Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Hoards Billions of Euros (Taken From the Public), Decreases Quality to Get More Money, Reduces Payments to Staff

In Battistelli's own words (from the last Gazette):

Battistelli and SSP



Summary: The EPO continues to collect money from everyone, distributes bogus/dubious patents that usher patent trolls into Europe (to cost European businesses billions in the long run), and staff of the EPO faces more cuts while EPO management swims in cash and perks

SEVERAL months ago EPO insiders complained that the EPO had morphed from a service (monopolised even) into an "investment bank". It's actually a hefty tax on Europe. It's a large repository of cash which is often misused (it lacks transparency), e.g. to bribe media, allegedly 'buy' votes, SLAPP bloggers, corrupt academia and generally serve as the private cash cow of few top-level officials. It's just so ripe for corruption. Some of Battistelli's own loyalists have been put in charge of the budget -- clearly a recipe for disaster after Battistelli abolished auditory functions.



"And where does all that money end up other than Battistelli's town, penthouse, platoon of private bodyguards, bonuses and so on?"The EPO does not lack money; it's taxing the public and it has virtually no competition in Europe. But what it 'delivers', namely patents, can cost the public many billions (lawsuits, i.e. legal fees). If the economists at the EPO weren't Battistelli loyalists, maybe they'd speak out about this again. The former Chief Economist of the EPO warned that Battistelli's implicit policy of lowering patent quality (for the sake of quantity) would bring patent trolls to Europe -- something which is already happening. It's like printing/minting far too much money; it's economically absurd to do so.

"It's like printing/minting far too much money; it's economically absurd to do so."It's with that in mind that we share or express great concern*. And where does all that money end up other than Battistelli's town, penthouse, platoon of private bodyguards, bonuses and so on? It certainly looks like EPO staff, i.e. people who actually do all the work, faces cuts. Battistelli receives over half a million euros in yet another bonus, whereas examiners need to accept cuts?

There are, according to staff representatives, only 3 days left to appeal some of these cuts. "Defend your NPS/SSP rights," the representatives urged, "by 25 April" (that's Wednesday).

Citing the relevant PDFs [1, 2, 3] and this editable form, they warn that "[a]mended contribution rates to the NPS / SSP harm staff recruited after 2009" and add:

The President has amended the contribution rates to the NPS and to the SSP several times since 2009. The last amendment has taken place with effect from 1 January 2018, on the basis of an actuarial study (CA/61/17) and the Office comments (CA/62/17).

With CA/D 11/17, the Administrative Council modified Article 41(1) of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and set the contribution rate of the employees to 9.8%. With Circular 389 replacing Circular 349, the global contribution rate to the NPS and SSP was raised from 29.1% to 29.4%. The contribution rate to the NPS was increased by the President from 22.5% to 24.9% and the contribution rate to the SSP was decreased from 6.6% to 4.5% with effect from 1 January 2018.

The above decisions harm colleagues in the NPS in that especially the contribution rate to the SSP is substantially decreased and therefore the amount paid to the SSP every month into the SSP is substantially lower and will result in a smaller accumulated amount over the years.


There's still enough time (today is Sunday) to complete that form. It needs "to be filed by 25 April at the latest," said some internal communication. ____ * Not only are monopolies being granted sparingly; Battistelli strives to expand their scope with the UPC. Who would pay the price? The public of course.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
 
GNOME GUADEC 2022 & Debian Albanian women trafficked to Mexico?
Reprinted with permission from the Free Software Fellowship
Sainsbury's: It Takes Us Up to Two Days to Respond to Customers Upon Escalation (and Sometimes Even More Than Two Days)
It not only does groceries but also many other things, even banking
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day