Postkard0407: Send Postcards to Politicians
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Send a Postcard to your Representative Saying No to Software Patents
No Software Patents -- Power to the Parliament
Free Ideas for a Free World
Data Processing is Not a Field of Technology
Please join us in mobilizing to send postcards asking the EU Council Presidency to withdraw the "political agreement" on the "Directive on Computer-Implemented Inventions" and subject the text to true scrutiny and development by directly-accountable representatives.
What's Happening:
Postcards sent from your vacations to "your" MEP or MP, are a neat and easy idea to keep contact to your representative and be put on the pinboard instead in the waste basket (as the ordinary lobbying mass postings).
Of course politicians enjoy vacation greetings from far countries just as much as we do. Of course, the postcards may not miss a hint to the current software patent issue. Thereby you can also point to !URLs, e.g.
Click below to see sample postcards that have been sent:
Belgium | France | Germany | Ireland | Luxembourg | Netherlands | United Kingdom
Some simple slogans to use:
- Free Ideas for a Free World (slogan used by FFII in EP before)
- No software patents, power to the parliament! (slogan of 2004-04-14 demo)
- Data Processing is not a Field of Technology (Parliament's Art 3a)
You can get addresses for appropriate representatives from the Urgent Call country pages. To find UK !MPs, there is a location service. For other countries, you may find something on this site, your language version of this wiki page (look at the top) or the website of your parliament.
/Be sure to scan or photograph your postcard before you mail it so you can post it here./
Record Postscards Sent
- Send an email to:
- postkard0407-help at ffii org
- and attach the scan of your postcards to your email ( thanks )
When your postcards show up in the directory, link to them on the appropriate country pages.
Activity Status
9 Volunteers have Sent 20 Cards to 19 Recipients in 8 Countries Since August 21
Volunteers in the Netherlands Convinced the Dutch Parliament to Withdraw Support for the Directive
400 Demonstrators in Budapest Demand No to Council Software Patent Agreement
A Sample Postcard:
The Plan:
- call on our supporters before summer pause to
- adopt a few politicians (primary national MPs, alternatively MEPs) from list of addresses we supply
- write their ccordinates (names, addresses etc) into your most personal address notebook that you carry around with you
- also note URLs of argumentation papers relevant for them such as
- write a postcard to each of them during your vacation
- the political message can be extremely short: e.g. only
**** "no software patents, power to the parliament" (slogan of 2004-04-14 demo) **** "data processing is not a field of technology" (EP 2003-09-24 Art 3a) **** "free ideas for a free world" (slogan used in ffii demos and artwork)
- apart from this, the postcard can contain the URL and some polite greeting text
- use a postcard from your location of vacation
**** Alternatively, via SwpatkunstEn you may find some material for printing postcards of your own
additionally, help us deliver the Urgent Appeal
additionally, create/edit personal kwiki pages about your destinataries, such as MichelRocardFr, DietrichWelpDe, LaurensJanBrinkhorstEn
get more ideas from the german version or contact its author arebenti at ffii org
Media echo about this action
Please add new items to the top.
2004-08-13 DE Silicon.de Schöne Grüße aus Mallorca und Schluss mit Softwarepatenten
2004-08-12 DE Prolinux Mit Urlaubskarten gegen Softwarepatente
Example Postcard Text
- see german version and other wikis
