Why government no longer represent their citizens

[GreyGeek]

http://en.swpat.org/wiki/IBM_and_MS_...nd_legislation

On May 7th and June 8th, 2010, Microsoft and IBM met privately with members of New Zealand's Ministry of Economic Development (MED). They convinced the Ministry to abandon plans to exclude software from patentability, as can be seen in the new version of the text which was finally published on 28 Aug 2012.[1]There was also a private exchange of emails between the MED and Microsft, IBM, and the Business Software Alliance in the month before and after the meeting, where those three organisations submitted policy documents.

Details of the 8 June meeting only emerged when lawyer Steve Lundberg accidentally posted a confidential meeting summary on his blog. Lundberg quickly deleted the blog entry, but the content was preserved in Google's cache. The emails were then published by the government in response to a request by Peter Harrison (of NZOSS) under the Official Information Act.
...
The meeting was attended by five lobbyists:

• Dougal Watt, IBM
• Julie Motley, IBM
• Waldo Kuipers, Microsoft
• Brett O’Riley, CEO NZICT (pro software patent group funded by Microsft, IBM, and other mostly foreign companies)
• Peter Wren-Hilton, Pingar (an NZ SME)

The pre- and post-meeting emails involved IBM, Microsoft, NZICT, the BSA, but no contribution from Wren-Hilton of Pingar or any other NZ company. The meeting summary notes that Wren-Hilton made a statement in favour of software patents, but also notes that "it appeared that he was not actually intending to obtain patents in New Zealand".


The meeting was attended by three people from the Ministry of Economic Developement (MED):

• Rory McLeod, Director – Competition, Trade and Investment Branch
• Silke Radde, overall IP policy
• Warren Hassett, responsable for the Patents Bill

The "lobbyist" are the ones who carry the money to the politicians and/or bureaucrats. The lawyers write the new bills, or changes to the existing ones, and the politicians vote like they were instructed to do in exchange for those "campaign donations". Notice the Microsoft front groups, NZITC and the BSA. And some think they are independent groups struggling for the good of the market and mankind.

Simple, isn't it?

Pardon me while I go vomit.

[SteveRiley]

If Helen Clark were still prime minister there, this effort to lobby the government might have failed.

[HalationEffect]

Sigh... this reminds me of a certain line about having "the best politicians that money can buy"...

[dibl]

Thanks GG -- I'll join you in the vomitorium.

[whatthefunk]

Lobbyists make me sick. Our governments are controlled almost exclusively by special interests. The only power that people have is to decide the person who is on the leash.

[Qqmike]

And this baby-face screwball: The Pledge: Grover Norquist's hold on the GOP, on 60 Minutes --
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_16...ld-on-the-gop/

CBS made an effort to edit out too much of his grins and nervous, shaky, self-absorbed antics; but they left enough in their vid to get some insight into his squirrely personality. The kind of guy you meet on the street and for reasons you don't understand, you uncomfortably feel you wanna knock the guy out? The big problem is how he seems to be controlling the Right Wing (the pledge to NOT vote for anything that would apply/raise any taxes). (What is it about the Right that attracts these characters?) We are in trouble when a loser like this guy finds a way to control half our congressional reps.