LXer: French presidential candidates on free software, related issues
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LXer: French presidential candidates on free software, related issues
Published at LXer:
When free software supporters participate in the French presidential election on April 22nd for the first round of voting, they will have information that may be unique in the world: position statements from all major parties on issues about free software, copyright, patents, and digital rights. Even more surprisingly -- at least from a North American perspective -- a majority of the candidates have heard of these issues and developed positions on them.
The only exception to this observation was Sarkozy. Sarkozy delayed answering the questionnaire until Canidats.fr had posted the other answers along with a comment noting his silence, and deplored his lack of response in a news release. Even then, his reply was only four pages long, less than half the length of most of the other replies. Nor did it address the questions directly, so much as make general replies. Sarkozy was also the only candidate who responded with obvious hostility, remarking when talking about DADVSI that "I am opposed to the orientations implied by your questions."
Sarkozy's reluctance to reply becomes obvious when you consider his answers. He expresses his support for patent law on the grounds that it "encourages enterprises to innovate, it attracts investments, [and] encourages individuals to ... develop new inventions." In addition, Sarkozy supported the concept of intellectual property, and suggested that it was premature to talk about revising DADVSI before the end of 2007, when a review is scheduled. In answer to the question about open standards and free software, he replied that "it is not the purpose of the State, in my concept of freedom, to impose a model on anyone." Other replies were so general as to suggest that he either had not considered the matter or was avoiding stating his position. As Frédéric Couchet, a director of APRIL commented, Sarkozy's "was the worst response received."
This person got the best score yesterday. If it goes on like this, this person will be president in 2 weeks...
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