Italian Free Software bill [was: Re: New to the group]

[Alceste Scalas]

On Sat, Apr 06, 2002 at 01:54:59PM +0200, Christian Selig wrote:
    > >The situation is worrying, expecially for its possible
    > >consequences on a bill that supports Free Software on italian
    > >pubblic administration, research, and education (recently
    > >proposed to the italian parliament):
    > 
    > The proposal is from Verdi-l'Ulivo, and I don't think that
    > Berlusconi's followers would help anything which stands for
    > freedom and plurality, instead I much more believe that he
    > does everything to help other multinational companies without
    > regard to morality or social appropriateness.

Well,  actually various  members of  the parliament  from  _all_ the
political parties seem to approve  the bill.  Also, the Minister for
Innovation (Lucio Stanca, former IBM Europe CEO) seems to appreciate
the bill.

Regarding the public opinion: the  media are quite interested on the
topic, and Free  Software is gaining some exposure  (recently, a RMS
video regarding copyleft and copyright and part of an interview with
a FSF Europe  member have been transmitted on  a national television
--- even if it was at 1:00 A.M.).  Furthermore, I have read a number
of articles in which the "free as in freedom, not as in beer" issues
(and sometimes, also the  differences between Free Software and Open
Source) were well explained.

Finally, some  motions regarding  Free Software use  and development
and public administration have been proposed in some municipalities,
such as  Florence and Lodi (in  both the cities the  motion has been
approved), Pavia, Milan.

So the political interest and the public opinion awareness _seem_ to
be  quite  promising.   There   are  absolutely  no  "Free  Software
revolutions" available in  the short term, but the  situation is not
as bad  as one  might argue by  only considering  italian government
general attitudes...

Regards,

Alceste
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