Upcoming
- Annual meeting of EFFI
- Petition against software patents
New
- Caution is called for in electronic voting
- Human rights at stake at the World Summit on the Information Society
- EU set limits on software patents
- Statement for The Committee for the Future
- Statements on the new Copyright Act draft for the Ministry of
Education
// ANNUAL MEETING OF EFFI
The annual meeting of EFFI will be held at Friday, 28th November. The
meeting will begin at 6pm at the chamber 8 in the main building of the
University of Helsinki. An invitation to all members will be sent concerning
the meeting and program.
// PETITION AGAINST SOFTWARE PATENTS
Despite the vote at September, the software patent directive will still be
dealt at the EU Parliament. At the moment the directive is under scrutiny of
the Council of Ministers that will send the issue back to the parliament once
more. EFFI has been preparing a petition against software patents to collect
signatures for the cause. The petition is available at http://www2.effi.org/patentit/vetoomus/
and it can be already signed even though the petition text still needs some
work.
// CAUTION IS CALLED FOR IN ELECTRONIC VOTING
The late examples from the world have demonstrated that there are major
problems in electronic voting. EFFI has set up a mirror of the “Diebold
documents” that demonstrate in detail how untrustworthy some widely deployed
voting systems in United States have been. The documents reveal how technical
errors lead one precinct to give 16022 negative votes to a candidate. EFFI
hopes that electronic voting will go through open and extensive discussion that
involves Finnish experts on the issue.
EFFI’s press release in Finnish:
http://www2.effi.org/julkaisut/tiedotteet/lehdistotiedote-2003-10-31.html
Another press release in cooperation with other European organizations:
http://www2.effi.org/julkaisut/tiedotteet/pressrelease-2003-11-04.html
// HUMAN RIGHTS AT STAKE AT THE WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
Ville Oksanen, the Vice Chairman of EFFI, has been involved in preparing the
United Nations World Summit on the Information Society. In cooperation with
other non-governmental organizations, a press release has been issued. The
release warns that human rights and especially the freedom of speech have
become a subject of disagreement between participating countries.
Press release in Finnish:
http://www2.effi.org/julkaisut/tiedotteet/pressrelease-2003-11-04.html
// EU SET LIMITS ON SOFTWARE PATENTS
The EU parliament had a vote on 24th September 2003 on a directive on
patenting computer programs. The outcome was a victory for EFFI, open source
and European economy because strict limits were imposed on software patents.
The outcome was also clearly affected by the letter EFFI organized. Linus
Torvalds and Alan Cox signed an open letter to MEPs that presented arguments
against software patents.
Press release of the vote, in Finnish:
http://www2.effi.org/julkaisut/tiedotteet/lehdistotiedote-2003-09-24.html
Press release on the letter by Linus Torvalds and Alan Cox:
http://www2.effi.org/julkaisut/tiedotteet/pressrelease-2003-09-22.html
// STATEMENT FOR THE COMMITTEE FOR THE FUTURE
EFFI issued a statement on the state and future of information society as
requested by the Committee for the Future. EFFI states that the Internet and
the mobile phones are the most major changes in the past then years. The
fundamental values of stable information society are decentralizing control,
the freedom of information and the right to personal privacy.
The statement in Finnish:
http://www2.effi.org/julkaisut/lausunnot/tulevaisuus-2003.html
// STATEMENTS ON THE NEW COPYRIGHT ACT DRAFT FOR THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
The Ministry of Education issues a new draft of Copyright Act on 16.7.2003.
EFFI issued a statement on the draft on behalf of itself and EDRI, the European
roof organization. Primarily EFFI recommends deletion of all changes except the
ones required by the directive. Secondarily EFFI has suggested plenty of small
improvements to the text of the law. EDRI’s statement highlights general
principles and experiences from other countries. The Government is likely to
introduce soon a new version of the Copyright Act based on the draft and the
statements on the draft.
Statement on behalf of EFFI:
http://www2.effi.org/julkaisut/lausunnot/effi-2003-09-05.pdf
Statement on behalf of EDRI:
http://www2.effi.org/julkaisut/lausunnot/edri-2003-09-05.pdf
EFFI Email is a regularly published newsletter on the activities of
Electronic Frontier Finland ry. If you wish to join or have more information of
the organization, please contact us or fill a form at http://www2.effi.org
The English version of this newsletter has been edited and translated from
the Finnish newsletter by Janne Nikula (jni@iki.fi).
Regards,
Mikko Välimäki
EFFI chairman