A group of software patent hardliners from the EU (Commission & Parliament) are inviting government officials, especially from the Italian Presidency, to a 3day conference in Ischia near Napoli. Apart from a few cautious scholars, the criticism of the patent system and its expansion into inappropriate areas will hardly be heard at this conference, which is then likely to pave the way for decisions in the European Council on the software patent directive which by then should have come out of the European Parliament.
The conference was also announced at the Italian Presidency Council page: http://www.ueitalia2003.it/EN/Temi/competitivita/
http://www.ueitalia2003.it/EN/LaPresidenzaInforma/Calendario/10/5/ev_5otti.htm