up a long list of technical problems with the proposal, especially in connection with Internet and new data services provided by mobile operators. He mentioned the astronomical amount of data handled by ISPs, explained that data retention requires a full internet wiretap on every user, and mentioned cost calculations amounting to a 7 million euro initial investment for a small Dutch ISP with a 2.5% market share. Franken also pointed at the wider context, both technically with IPv6 and Voice over IP replacing regular telephony networks and internationally, with no similar obligation planned for providers in the United States and an abundance of choices for internet-users to use proxies or encrypt all traffic. Minister Donner could only stammer a reply that cost calculations differed a lot and for example Denmark had a very effective data retention law, with much lower costs. MP Franken didn't let that pass, and told the minister there was indeed a framework law in Denmark decreeing data retention, but the law had not materialised in a specific decree yet. That left the minister with no other argument than a reference to the next informal JHA meeting, in Newcastle on 8 September 2005, where besides police officials apparently also representatives from the telecom-industry will be given a chance to explain their problems with the proposal. Both chambers of parliament will debate the Erasmus report in depth in September 2005, but only after they have jointly been coached to the right opinion by a presentation by the Public Prosecutors department and police commissioners. Meanwhile, the European ministers of Justice and Home Affairs will continue to work on the proposal, with a next meeting of the working party of government officials planned on 4 and 5 July 2005 and the UK presidency of the EU already having warned several members of the European Parliament their resistance is futile, since the UK is set on creating mandatory data retention via Europe after they failed nationally. Report Erasmus University (in Dutch only, 22.06.2005) http://www.justitie.nl/Images/20050620_5357934b%20aanbieding%20rapport%20Erasmus%20Universiteit_tcm74-75134.pdf Press release Bits of Freedom (in Dutch only, 22.06.2005) http://www.bof.nl/docs/persbericht_bewaarplicht_21062005.pdf ============================================================ 6. Freedom of information in Germany and the UK ============================================================ On 8 July 2005 the German Senate (Bundesrat) is set to decide on a freedom of information law, granting formal access rights to governmental decisions. But the christian-democrat governments in many of the 16 states have threatened to block the law. In July 2004 the German government announced the rapid introduction of the Federal Freedom of Information Act (Gesetz zur Regelung des Zugangs zu Informationen des Bundes) and on 3 June 2005 the Lower House adopted the text in second and third reading, after having considered strong objections from national health insurance companies and the parliamentary health committee. They were afraid individual medical records could be requested as well. Though the Bundesrat officially only has a say on laws directly affecting the regional states, in this case their rejection could actually block the proposal. Normally, after such a formal objection the law could still be adopted by the Lower House. But after the upcoming elections in Germany, the Lower House might very well see a comfortable conservative majority strongly opposing the act. The liberal-democrats (FDP) abstained from the vote in the Lower House, and also announced they would abstain in the Bundesrat vote. If they keep their promise, the christian-democrats won't be able to block the law. Together with Luxembourg, Germany is the only country in the EU, and one of the very few in the larger Council of Europe without an access to information law. The UK was also very late in creating formal access rights. The Freedom of Information Act went into force on 1 January 2005. Earlier this month, the law was analysed by the Department of Constitutional Affairs. They found that access could be refused under no less than 210 different statutory provisions. The Secretary of State has the power to amend 183 of these. Other provisions either have already changed, or cannot be changed because they were adopted after the Act was adopted. On 23 June 2005 the UK Government also published the first statistics on requests and results. The Campaign for Freedom of Information responded with an angry press release and said "a disturbing level of requests were not being dealt with within the Act's time limits." The figures show that 36% of requests took longer than the 20-working day deadline, with the worst record for the Home Office. "In 60% of all requests it failed either to respond to the request within 20 days, or even tell the applicant that it needed more time within that period." Gesetzentwurf (original proposal in German, 14.12.2005) http://dip.bundestag.de/btd/15/044/1504493.pdf Unauthorised English translation of the version adopted by the Lower House http://www.informationsfreiheit.info/files/foia_germany_final_june05_track.pdf EDRI-gram 2.14, German promise to adopt freedom of information law (15.07.2004) http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number2.14/akten UK: 210 reasons to refuse a Freedom of Information request (22.06.2005) http://195.188.8.75/php/page.php?page_id=reasonstorefus1119444004&area=news DCA, Review of Statutory Prohibitions on Disclosure (June 2005) http://www.dca.gov.uk/StatutoryBarsReport2005.pdf Government statistics highlight "unacceptable" freedom of information delays (23.06.2005) http://www.cfoi.org.uk/foi230605pr.html ============================================================ 7. OSCE conference on media freedom on the Internet ============================================================ The third OSCE Amsterdam Internet Conference was held on 17-18 June 2005. The conference focused on the situation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the Southern Caucasus and Central Asian regions, with experts from this region delivering presentations on the situation in their countries. The debate showed that governmental over-regulation and content censorship are common in Central Asian countries and pose a serious danger to new media in the emerging Internet scene. "In countries where almost all information is tightly controlled, the Internet is already used, but it needs to be developed and more accessible to advocate free speech, access to information and a stronger foundation for democracy", Mark Skogen of Access and Training Program (IATP) in Kazakhstan stressed in his presentation. An example of positive use of the Internet was given by Angela Beesley of Wikipedia which empowers users to build an information resource as well as a global free knowledge community to participate and to access. The Conference closed on 18 June 2005 with the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media issuing a "Joint Declaration on Guaranteeing Media Freedom Online" together with the Paris-based NGO Reporters sans frontières. The Declaration lists six main principles for protecting online media freedom and stresses that in a democratic and open society citizens themselves should decide what they wish to access and view on the Internet. Any filtering or rating of online content by governments is unacceptable and websites should not be required to register with governmental authorities, the declaration states. The Declaration once more stresses that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must not be held responsible for the mere conduit or hosting of content unless they refuse to obey a court ruling and that all Internet content should be subject to the legislation of the country of its origin ('upload rule') and not to the legislation of the country where it is downloaded. This Declaration has been one of the arguments used by the French Association of ISPs (AFA) against the filtering decision issued by a French court, ordering 10 French ISPs to block access to a website hosted in the US because of its holocaust denial and anti-Semitic content (see EDRI-gram 3.12). In its press release, the AFA announced that the concerned ISPs will appeal this decision. EDRI-member IRIS also formerly contested the decision by raising the democratic question. According to the French NGO, the case should not be regarded, under the national legislation, as an issue of freedom of expression of the content provider, but as the question of freedom of information of French citizens, being denied by the court decision. IRIS considers that this decision is one of the malicious effects of the French digital economy law, a legislation that goes far beyond the E-commerce Directive which it is supposed to transpose. This effect results in allowing victims of damages to dictate their conceptions of the moral and social norms, by deciding what may be read and what should be censored. AFA press releases (in French, 23.06.2005 and 14.06.2005) http://www.afa-france.com/p_20050623.html http://www.afa-france.com/p_20050614.html OSCE and RSF declaration on guaranteeing media freedom online (18.06.2005) https://www.osce.org/documents/rfm/2005/06/15239_en.pdf OSCE 3rd Amsterdam Internet Conference (17-18.06.2005) http://www.osce.org/item/9759.html IRIS press release (in French, 15.06.2005) http://www.iris.sgdg.org/info-debat/comm-aaargh0605.html EDRI-gram 3.12, French court issues blocking order to 10 ISPs (15.06.2005) http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number3.12/blocking (Thanks to Meryem Marzouki, EDRI-member IRIS) ============================================================ 8. Preview of the G8-meeting in Gleneagles ============================================================ >From 6 to 8 July 2005 the leaders of the 8 richest industrial countries, the G8, will meet in Gleneagles, Scotland. This upcoming G8-summit has been in the media spotlight for debating solutions to the world poverty, but is equally important as a driving force of the surveillance society. According to an article in the Guardian the leaders will discuss a plan to exchange and bundle terrorism research, computer material and possibly DNA and fingerprint samples, "testing the limits of data protection and privacy laws". This proposal was prepared by a 3 day meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs ministers in Sheffield, UK from 16 to 18 June 2005. Researcher Tom Blickmann from the Dutch Trans National Institute recently published a convincing analysis of the previous law enforcement activities from the G8. "The G8 is more than just a series of summit meetings. Over the years a full-fledged programme of political co-ordination has grown up around this annual event. Although the G8 is no more than an informal grouping, which can only create obligations for its members, nonetheless, its intention is to raise issues, which can then be taken further by the eight member states using other multilateral instruments." Blickmann sees a predominant US national security interest effectively turned into EU legislation. "No one doubts that international cooperation is needed to address global security issues, but there is serious doubt on the effectiveness of the current construction of a global enforcement regime, as well as worries about the predominant role of the US in setting the agenda." In stead, he argues for a human security concept, which takes into account root causes and social solutions and puts more emphasis on good governance, social and economic development and human rights. Quite likely, the leaders will also discuss a harmonisation of the current EU proposal for mandatory data retention with the United States, Canada, Japan and Russia. The G8 already organised a workshop about data retention in May 2001 and published a data retention wish-list in May 2002, well aware of the fact that the Cybercrime Treaty already provided law enforcement with abundant data preservation powers. While the US House of Congress never considered data retention proposals, not even after 9/11, the climate in the US apparently is changing. In a secret meeting between Justice Department officials, Internet service providers and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a proposal was discussed to oblige ISPs to store traffic data for 2 months. Journalist Declan McCullagh has a report about the meeting. He quotes Dave McClure, president of the U.S. Internet Industry Association, which represents small to midsize companies: "We were told, "You're going to have to start thinking about data retention if you don't want people to think you're soft on child porn." G8 to pool data on terrorism (18.06.2005) http://www.guardian.co.uk/g8/story/0,13365,1509268,00.html Tom Blickman: G8 and Security (17.06.2005) http://www.tni.org/archives/tblick/g8.htm G8 press declaration: Principles on the Availability of Data Essential to Protecting Public Safety (May 2002) http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/news/g8/doc3.html Report of G8 workshop on data retention (May 2001) http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/i_crime/high_tec/conf0105-4.html Declan McCullagh: Your ISP as Net watchdog (16.06.2005) http://news.com.com/Your+ISP+as+Net+watchdog/2100-1028_3-5748649.html ============================================================ 9. Rome II: Applicable law and freedom of expression ============================================================ According to the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), severe threats to freedom of expression and freedom of the press may occur if the European Parliament adopts Article 6 of the draft Rome II Treaty as modified by the EP Legal Affairs Committee on 21 June 2005. The rapporteur was Diana Wallis, ALDE UK MEP. The EP Plenary vote in the first reading is scheduled for 6 July 2005. After the final adoption in the co-decision procedure, Rome II will determine the law applicable to non-contractual obligations, thus regulating judicial co-operation in civil and commercial matters. But the Rome II draft also regulates the law applicable in case of violations of privacy and rights relating to the personality (Article 6, which applies e.g. in defamation cases). This article provides for exceptions to the general rule set by Article 3 that the applicable law is the law of the country where the damage arises. Taking into account the necessary protection of freedom of expression and freedom of the press, the initial proposal by the European Commission provided for safeguards in Article 6.1. "Any forum chosen by the claimant may discard the applicable law following the general rule, if the application of that law would be contrary to the fundamental principles of the law of the forum, as regards freedom of expression and of information." Diana Wallis gives a practical example of how this would work: Suppose a German minister feels libeled by a UK newspaper circulated not only in the UK, but also in France and Germany. Under Rome II the Minister can either sue in the UK courts, in which case he can claim damages for the whole of the damage wherever incurred or, for instance, in the German courts but only for the damage incurred in that State (i.e. in respect of the amount of newspapers sold in Germany). If the Minister sues in the UK and the application of German law would be contrary to the fundamental principles of UK law relating to freedom of the press/freedom of expression, the British court would set aside the application of those laws and apply national law. If the Minister sues in Germany, German law would apply but only as respects the losses arising in Germany. This particular provision was severely weakened by the EP Legal Affairs Committee, thus threatening freedom of expression and freedom of the press. The amended version of Article 6.1 re-establishes the general rule, with the sole condition that "a manifestly closer connection with a particular country may be deemed to exist having regard to factors such as the country to which a publication or broadcast is principally directed or the language of the publication or broadcast or sales or audience size in a given country as a proportion of total sales or audience size or a combination of these factors". Moreover, this provision shall now "apply mutatis mutandis to Internet publications". As argued by the EFJ, if adopted, this amended provision will create judicial insecurity, promote judicial forum-shopping, and, in the end, lead to self-censorship by the media. This chilling effect would be extended to any publication, especially on the Internet. In addition, as noted by the European Economic and Social Committee in its opinion, it is surprising Rome II deals with personality rights. According to this institution, this could be explained by the fact that such issues are more and more being brought into the sphere of torts. This explanation is on the contrary rather more preoccupating, in a context where freedom of expression and freedom of information, as well as freedom of the press, are more and more reduced, with for example stronger jurisprudence against the principle of protection of sources. Finally, the Rome II discussion marks a trend in the European Union to deal with judicial co-operation instruments, rather than focusing on approximation of substantive laws. Even though the latter is indeed a long and difficult process, the former, currently pursued in civil as well as criminal matters, is likely to threaten fundamental rights and freedoms. European Journalists Call on Brussels to Drop New Legal Threat to Media (27.06.2005) http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3206 EP Legislative Observatory Rome II file http://www2.europarl.eu.int/oeil/file.jsp?id=235142 (Contribution by Meryem Marzouki, EDRI-member IRIS) ============================================================ 10. Update on Alvar Freude case ============================================================ Alvar Freude, the German internet activist, was acquitted on all accounts in the appeal at the German penal State Court of Stuttgart on 15 June 2006. On his website, Freude documents many developments regarding filtering and blocking in Germany, including hyper-links to websites with radical right-wing content and a distasteful website. 4 of these sites had to be blocked by all ISPs in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen since 2002. Two of the sites have meanwhile been dropped from the blocking order. The public prosecutor demanded the financial equivalent of 140 days of prison sentence for incitement of the masses, distributing propaganda from anti-constitutional organisations and representation of violence. According to the prosecutor, all hyper-links to radical right-wing websites were forbidden. But according to Freude's lawyer and to the appeal court, linking to right-wing hate speech can be permissible in the context of reporting current events and contributing to the general civil education. The court made it clear freedom of speech is essential and underlined explicitly that citizens/netizens that wish to form an opinion about the blocking orders, can only get a full picture if they have the possibility to study the specific contents of the blocked materials. The court decided separately on the hyper-link to the distasteful website rotten.com. That could not be considered illegal in any context at all, since the penal code only bans explicit glorification of horrible or inhuman violent acts against people and that was not the case, since rotten.com does not provide any comments to pictures of for example car crashes. On yet another account, the FreedomFone project that allows users to have the contents of the banned websites read out loud to them, the court said it was clearly a case of satire, and as such widely recognised by the internet community. Heise, Freispruch im Hyperlink-Prozess (in German, 15.06.2005) http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/60673 Alvar Freude: complete documentation on the trial (in German) http://odem.org/linkverfahren/ ============================================================ 11. EDRI granted observer status in CoE HR group ============================================================ After informal participation to the last meeting of the Multidisciplinary Ad-hoc Committee of Experts on the Information Society (CAHSI), EDRI was granted observer status to the Council of Europe group of Specialists on Human Rights in the Information Society (MM-S-IS). On behalf of European Digital Rights, Meryem Marzouki from the French digital rights organisation IRIS presented EDRI activities at the CDMC (Steering Committee on Medias and Communications, under the CoE Human Rights DG) plenary meeting on 23 June 2005. The CAHSI was an ad hoc committee, which mandate ends in 2005. Its main role was to prepare a political statement on the principles and guidelines for ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law in the information society (see EDRI-gram 3.8). This statement was adopted by the CoE Summit of heads of states on 13 May 2005. It will be the main CoE contribution to the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). The MM-S-IS mandate is larger, both in scope and in duration, as set by its terms of reference. In participating to MM-S-IS work, EDRI aims at promoting its views for the respect for human rights in the context of the information society, not least regarding freedom of expression and privacy, and how these rights translate in this specific context. With two of its members (IRIS, France, and Digital Rights, Denmark) co-chairing the WSIS civil society Human Rights Caucus, and with its unique features of global approach of the issue, expertise in the field, worldwide civil society partnership, and already established relations with other intergovernmental organisations, EDRI feels its added value to the CoE development in the information society sector has been acknowledged. Next steps for EDRI are participation to the CoE Pan-European Forum on "Human Rights in the Information Society" and to the second meeting of MM-S-IS, both to be held in the 'Palais de l'Europe' in Strasbourg, mid-September 2005. EDRI-gram 3.8: Council of Europe draft statement on human rights and Internet (20.04.2005) http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number3.8/CoE Group of Specialists on Human Rights in the Information Society (MM-S-IS) http://www.coe.int/T/E/Human_Rights/media/1_Intergovernmental_Co-operation/MM-S-IS/ CoE Pan-European Forum on Human Rights in the Information Society (12-13.09.2005) http://www.coe.int/T/E/human_rights/media/ (Contribution by Meryem Marzouki, EDRI-member IRIS) ============================================================ 12. EDRI contribution to WIPO prep-meeting Development Agenda ============================================================ The Second Inter-sessional Intergovernmental Meeting on a Development Agenda took place in the WIPO Headquarters in Geneva from 20 to 22 June 2005. EDRI was represented this time by Ville Oksanen. He got two chances to address the meeting. EDRI stressed the importance of the creation of the independent WIPO Evaluation and Research Office as described in item Five based on the proposal by the Friends of the Development. Oksanen said: "We strongly believe that all decision making should be based on the best scientific knowledge available. Only a totally independent unit, which uses the best practices of the science, can produce results which can be trusted by all stakeholders." The meeting itself was a dissappointment. Instead of substantial discussion, the developed countries did their best to sidetrack the meeting to procedual matters and succeeded rather well. The positive side of the meeting was the strong participation from civil society, almost equal to the amount of organisations from the right holders' side. EFF informal blog notes about the meeting (22.06.2005) http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/003743.php#003743 Official WIPO information on the meeting http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=8486 (Contribution by Ville Oksanen, EDRI-member EFFI) ============================================================ 13. Support EDRI! ============================================================ European Digital Rights needs your help in upholding digital rights in the EU. Donations allow EDRI to hire part-time professional assistance in Brussels and invest in targeted campaigns. With the plans for mandatory data retention and the continuous erosion of digital civil rights, your donation could make a huge difference. If you wish to help us promote digital rights, please consider making a private donation, or interest your organisation in sponsorship. We will gladly send you an invoice for any amount above 250 euro to confirm the donation. KBC Bank Auderghem-Centre, Chaussée de Wavre 1662, 1160 Bruxelles, Belgium EDRI Bank account nr.: 733-0215021-02 IBAN: BE32 7330 2150 2102 BIC: KREDBEBB ============================================================ 14. Agenda ============================================================ 28 June - 1 July 2005, Geneva, Switzerland ITU WSIS Thematic Meeting on Cybersecurity http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/cybersecurity/ 30 June - 1 July 2005, Geneva, Switzerland International Symposium on Intellectual Property (IP) Education and Research, organised by WIPO http://www.wipo.int/academy/en/meetings/iped_sym_05/ 11-15 July 2005, Genova, Italy, OSS 2005 http://oss2005.case.unibz.it/index.html 20-22 July 2005, Geneva, Switzerland Third and final Inter-sessional Intergovernmental Meeting on a Development Agenda for WIPO. This crucial meeting will conclude discussions held by Member States in April and June and is key to the report which the Secretariat must produce for the WIPO General Assemblies in September 2005. EDRI will be represented at the meeting. http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=8487 28-31 July 2005, Den Bosch, The Netherlands What The Hack, major open air hacker / internet lifestyle event. http://www.whatthehack.org/ 8 September 2005, Brussels, Belgium EuroSOCAP Workshop on confidentiality and privacy in healthcare 3 year programme to develop new ethical standards for privacy and patient access to (electronical) files, started on 31 January 2003. http://www.eurosocap.org/eurosocap-workshop.aspx 12-13 September 2005, Strasbourg, France CoE Pan-European Forum on Human Rights in the Information Society http://www.coe.int/T/E/human_rights/media/ ============================================================ 15. About ============================================================ EDRI-gram is a biweekly newsletter about digital civil rights in Europe. Currently EDRI has 17 members from 11 European countries. European Digital Rights takes an active interest in developments in the EU accession countries and wants to share knowledge and awareness through the EDRI-grams. All contributions, suggestions for content or agenda-tips are most welcome. Except where otherwise noted, this newsletter is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License. See the full text at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Newsletter editor: Sjoera Nas Information about EDRI and its members: http://www.edri.org/ - EDRI-gram subscription information subscribe by e-mail To: edri-news-request@edri.org Subject: subscribe You will receive an automated e-mail asking to confirm your request. unsubscribe by e-mail To: edri-news-request@edri.org Subject: unsubscribe - EDRI-gram in Ukrainian and Italian EDRI-gram is also available in Ukrainian and Italian, a few days after the English edition. The contents are the same. Translations are provided by Privacy Ukraine and autistici.org, Italy The EDRI-gram in Ukrainian can be read on-line via http://www.internetrights.org.ua/index.php?page=edri-gram The EDRI-gram in Italian can be read on-line via http://www.autistici.org/edrigram/ - Newsletter archive Back issues are available at: http://www.edri.org/edrigram - Help Please ask if you have any problems with subscribing or unsubscribing. ============================================================ Publication of this newsletter is made possible by a grant from the Open Society Institute (OSI). ============================================================ _______________________________________________ Comunicado de Imprensa da ANSOL - Associação Nacional para o Software Livre http://www.ansol.org/ Se não desejar os comunicados de imprensa da ANSOL, por favor contacte-nos para direccao@ansol.org