2003/07/01-2 Strasbourg: European Information Infrastructure Policy: E-Europe or E-Colonisation?
The EU software patent debate has shown a frightening willingness of Europe's legislators to ignore all informed discussions, including EU-sponsored studies, and to restrict the creative freedom if its citizens without a twinkling of the eye, if only certain incumbent powers ask them to do so. Fragile structures of the Information Society are put at risk and degraded by one piece of special-interest legislation after another. As yesterday's success experiences from the world of physical goods are crudely transferred to the immaterial world, Europe is paying a high price and falling behind other world regions. Sometimes constitutional law can help to remedy the situation. We try to discuss the problems with members of the European Parliament. |