On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 11:40:12AM +0200, Natalia Evdokimova wrote:
Hi all!
Below are the questions on PDFreaders we want to send to the MEP Jan Philipp Albrecht who will forward them to the EC.
Please send us any comments you have, or additional questions you think we may ask.
In general, I think it's better to target only the Commission itself, rather than public institutions throughout Member States -- the EC has no control over most of those institutions, and will just spend most of the answer pointing that out.
So best keep the questions focused on the EC itself. Afterwards, we can always go to other countries etc. and point out any changes that the Commission has made to its practices.
Thank you!
Regards,
Natalia
Subject: Software advertising on public websites
Numerous EU public websites refer to proprietary software, like the Acrobat Reader, as the only possibility to read PDF files and provide a download link. That is the case of direct advertising by public institutions, which creates a competitive advantage for this company to sell other products.
- Can the Commission give an overview of the frequency of such advertisements on the websites of public institutions in the Member States?
The EC most likely can't, and this question gives them an easy way out. I suggest instead:
- On how many of the Commission's own pages do such advertisements appear?
(that will keep them counting for a while...)
- Have the EU and the Member States' public institutions ever reported their reasoning (financial gain, lack of other software, etc) to advertise this particular software as the only possibility to read PDF files?
What is the Commission's reason (e.g. financial gain, lack of other functional software) for advertising this particular software as the only possibility to read PDF files?
- If so, have the institutions explained whether they tried other PDF readers before? Which software have they mentioned?
[which institutions?]
...did they mention?
- Will the Commission recommend the EU and the Member States' public institutions to avoid such advertisements on their websites?
- Does the Commission view this widespread advertising practice as a problem? If so, what steps is the Commission taking to resolve this problem regarding a) the Commission's own website, and b) the websites of public institutions in Member States?
-- Natalia Evdokimova - Intern, Assistant to the President Free Software Foundation Europe (http://fsfe.org) Is Free Software important to you? Join us! (http://fsfe.org/join)