More on IPRED2 - the criminalisation directive

FSFE will be sending an open letter to the MEPs tonight when translations
are done:
http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ipred2/letter-april-2007.en.html

And I've put all the useful links I could think of into a blog entry:
http://fsfe.org/en/fellows/ciaran/ciaran_s_free_software_notes/act_now_on_next_week_s_ep_vote_on_ipred2

The amendments that FSFE endorses are on this page (now also in PDF):
http://action.ffii.org/ipred2/FFII_Analysis

The open letter is not exhaustive, and there is plenty I would like to add,
but it hits the key points:
* Short and simple enough for the MEP to read
* Short enough to be translated to many languages in a short timeframe
* Show that we have read the Directive and that we understand it
* Make it clear that we want amendments, and say which amendments we want
* Finish it and send it to the MEPs as early as possible
* Show that the current text is *not* supported by the free software
  commmunity 

(That last point is important because the person in charge of this
Directive, Nicola Zingaretti, likes to tell people he is a free software
supporter - so we have to tell MEPs that we do not support his version)

The amendments we're endorsing are very good.  I would rather endorse
rejecting the Directive, but that proposal would fail in the European
Parliament, and I would rather the amendments didn't use the word "piracy"
so much, but there are two good reasons for doing this.  One is that
"copyright piracy" is much narrower than "copyright infringement", which is