Which legal environment for Open Source and Free Software ?

Software patents and legal protection of "Technical Measures Protection" are two recent examples of legal texts that can constitute a major brake to technical development in one hand and to free software economy on other hand, at a time when they take more and more place in the Worldwide computer scene.

Parliament debates, accordingly to these texts, show significant issues that largely exceed free softwares question, even if they play a major rôle : distorsion of competition, numeric flow distance control management, respect of privacy, freedom of information, cultural durability.

Interoperability has constituted /de facto/ one of the most essential topic in these debates as in Europe, it has been already the subject of a protection on which weakening or strengthening can considerably next to these stakes.

The main subjet of this Round Table, making meeting elected members having being actively partipating to "patent software" and ’DADVSI", will be to settle on how the Free Softawre can be defended, enventually favoured by the lawmaker, taking into account stakes at a political level.

Interveners to this Round Table, will be, in alphabetical order :

  Mr François Bayrou, Deputy (UDF), president of UDF

  Mrs Martine Billard, Députy (Verts)

  Mr Richard Cazenave, Deputy (UMP)

  Mr Christophe Espern, EUCD.info

  Mr Michel Rocard, european Deputy (PS), ex First Minister, ex president of the Culture Commission at the European Parliament

Debate animated by Mr François Pellegrini, ABUL LUG.