FFII a force for the future, says new president

[Jonas Maebe <jonas.maebe@ugent.be>]

PRESS RELEASE FFII -- [ Europe / economy / ICT ]

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FFII a force for the future, says new president
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Brussels, 30 november 05 - The FFII General Assembly yesterday  
unanimously
elected a new president, Pieter Hintjens, to lead the organisation  
into 2006,
backed by a strengthened board.

Following their summer success in defeating the directive on software  
patents,
and the rapid growth of the FFII into 19 countries, the current  
president and
board proposed Pieter Hintjens to lead the FFII into a new phase of  
growth and
activity.  The FFII General Assembly unanimously approved Pieter  
Hintjens's
nomination along with a strengthened board that includes FFII founder  
and
former president Hartmut Pilch.

Pieter Hintjens is the 43-year old founder and MD of iMatix  
Corporation, a
Belgian software firm.  He has been active in the debate against  
software
patents, explaining to the European Patent Office and the European  
Parliament
why software and business process patents are so deadly for small  
innovative
firms that are the life-blood of Europe's innovation.  He brings to  
the FFII
his considerable experience both in the business domain and the  
technical
domain.

"The FFII is a force for the future", said Pieter Hintjens, "and I am  
proud to
be able to represent this organisation.  The goal of my presidency  
will be to
lay the foundations for managing our rapid growth, for turning  
ourselves into
a highly professional global organisation, and for delivering results  
to the
people and industries that depend on us".

Hartmut Pilch, who has led the FFII since it was founded six years
ago, comments:

"This is a qualitative leap forward for FFII.  I knew Pieter as a
charismatic speaker on conferences which we organised in the European
Parliament.  When Pieter explained his vision to me and offered to  
spend a
significant amount of time during the next year to make this vision  
happen,
I immediately found the offer irresistible.  Likewise, Pieter  
immediately
captured the hearts of yesterday's General Assembly.  There is now a  
mood of
confidence that we will be able to become strong enough to introduce
needed legislation rather than just fight defensive battles.  Needless
to say, I will give Pieter all support I can."

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Contact Information
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- Gérald Sédrati-Dinet
  FFII France
  gibus@ffii.fr
  +33-6-60-56-36-45
  (french/english)

- Jonas Maebe
  FFII Belgium
  jmaebe@ffii.org
  +32-485-369645
  (dutch/english)

- Benjamin Henrion
  FFII Belgium
  bhenrion@ffii.org
  +32-484-566109
  (french/english)

- Hartmut Pilch
  FFII Germany
  phm@ffii.org
  +49-172-8661737
  (german/english/french)

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About FFII -- http://www.ffii.org
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The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) is a
non-profit association registered in several European countries, which
is dedicated to the spread of data processing literacy. The FFII
supports the development of public information goods based on
copyright, free competition, open standards. More than 600 members,
3,000 companies and 90,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act
as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion rights
(intellectual property) in data processing. The FFII maintains offices
in Munich and Brussels and national supporter groups in most European
countries.

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