FFII: Afflux to the entrepreneur campaign Economic Majority
[ News | Economic Majority ]
The SME initiative Economic Majority, which was only started in April, could on 23-6 announce the support of the thousandth enterprise. Six days later, on 29-6-05, there are now already over 1500 enterprises. Many of these entrepreneurs met today in Brussels at an E-M conference.
As a full success, the entrepreneur initiative "Economic Majority" is proof for clear borders in relation to the patenting of software. Started as recently as April, it could today exceed the barrier of 1500 registered small and middle enterprises.
Stephan Uhlmann announced by E-Mail:
- here are the latest stats: more than 1,500 companies more than 28,000 employees more than 1.8 billion euros annual turnover (at least, employees+turnover fields are optional and not all supporters decide to fill them in). 66 testimonies. We started collecting April 25th (very slowly back then, the recent PR gave us a good boost). These days we have an average of more than 50 new registrations per day.
On 29-6-05 there was in Brussels a conference of the initiative Economic Majority as a last signal before the vote. Numerous entrepreneurs and speakers spoke up and discussed the necessary improvements to the guideline. In particular, the topic Astroturfing was discussed intensively by the SME representatives. The claim to speak on behalf of the "Economic Majority" with an initiative of currently 1500 enterprises, soon probably to be already over 2000 enterprises, seems to be a bold one. Numerous studies and the empirical findings from the patent data base show however clearly that a software patent regime is against the interest of the small and medium-sized enterprises, on whose shoulders the European software economy rest.
What is the problem with the "Astroturfing" in matters concerning software patenting in Brussels?
The international companies created for themselves their "own middle class" as their representation in Brussels. "Astroturfing", the lobbyism from the retort, is the newest cry in the Public Affairs domain. In addition comes the financing of an obscure network of classical industrial lobbyists. In Brussels in the last months numerous pseudo SMEs arose and lobbied for software patenting. Those are frequently PR specialists, who pose themselves as entrepreneurs. Sometimes the hired lobbyists also have their own enterprises, e.g. a Web Design company, which however only have to do with software as users. There are naturally also entrepreneurs, who with untrue statements about the guideline were merged into the lobbying circus. Or dubious initiatives, which are financed by multinational companies, to juggle support for their positions by SME or creatives. One of them, the close to the Microsoft federation CompTIA (also: Initiative for Software Choice) "Campaign for Creativity", was publicly reprimanded on the previous day by Lobbywatch and other civilian-social transparency initiatives.
A publication of ECC (now: Pleon), which officially represents Public Affairs of Microsoft in Brussels, explains this as a reactive trend on successes of the civilian-social groups: "professional campaign management is in the meantime for a long time no longer only limited to the hard core of politics. After citizens' initiatives, NGOs or environmental activists such as Greenpeace, the economy and its organisations now also feel the change and are bestirred by campaign ability.... Because in the execution and organization of Public Affairs campaigns some samples from the political management are applicable."(1)
Creating instant movements, here of SMEs, is derogatively called "Astroturfing" in the PR jargon. Astroturf is a well-known US trademark for artificial turf. This is an ironical allusion to the American "grass roots". Astroturfing sets up intransparency of interests and financing structures. Such transparencies are a threat for the functioning of the parliamentary opinion forming. This particularly applies to the "spaceship Brussels". The members of the European parliament are misled purposefully over the interests of medium-size enterprises.
The enterprises of the initiative "Economic Majority" want to have none of such masquerade and want their voice heard in the European Parliament without false guise. In their campaign, financing and support lie in one hand.
Annotations
1. Schönborn, G.; Wiebusch, D.: Public Affairs Agenda, Politikkommunikation als Erfolgsfaktor, Neukrietel: Luchterhand, 2003
