The Free Software Pact is a European initiative to allow candidates for the upcoming European elections to show the voting public that they favour the development and use of free software, and will protect it from threatening EU legislation. It is also a tool for citizens who value free software to educate candidates about it's importance and why they should, if elected, protect the European free software community. The European Parliament is the venue for crucial talks concerning free software, including software patents, interoperability and net neutrality. It is therefore vital to show election candidates why they should support, and sign, the Free Software Pact.
Mark Taylor, the coordinator for the Free Software Pact in the UK, said, The current UK Government is embarrassingly behind the rest of Europe in formulating public policy on the use of free software. Across the rest of the continent we see significant adoption and political support for free software. The Free software Pact is therefore an ideal way to draw attention to the reform the UK public sector needs and the enormous cost savings yet to be realized. For too long the UK has been dependent on the relationship with proprietary software companies like Microsoft, who are hell-bent on keeping our politicians confused on this matter. If you care about this situation, and the resulting cost to our economy, society and political culture, please contact the MEP candidates in your region and ask them to sign the Free Software Pact.
The Free Software Pact is also supported by Richard M. Stallman, founder and president of the Free Software Foundation, who said, Big dangers threaten the freedoms of free software in Europe: software patents, digital restrictions management (DRM), bundled sales and treacherous computing... I call on all European citizens who value free software to join this campaign, contact their candidates and have them sign the Free Software Pact.
A list of UK MEP candidates and their contact details can be found at http://www.bond.org.uk/pages/mep-candidate-contact-details.html. Candidates can support the Free Software Pact by signing a copy of the pact and faxing, mailing or emailing a copy by following the instructions at http://www.freesoftwarepact.eu/post/The-Free-Software-Pact.
About The Free Software pact
The Free Software Pact (FSP) is a citizen initiative, launched by Free Software advocacy associations April (France, http://www.april.org) and Associazione per il software libero (Italy, http://www.softwarelibero.it), to coordinate a European scale campaign in favour of free software. The FSP is providing materials and software to any volunteer who contributes to the initiative. More information can be found at their website http://www.freesoftwarepact.eu.
Media Contacts
Mark Taylor, UK Coordinator for the Free Software Pact
Phone: +44 7967 687379