Contattare i politici

There is a common misbelief that politicians were completely unapproachable. In fact, it's quite possible to receive their attention but it has to be done in an effective manner.

Don't E-mail to politicians unless they know you well. There are some politicians that do reply to E-mails but that's relatively rare. E-mails are too easy to send, which is why they don't signal a very serious interest by the one who writes them. They are also too easy to ignore. If you take the time to write something to a politician, then you should also take the time to print out a letter and send it by regular mail or by fax. While mail is the best choice, experience shows that faxes are almost equally effective while E-mail is extremely ineffective.

Focus your message to politicians, and keep it understandable. Remember that politicians have to deal with a wide variety of issues all the time. Unless you know that they have studied the software patent issue in detail, you better presume that they know almost nothing about it. Keep your letter reasonably short. One page is best, two pages should be the absolute maximum. If you think that certain things require some more explanation, you can always create appendices and attach them to the letter. It can also be very helpful to point politicians to texts and other materials on the Internet by providing links.

Don't believe their answers without checking if they are true. Every politician will tell you that he or she is against software patents, but some of these statements will not be true. There are politicians that simply follow other politicians or organizations without knowing they have been deceived into a position that only on superficial glance seems to be against software patents, but on close view just is the opposite. Some may even tell the untruth on purpose, they just want to make you comfortable so you continue to vote (or at least consider to vote) for them. If you receive a reply from a politician, then please check the forum on this website. Politicians usually send the same standard replies to many people, and then we analyze those replies in the forum of this website. If you have received a reply that is not yet discussed in the forum, then you can post it there and we'll explain to you whether the answer is honest or not.

Be creative about who to contact. It's certainly a good idea to contact members of the European Parliament, and national governments because they take political decisions through the EU Council. In addition, don't underestimate the importance of the members of your national parliament. Formally they don't decide on the EU directive at this stage but practically they do have a lot of influence on their governments. You should particularly focus on those parties that hold the majority in the respective parliament but you should also talk to politicians of the opposition. Even below the level of the national parliament, you may be able to get some help from regional and local politicians who can contact other politicians on your behalf if they understand that software patents are a concern to people in their area.

Find out which politicians are from your area. If you live in the district in which they want to be elected, then they'll be particularly receptive. If you are a constituent of theirs, then you'll even have a chance of requesting a meeting to discuss the software patent issue face to face. You might also approach politicians at local events where they speak up.

Click here to read how to participate in activities against software patents