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FFII's view is that software patents created a mess in the United States, and, for many years now, FFII has been committed to "sparing the economy of the European Union the same mess". FFII has been active on this front at least since 2000 when an attempt to change the European Patent Convention to legitimize software patents failed. In 2003, it strongly lobbied the European Parliament against the proposed Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions.
FFII is the leading European NGO on this issue. Through its partnership with many other European organisations with the same goal, it has a reach across all nations of the EU. FFII is supported e.g. by some SME, many software developerA software developer is an entity, either a company or individual, that creates software. A software development company, such as Microsoft, can be referred to as a software developer and can employ many hundred software developers, the individuals. Somets, some software users, some system administratorA system administrator describes someone responsible for running, or running some aspect of, a computer system. The precise meaning varies. Organisations with very large or complex computer systems typically divide up computer staff according to specialiss, some scientistA scientist is a person who is expert in an area of science and who uses scientific methods in research. Traditionally mathematics has been grouped with the sciences, but in modern times people tend not to regard mathematicians as scientists. Mathematicals, some academicAn academic a member of academia is a person who works as a researcher (and usually teacher) at a university or similar institution. In the United States, the term is approximately synonymous with professor. In the United Kingdom, various titles are used,s and some economistAn economist is someone who studies Economics. See also List of economists. The Economist is also a news journal published in London. Life, physical, and social science occupations Social science occupations.s.
FFII represents (as of March 2004):
FFII organises Conferences against patenting of software in BrusselsBrussels ( French: Bruxelles Dutch: Brussel German: Brussel is a major city in Belgium and its capital. Overview Brussels is first of all a city located in the middle of Belgium and its capital, but it sometimes also refers to the main municipality of the, BelgiumFor alternate meanings, see Belgium (disambiguation). Belgian redirects here. For the horse breed commonly used as a draft horse, see Belgian. The Kingdom of Belgium ( Dutch: Belgi French: Belgique German: Belgien is a country in Western Europe, bordered, at least once a year, the last one took place on April 14, 2004 (see external link for details).