Bonum Certa Men Certa

Etienne Schneider, Lex Kaufhold and Other Officials Empowered EPO's Tyranny of Lawlessness, But Will Iris Depoulain Put an End to That?

Video download link | md5sum 7b35c0cab750bdde0d5da19a1d99e3ce



Summary: There's a new face in Luxembourg's EPO delegation, a person who apparently lacks experience in the area of patents, but one can hope that next week she can put up resistance and undo the damage caused by her predecessors (the Administrative Council meets in 3 days, the Select Committee of the Administrative Council meets in 4 days, and the controversial [1, 2] Budget/Finance Committee meets in 16 days, according to this newly-updated (10 days ago) EPO calendar (warning: epo.org link), which suggests that "meets" means "has an online webchat")

WE HAVE JUST published part seven regarding the unlawful EPO (anti-strike) regulations passed with approval from Luxembourg for 'King' Battistelli (those same illegal regulations were exploited by António Campinos for more than 3 years; Campinos was happy not to reassess these).



Coat of arms of LuxembourgLike most people, I do not know a lot about Luxembourg (it's a very small country), but what I do know isn't entirely positive, especially because of tax-related issues, long associated with the jurisdiction (a bit like Monaco, Panama, and Singapore). There are also some patent trolls parked in Luxembourg. We wrote about those in the more distant past.

"Tomorrow we shall look at my home country, the UK, and British enablers of the Battistelli regime."The video above notes that the country had a whole day (of the year; every year) devoted to reaffirming the monopolies of rich people and corporations, reinforcing myths associated with "ownership" or "property" where such terms are technically and legally inapplicable. Luxembourg is less than 4 hours away from The Hague (driving distance), but we don't suppose Dutch politicians would truly scrutinise their close neighbour for any discrepancies (business, human rights, etc.); as we noted in the previous part, the Dutch also exempt their own from investigations into war crimes. It's a tail that wags a dog.

ICC logoThe video does not talk about the country as much as its actions in relation to the EPO. It also ends by noting that Campinos lacks experience with patents, just like Iris Depoulain lacks experience with patents (but she will represent her country in the EPO this month; EPO deals exclusively with patents). Although the nation of Luxembourg has a very small portion of the total population of Europe (only about 1 in 1,000 Europeans lives in Luxembourg) it has the same voting power as Germany with about 15% (~150 in 1,000 Europeans) of the EU population.

"They try to purchase for themselves a veneer of "ethics" whilst actively attacking the law, crushing staff, and harming the interests of ordinary (vulnerable) Europeans for the benefit of the powerful few."The video was unfortunately interrupted by an unexpected but important phone call, but it was already (nearly) over anyway, so I stopped it prematurely if not somewhat abruptly. When you do it all in one take, unscripted and unedited, that's a risk you take (the video being a tad rough at the edges).

Tomorrow we shall look at my home country, the UK, and British enablers of the Battistelli regime. It's never "too late" to name culprits, especially those who are still out there, dodging accountability after playing a role in authorising human rights abuses.

"What sane person would genuinely wish to be associated with those sociopaths who still run the EPO? "We might as well note that the EPO regime has just found the courage or had the audacity to post this fluff (warning: epo.org link) late on a Friday (i.e. the usual), exploiting for cheap PR stunts disabled people while they're causing disability in their own staff, e.g. upper limb disorder (ULD). They post this with their charade of "Diversity & Inclusion @ EPO" where neither diversity nor inclusion has been a real thing. In prior months they did pinkwashing several times. They try to purchase for themselves a veneer of "ethics" whilst actively attacking the law, crushing staff, and harming the interests of ordinary (vulnerable) Europeans for the benefit of the powerful few. "Equality" @ EPO means that they're attacking women and men equally, or crush the human rights of gays or blacks as much as the crush everybody else's rights. Is that ethics? Moral relativism with PR stunts might fool the shallow-minded, i.e. not well-educated patent examiners. They view this entire thing as a shallow PR charade that merely costs the Office a lot of money and helps silence the media.

While disability is a very seriously matter, we've already seen the EPO flirting with sick humour about it ('euthanising' the disabled without consent). What sane person would genuinely wish to be associated with those sociopaths who still run the EPO?

Iris Depoulain decorated with logos of EPO and EUIPO
Iris Depoulain decorated with logos of EPO and EUIPO 2 years ago, stating that "[m]any actors are involved in IP [sic] protection [sic] in Luxembourg"



Recent Techrights' Posts

SLAPP Censorship - Part 32 Out of 200: Garrett Made Spurious Requests (Later Withdrawn) the Same Week Someone He Later Spoke to by E-mail Sent Threats to Our Webhost
The "plot thickens" because there's a multi-party tag-team act, as confirmed by Garrett after he had sworn on the Bible
GNU/Linux Measured at All-Time High in Sweden
Can 'influencers' have played a role
GNU/Linux Becoming More Universal
It seems likely the end of Vista 10 coinciding with a sharp rise in memory prices (and now energy prices) will benefit GNU/Linux and therefore give us more to write about
Can Economies Like the American One Hang On?
The coming weeks will be "interesting" unless wars end
 
Visual Evidence/Documentation of IBM Dying Like the Dinosaurs
IBM has many of these giant white elephants lying around, with some getting demolished
Links 03/04/2026: USPTO’s Latest Greenwashing and Internet Blackouts Impact Journalists in War Zones
Links for the day
IBM is a Dying Company, Nowadays It Kills Red Hat With Slop
when your last day is a national holiday in IBM's country
"Independence Drives" and Community-Run Sites
Independence in reporting is a much-valued trait
When Charlatans Are Only Good at Losing Money and Storytelling (e.g. About Investment in Them)
Wait till a a barrel of oil costs $300
What Apple Fans Are Missing
Apple is a bad company
The "Pale Blue Dot" Moment Had Returned
To many people, the "bitter-sweet" observation of how small we are
Saudi Arabia Does Not Rely Much on Microsoft/Windows
Putting aside politics, this is good for Free software
Almost 12 Years of Exposing Corruption in Europe's Second-Largest Institution
The "unready" President is now an abandoned President
Easter Moon Mission and Its Reminder of IBM's Demise
A lot of NASA operations now rely on GNU/Linux
When Power is Scarce and GNU/Linux Has Power
In Cuba, GNU/Linux has long enjoyed high adoption rates
Don't Totally Dismiss the 'Survivalists'
'Survivalists' or similar terms are used to describe a particular mindset of people who prepare for some really awful scenarios
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 02, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, April 02, 2026
A Much Better Use of Fuel Than Slop
Something positive for a change
Hoping for Peace
There are still many things to be enjoyed, including nature and kind people
Gemini Links 03/04/2026: "Slide Rule Triple Multiplication" and End of "Picture Pages"
Links for the day
Rumours of Microsoft Layoffs This Season
Just how much trouble is Microsoft in at this point?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 31 Out of 200: Speaking About 20+ Years of Alleged Harassment/Defamation and High-Profile 'Targets' of Garrett
attempts were made to settle (in effect end the case) by the person who started the case almost half a dozen times along the way
In Asia, Windows is in Its Teens (Below 20%)
On a global scale, Windows is down to about 26%
Low Morale at IBM and Perception of Destructive Management
IBM is going nowhere, fast
Gemini Links 02/04/2026: Super Mario Galaxy Movie and New Antenna Instance
Links for the day
It Seems Like Google News Cracked Down on (Omitted, Delisted) a Lot of Slopfarms
There's no justification/point in spending so much energy just to plagiarise things poorly
Steam Survey for Last Month Says 5.33% Use GNU/Linux
big leap for GNU/Linux
Links 02/04/2026: Science News, Energy Scarcity, Oil Sold in Yuan
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2026: Apple Turns 50, Efforts To Ban VPNs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2026: Kubernetes With FreeBSD, OFFLFIRSOCH, and Great Circle Distance
Links for the day
Dr. Andy Farnell on Microsoft Silencing or Deplatforming Opposition in the UK and Elsewhere
Microsoft as a king or a kind of "religion" one cannot question
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 01, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 01, 2026
SLAPP Censorship - Part 30 Out of 200: The Time We Reported Abuse to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and It Was Escalated to Its Cybercrime Unit
he started trolling and harassing me for criticising his employers' monopolistic and users-hostile agenda
'Modern' Cars Not a Rosy Industry
The current "modern" cars already have a shelf life similar to that of many toothpastes
Wrongthink Detector and Filter in "Think About the Children" Clothing
It is not about "age verification", it's a Trojan horse for social control
IBM Facilities Now Deemed Legitimate (Military) Target, Along With GAFAM Bases
Does IBM have any defences in place to protect against "downtime by explosions"?
What Happens When Some Large News Sites Turn to Slop and Spew Out Nonsense
LLM slop makes such grotesque mistakes abundant
Hardly Seeing Slopfarms Today, Even in Google News
Google's adventures with slop increased its debt significantly
Links 01/04/2026: Quantum Hype (Turing and Google), "US Fuel Prices Surge Past $4 a Gallon"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/04/2026: "Sacred Week of Cycling" and Zenity for Scripts
Links for the day
Losing Debian: Sruthi Chandran election flop
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
French judgment: parasitisme by FSFE & Matthias Kirschner (CO23.002709)
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Microsoft Uses April Fools to 'Joke' About Inserting "Age Verification" (Surveillance) Into Linux
MinceR says the "lkml [message/page] one is April Fools or at least they're trying to pass it off as April Fools [however] the [GitHub] one was archived on the 8th and yesterday, so that probably isn't..."
IBM "Headcount Reductions" by Early Retirement and Death
The tragedy at IBM started 33 years ago on the first of April
Red Hat: Latin-1 character set under threat from Bishop Michael Martin, North Carolina
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 01/04/2026: Microsoft GitHub Now Pushing Ads Into People's Code/Commits, Earth Overshoot Day Draws Nearer
Links for the day
What IBM and EPO Workers Have in Common: European Media Not Covering Very Major News (Press Became Dysfunctional)
Are IBM operatives working to scuttle the process of investigative journalism?
Free Speech in the United Kingdom When "Chilling Effect" is Increasingly Prevalent
If politicians cannot even use a term like "parasitic behaviour", then where do we as a society end up?
Oracle Lays Off Because of Debt and Commercial Issues, Not Slop
Like Scam Altman, Larry Ellison hangs around Cheeto King because he could use some bailouts in the form of government contracts or phony money with an incredible name like "Stargate"
The Real Reason Many Sites and Forums Shun Microsoft Lunduke
When forums say that they banned Microsoft Lunduke or don't want him mentioned it's probably because they are familiar with the "stench" that follows him around
Gemini Links 01/04/2026: Hallucinations, Stitching, and Type Systems
Links for the day
Lots of Layoffs at IBM, "Media Blackout" About Mass Layoffs at IBM's HashiCorp and Confluent Last Month
IBM is a dying company circling down the drain while manipulating or paying the media to pretend everything is fine
Microsoft Under Investigation by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for Abusive Tactics
What's noteworthy is that this is "set to begin in May"
Sounds Like Red Hat (IBM) Layoffs in Slop Clothing
This is an IBM policy. They try to justify staff cuts.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 31, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 31, 2026