Florian Mueller nominated for Europeans of the Year awards

ANTI-SOFTWARE PATENT CAMPAIGNER 
FLORIAN MUELLER NOMINATED FOR THE
"EUROPEANS OF THE YEAR" AWARDS

Brussels (22 September 2005) – Florian Mueller, the founder of the
NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign, has been nominated for the most prestigious
award in EU politics, the "EV50 Europeans of the Year". The campaigner, who
successfully opposed an EU directive on software patents, now has the chance
to become "EU Campaigner of the Year" or even the overall "European of the
Year".

The European Voice, a major EU-focused weekly, today started an Internet
poll in which Mueller runs against such celebrities as Bono Vox (U2), Bob
Geldof, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and political leaders including
British prime minister Tony Blair and German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
The poll is open to the public at this address: http://www.ev50.com/poll/ 

In a first reaction, Mueller said that he is "honored by this nomination",
but he was quick to share the glory: "I really owe this to all activists and
citizens who supported our cause, especially to the FFII (Foundation for a
Free Information Infrastructure)". Mueller has previously been listed among
the "top 50 most influential people in intellectual property" by Managing
Intellectual Property magazine:
http://www.managingip.com/default.asp?page=9&PubID=19...;
LS=EMS47649 

Software patent critics are also pleased to see that Michel Rocard, the
European Parliament's rapporteur on the software patent directive, has been
nominated for the "MEP of the Year" award. On 6 July, an overwhelming
majority of MEPs voted 648-32 against the EU Council's proposal for a
"directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions".
Campaigners like Mueller and the FFII were worried that the proposed
legislation would have given software patents a much stronger legal status
in Europe.

The FFII's Brussels representative, Erik Josefsson, was among the first to
congratulate: "I'm extremely proud that Florian Mueller and Michel Rocard
have been nominated because they represent countless European citizens who
are concerned over software patents. Hopefully many will vote for the two,
so that Europe's political leaders fully appreciate the importance of our
cause."

Stefan Zickgraf, the managing director of leading SME organization CEA-PME,
said: "We are very happy about Florian Mueller's nomination because we
worked very closely and successfully with him and the FFII. The way in which
small and medium-sized businesses took political action against software
patents is unprecedented in Brussels, and the result should encourage all
SMEs to play a more active political role in the future." CEA-PME
(Confédération Européenne des Associations de Petites et Moyennes
Entreprises) is the Brussels-based umbrella organization of 22 member
associations from 19 European countries, representing in total more than
500,000 small and medium-sized enterprises.

The EV50 winners will be announced on 29 November. A gala evening at the
Palais d'Egmont in Brussels will be hosted by former European Parliament
President Pat Cox. The EV50 awards are supported by Belgian Prime Minister
Guy Verhofstadt. The European Voice is a publication of the Economist group.

NOTE: Florian Mueller founded the NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign in 2004 and
managed it until March of 2005. He then gave his website to the Foundation
for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), the leading European pressure
group that opposes the patentability of computer programs.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Florian Mueller
florian.mueller@nosoftwarepatents.com
phone +49-8151-21088