Free Software in the 2012 presidential campaign plans

Paris, Monday, January 23rd, 2012. Press release.

Within the context of its Candidats.fr initiative, April calls , a public event "Candidats.fr - Free Software in the presidential and parliamentary campaigns", at La Cantine in Paris, on January 25th 2012, from 18h30 to 22h00 in the presence of representatives of 2012 French presidential election candidates.

April had created the initiative Candidats.fr for the 2007 presidential elections in order to raise future representatives awareness of free software and to know their position on the questions linked to this subject (copyright, DRM, software patents, education, tying, innovation, electronic government…). Eight of the twelve candidates had taken up the challenge (François Bayrou, Olivier Besancenot, José Bové, Marie-George Buffet, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Ségolène Royal, Nicolas Sarkozy and Dominique Voynet). April has started updating the questions for the 2012 presidential elections.

The event of the 25th January will allow us to present the progress of the questionnaire updating and to debate with representatives of presidential election candidates. The debate will be conducted by Frédéric Couchet and Jeanne Tadeusz of April, in the presence of :

• Sophie Duvauchelle, co-responsible of the Parti de Gauche's digital board, member of the Front de Gauche du Numérique
• Benjamin Lancar, president of the Jeunes Populaires, national secretary for the digital economy within UMP
• Frédéric Neau, referrent within Eva Joly's campaign on the topics of digital liberties
• Fleur Pellerin, head of the department "Society and Digital Economy" for François Hollande
• Jean-Baptiste Raphanaud, project manager for the digital subjects for Nicolas Dupont-Aignan
• Frédéric Couchet, Executive Director of April, and Jeanne Tadeusz, in charge of public affairs within April.

"There will be multiple issues relative to Free Software in the debates of the upcoming French presidential election. Whether these relate to the teaching of computer science, to consumer rights, to the use of Free Software in the public administration or to innovation policies, this debate will be an opportunity to learn about each candidate's vision and positions, before more specific commitments via the Candidats.fr questionnaire " declared Jeanne Tadeusz, in charge of April's public affairs.

This evening will also be an opportunity to present the section on the French parliamentary elections and the means to contribute to it. As in previous elections, this will take the shape of the Free Software Pact.

About Candidats.fr

During the last French presidential elections in 2007, April had launched its Candidats.fr initiative, aimed at raising awareness among elected representatives about Free Software and at knowing these representatives' views on the various related topics (copyright, DRM, software patents, education, bundled selling, ...).
During the 2007 French presidential election, April had submitted to the candidates a long questionnaire. By accepting to answer it, candidates could present their vision on such subjects as software patents, copyright, treacherous computing, interoperability... Eight of the twelve candidates had taken up this challenge (François Bayrou, Olivier Besancenot, José Bové, Marie-George Buffet, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Ségolène Royal, Nicolas Sarkozy and Dominique Voynet).

April has started updating this questionnaire in view of the upcoming presidential election (first round: April 22nd; second round: May 6th). The final version of the questionnaire shall be sent to candidates in the course of February 2012.

For the French parliamentary elections in 2012, on June 10th and 17th, the Candidats.fr initiative shall take the shape of the Free Software Pact, as during the previous elections1. The Free Software Pact is a simple document, whose signature allows electors to know which candidate in his district has perceived the underlying stakes related to Free Software, and is committed to promote and defend the corresponding liberties. Citizens are invited to contact candidates to educate them and invite them to sign the Pact.

About April

Pioneer of free software in France, April is since 1996 a major player in the democratisation and the spread of Free Software and open standards to the general public, professionals and institutions in the French-speaking world. In the digital era that is ours, it also aims to inform the public on the dangers of an exclusive appropriation of information an knowledge by private interests.
The association has over 5,500 members, using or producing Free Software.
For more information, you may go to the following website: http://www.april.org/, contact us by phone at +33 178 769 280 or through our contact form.

Press contacts:
Frédéric Couchet, Executive Director, fcouchet@april.org +33 660 688 931
Jeanne Tadeusz, Public Affairs Officer, jtadeusz@april.org +33 1 78 76 92 82

• 1. April organized this action during the course of the French parliamentary elections in 2007, of the French municipal and local elections in 2008, of the European elections in 2009, of the French regional in 2010, of the French local elections in 2011 and of the elections of the Belgian federal government