2004-11-28 Bavarian Liberal Democrats Reaffirm Rejection of Software Patents and Council Agreement by 99% Majority

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360 delegates of the Bavarian section of the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) have nearly unanimously, against 1 dissenting vote, reaffirmed their party's rejection of software patentability and of the Agreement by the European Council of Ministers, which had been brought about by a maneuver of the German government on May 18th this year.

After the vote, Jimmy Schulz, FDP candidate of Munich and software entrepreneur, who had argued for the resolution, explained: "The support for our resolution, both during the discussion and during the vote, was overwhelming. The danger of idea monopolies has always been a subject of concern for liberal theoreticians, and it appears that this tradition is well alive today, both at the base of our party and and in the federal parliament (Bundestag). We strongly hope that the federal government will act according to the parliament's will, expressed in the cross-partisan motion which we inspired, and withdraw its support from the EU Council's disastrous software patent agreement of the 18th May 2004."

See the German version for more details.