(Updated ~9.15pm) Action Alert: Lobby Jura JSP to suspend or not renew their software licence
Jura JSP have released a statement on their website that reads:
Official Press Statement on media reports concerning the business relations of JURA JSP with the Republic of Zimbabwe
1. JURA JSP Entwicklung und Vertrieb von Wertpapierdrucksystemen GmbH („JURA JSP“), a part of the Jura Group, sells software applications for high-security printing (e.g. banknotes, passports) worldwide.
2. In 2001, JURA JSP concluded a contract with Fidelity Printers and Refiners (PVT) Ltd. for the delivery of software for the graphical design of banknotes.
3. The software delivered in 2001 in accordance with the contract allows only for the graphic design of banknotes, and serves in particular for applying forgery-proof security features on banknotes. It is stressed here that the production of banknotes using the software of JURA JSP can be ruled out for technical reasons. Therefore, the Mugabe regime can produce banknotes anytime without the software by JURA JSP – by loosing the high security features.
4. It is de facto impossible to prevent Fidelity Printers and Refiners (PVT) Ltd. from using the software, since the software was installed locally and cannot be removed by JURA JSP.
5. As in the past, JURA JSP shall by no means violate any national or international sanctions introduced against the Mugabe regime.
Vienna, on July 24, 200
Original action text continues below
An article that appeared in The Guardian yesterday pointed to serious concerns within the Zanu PF government that Jura JSP, a Hungarian-Austrian company, might withdraw a special licence to use software critical to security printing:
… the government feared that the licence for the specialist software supplied by another European firm would be withdrawn as part of the boycott of Robert Mugabe’s regime.
The software is supplied by Jura JSP, a Hungarian-Austrian company that specialises in security printing. A knowledgeable source inside Fidelity Printers said the software issue had created an air of panic.
“It’s a major problem. They are very concerned that the licence will be withdrawn or not renewed. They are trying to find ways around it, looking at the software, but it’s very technical. They are in a panic because without the software they can’t print anything,” he said.
An article in The Independent today has further information:
Jura JSP, an Austro-Hungarian firm with just 50 employees, has been dealing with the pariah government in Harare, enabling it to keep ahead of its hyperinflation crisis. Officials at the company confirmed yesterday that it supplied the licences and software used to design and print the Zimbabwe dollar, but would review this position if required to do so by the EU.
Fresh EU sanctions announced yesterday do not cover all companies dealing with the Mugabe regime, but other firms named and shamed for profiting from the Zimbabwe crisis have cut all links. The software company enables the regime to print the money it uses to pay the army, police and security agents which keep Zanu PF in power. Without access to paper money, Mr Mugabe would face an immediate crisis.
Last month we asked you to support a campaign calling on Giesecke & Devrient to stop supplying the Zanu PF regime with banknotes. We argued that the steady flow of money to Zimbabwe was funding the Zanu PF terror regime who were relying on it to pay the militia and soldiers to intimidate, torture, and murder civilians. Gieseck & Devrient have stopped supplying banknotes and soldiers are now waiting to be paid.
Yesterday we published a letter sent by the ZCTU to Gideon Gono, asking that ordinary people in Zimbabwe were given increased access to their own money. The letter highlighted the fact that the military get preferential treatment when it comes to withdrawing cash: soldiers are allowed to withdraw Z$1.5 trillion and above per day, while ordinary civilians were only allowed to withdraw Z$100 billion.
ACTION: We are calling on all our supporters and subscribers today to phone, email and write to Jura JSP and ask them to withdraw the software licence from the Zimbabwean government on the grounds that the cash they print has been used to primarily support a campaign of terror, and on the grounds that preferential treatment is given to the armed forces when it comes to accessing cash. Both these facts show that the Zanu PF regime is using money to buy the loyality and support of the armed forces. It clearly shows that this is a government that prioritises power and control over the people, more than it is concerned with the fact that ordinary people are struggling to survive.
We need to keep up the pressure.
Jura JSP is a small company so if we can accumulate as many contact details as possible we can contact individuals directly. Please seek out details and submit them via our form here and we will add them to our database.
- Write to, or telephone, Jura JSP.
- Contact the Austrian and Hungarian media to make sure they are aware of what is happening in Zimbabwe and how software originating from their nations is helping to support it.
- Targetted sanctions against the Zimbabwean government have recently been reviewed by the EU so Zimbabwe is fresh in their minds. Write to European leaders about the responsibility of European companies, and the questionable ethics of their actions. Ask them to review the subject of trade sanctions to include Jura JSP’s software licence to print bloodmoney.
- Write to the press and point out the relationship between the Governer of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and JOC [a reminder of that relatinship can be found here in our Giesecke & Devrientpost here [link].
- If you see an article appearing in a newspaper in your country, discussing the Jura JSP connection to Zimbabwe, respond to it: send a letter to the editor and make him or her aware that this is a topical and important issue. We will add links relevant articles in this post.
- Contact your local MPs and your local press as well.
- If you’re a European citizen, write to your MEP. Find your MEP here -link (please send us links to other resources like this one for other parts of the world).
This post contains a variety of information which will be updated as the campaign evolves. The recent updates section highlight information that has changed. We have provided a set of jumplinks at the top to help you navigate to the different sections. Please read through it and take action! As always, your comments and suggestion are very welcome.
Quick links to different sections of this Action Alert:
- Letters you can send to Jura JSP
- Contact details
- Recent Updates
- Background information on Jura JSP
- News articles about Jura JSP and Zimbabwe
- Receive updates via Twitter
Recent Updates:
Update ~ 4.50pm: Gideon Gono plans measures to address currency shortage - article added to the news articles section.
Update ~ 1.30am - 25 July: Added an article that appeared in the Austrian Press to the news articles section.
Update ~ 9.15pm: Statement released by Jura JSP added to the top of this post, and a link added in the background information section. An article from SW Radio Africa has been added to the news articles section. It quotes someone from Janes Defence Weekly saying: “the situation faced by the regime is quite typical of many African countries that are falling apart [...] the result tends to be at least violent demonstrations, if not a mutiny by the military”.
Update ~ 5.20pm: Our letter to Jura JSP has now been translated into German. Find it in the letters section.
Letters:
Please feel free to write your own letters if you wish to, or use ours and adjust to include your own words, or simply send them as they are. We are planning to translate it into German as well and will add the letter below this one.
Dear Mrs. Renate Kroboth and Mr. Thomas:
Please accept this letter as protest against Jura JSPs involvement in sustaining the activities of the Zimbabwean government.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is headed by Gideon Gono, one of five individuals making up the Joint Operational Command (JOC), which is responsible for coordinating and carrying out a multitude of human rights violations against civilians. Gideon Gono’s responsibility is to finance the terror, using notes printed using the security software provided by your company, Jura JSP. A UN Security Council statement issued on 23 June 2008 makes it very clear that the Government of Zimbabwe is responsible for the violence in Zimbabwe.
On 22 June, the MDC party in Zimbabwe withdrew from an election scheduled to be held on the 27th June. They said: “We in the MDC cannot ask [Zimbabweans] to cast their vote on June 27 when that vote will cost them their life.” On the same day, an international newspaper provided one example of how money is used in Zimbabwe to fund terror: it reported that a bounty of £12,500 was placed on an MDC district councillor’s head. The article stated that this equates to approximately Z$25 trillion - notes printed using software supplied by Jura JSP.
The military are given preferential treatment over access to cash in Zimbabwe: soldiers are allowed to withdraw Z$1.5 trillion and above per day while ordinary civilians were only allowed to withdraw Z$100 billion. This clearly shows that the Zanu PF government prioristises control and power over the people more than it does the civilians right to access cash to buy food.
In addition to this, we must point out that the money printed using your software has been used to pay war veterans and youth militia and soldiers deployed to beat, torture, and intimidate Zimbabwean civilians. This has resulted in approximately 3,000 cases of political violence (including grotesque torture), and more than 200,000 people who have been internally displaced from their homes in the two months following the March 29th elections. Over 100 people have been murdered, including a woman who had both her arms and her legs cut off before she was thrown still alive into a burning hut. Many people are missing; their families do not know whether they have been murdered or not.
We believe that Jura JSP’s licence with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe makes it complicit in these acts of terror in that it enables Gideon Gono to fulfil his role in the Joint Operational Command. We believe that the use of this licence to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is playing a critical role in sustaining a despotic regime.
We remind you that the Government of Zimbabwe has stopped the activities of many humanitarian organisations in Zimbabwe, critical for providing sustenance to desperate Zimbabweans.
We ask that you consider this letter in light of the many statements condemning the activities of the Zimbabwean Government emanating from the UN, SADC and many other regional and international governments and human rights organisations. In particular, Genocide Watch issued a statement on the 19 June 2008 saying “ZANU-PF militias, the Zimbabwe army and police, and ZANU-PF mobs have pushed Zimbabwe to Stage 6, the Preparation stage immediately preceding political mass murder.” This is not just an issue of corporate social responsibility, but a question of whether Jura JSP will or will not serve an enabling role in the financing of politicide.
We ask that Jura JSP suspends the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s right to use your software until such time as money in Zimbabwe is used ethically and responsibly, where its prime role is to enable Zimbabwe to function and operate as a free and vibrant economy which includes all the citizens of Zimbabwe on equal grounds.
Yours Sincerely,
German translation: This is the same letter to Jura JSP, translated into German
Sehr geehrte Frau Kroboth, sehr geehrter Herr Thomas,
bitte betrachten Sie diesen Brief als Protest gegen Jura JSPs Beteiligung an der Aufrechterhaltung der Regierung Simbabwes.
Die Zentralbank Simbabwes wird von Gideon Gono geleitet; Herr Gono ist einer der fünf Kommandeure der Joint Operational Command (JOC – das Integrierte Obermilitärkommando Simbabwes) - die für unzählige Menschenrechtsverletzungen und Brutalitäten gegen Zivilisten verantwortlich ist. Gideon Gono hat die Aufgabe, diesen Terror zu finanzieren – und dazu benutzt er Banknoten, die mit Jura JSP software hergestellt werden. Eine Aussage des UNO-Sicherheitsrates vom 23. Juni 2008 macht die Regierung Simbabwes verantwortlich für die Gewalttaten in Simbabwe.
Am 22. Juni hat die MDC-Partei in Simbabwe ihren Kandidaten zur Präsidentschaftswahl am 27. Juni zurückgezogen. Sie sagten: “Wir in der MDC können nicht verlangen, dass die Menschen in Simbabwe ihre Stimme für uns abgeben, wenn diese Abstimmung sie das Leben kosten könnte.” Am selben Tag gab ein internationaler Zeitungsbericht ein Beispiel dafür, wie Terror in Simbabwe benutzt wird: Es wurde berichtet, dass eine Prämie von Z$25 Milliarden auf den Kopf eines Bezirksratsmitgliedes ausgesetzt wurde - Banknoten, die mit Jura JSP software hergestellt wurden.
Das Militär hat einen priviligierten Zugang zu Bargeld in Simbabwe: Soldate dürfen mehr als Z$1.5 Quintillionen pro Tag abheben, während Zivilpersonen Zugang zu nur Z$100 Billiarden pro Tag haben. Dies zeigt, dass die Zanu-PF Regime mit ihrem Geld eine Kontrolle ausübt, die den eigenen strategischen Interessen folgt, und gleichzeitig Simbabwe Zivilisten das Recht verweigert, mit ihrem eigenen Geld Essen zu kaufen.
Zusätzlich möchten wir Sie darauf hinweisen, dass die simbabwischen Banknoten, die mit Jura JSP software hergestellt werden, jeden einzelnen Tag dazu benutzt werden, “war veterans” (sogenannte Kriegsveteranen), Jugendmilizen und Soldaten dafür zu bezahlen, Zivilpersonen in Simbabwe zu schlagen, zu foltern und einzuschüchtern. Das Resultat: Ungefähr 3 000 Fälle politischer Gewalttaten (inklusive Folter der groteskesten Art) und mehr als 200 000 Menschen, die aus ihren Häusern vertrieben worden sind, seit den Wahlen am 29. März. Bis jetzt wurden über 100 Personen ermordet, inklusive einer Frau, deren Arme und Beine abgesägt wurden, bevor sie, noch lebend, in eine brennende Hütte geworfen wurde. Viele Personen sind einfach verschwunden, und ihre Familien wissen nicht, ob auch sie ermordet worden sind.
Wir glauben, dass Ihre Firma, Jura JSP, sich durch den Softwarelizenz- Geschäftskontrakt mit der Zentralbank Simbabwes mitverantwortlich für diesen Terror macht, weil er es Gideon Gono ermöglicht, seine Rolle im Joint Operational Command auszuführen. Wir glauben, dass dieser kontinuirliche Geschäftsvertrag mit der Zentralbank Simbabwes eine kritische Rolle in der Unterstützung dieses despotischen Regimes spielt. Wir möchten Sie daran erinnern, dass die Regierung Simbabwes die Arbeit vieler humanitärer Organisationen in Simbabwe verboten hat, obwohl – oder eben weil – sie eine kritische Rolle bei der Lieferung von Nahrungsmitteln an spielen. Die Organisation Genocide Watch machte die folgende Aussage am 19. Juni, 2008: “ZANU-PF Milizien, die Simbabwische Armee und Polizei, und ZANU-PF-Mobs haben Simbabwe zum 6. Stadium, dem Vorstadium das direkt dem politischen Massenmord zuvorgeht, gebracht.”
Es geht hier nicht nur um das verantwortliche und ethische Verhalten Ihrer Firma. Es geht darum, ob Jura-SP Willens sind, einen politischen Genozid mitzufinanzieren.
Wir bitten Jura JSP, den Geschäftsvertrag mit der Zentralbank Simbabwes und den kontinuirlichen Gebrauch von Jura JSP Software abzuheben oder zu suspendieren, wenigstens bis zu dem Tag, an dem Simbabwe eine freie und lebende Wirtschaft, hat in dem Geld nicht benutzt wird, auf Menschenrechten herumzutrampeln.
Vielen Dank,
Send the letter below to the Austrian government: Thank you S Davies for supplying this letter . Contact details in our action contact database - see more information on contacts here.
Honourable representatives of Austria:
I am writing to you about the continuing provision by an Austrian company, Jura JSP, of essential software for currency printing in Zimbabwe.
It is well known that the Mugabe Government has been printing huge amounts of worthless money to keep itself afloat. In particular, they are directing flows of cash to the military and thousands of violent paramilitaries who depend on this to sustain their campaigns of terror since they have no productive skills but can only steal and rob from others. In recent days these paramilitaries have turned to extortion and public humiliation, victimising the formerly displaced who are trying to return home, and despite some reduction in some areas, violence has not ended yet in Zimbabwe.
A further scandal is that while ordinary Zimbabweans have to queue for hours every day to draw limited amounts of their own money from banks, the soldiers and paramilitaries get preferential treatment. Not only are these useless parasites allowed much higher daily drawings than those who work for a living, they even have the cash delivered to them at their bases, places where civilians have been illegally detained and tortured. In their bloodstained hands one can find billions of dollars printed with Austrian software, which allow them to continue waging war and terror against the peaceful and unarmed population of Zimbabwe.
In order to sustain the pressure on ZANU-PF as they enter talks with the opposition, Zimbabweans ask you to reason with this company whose trade with people already censured by the EU brings the democratic spirit of Austria into disrepute. Suspension of the software license will stop the money printing, and that will send a clear message to President Mugabe that his misrule has ended and that he must therefore negotiate in earnest and in good faith with no hope of neutralising opposition as he has done before.
Now that this situation has been brought to public attention there is going to be a constant and rising outcry, as the world has witnessed with the Bavarian firm Giesecke and Devrient who recently stopped deliveries of banknote paper to Mugabe’s regime. They are to be praised for doing the right thing, as is the German Government who urged them to act.
Prompt, effect and timeous action by Jura JSP and the Austrian Government to cut their ties with Mugabe and the RBZ will not only be appreciated by Zimbabweans but by millions of people in the world and in Europe. It is an ideal opportunity for Austria and Europe to send a message to the Zimbabwe Government that its time is up and its ways must change.
Thank you for all the work that European leaders have done and continue to do, to support democracy in Zimbabwe.
Yours sincerely,
Contact details for Jura JSP:
Visit our Action Contact Database and select Lobby Jura JSP from the options at the top of the page. People can also search the database by company name looking for Jura JSP. Our database allows you to generate lists of email addresses, based on your selections, to copy and past into your email package to send.
The General Managers of Jura JSP are:
Renate Kroboth: kroboth@jura.at
Thomas Scholler: scholler@jura.at
More contact details for the Austrian Government and for Press Agencies in Austria available in our database.
Background information on Jura JSP:
- Link to Jura JSP’s website
- Official Press Statement on media reports concerning the business relations of JURA JSP with the Republic of Zimbabwe - New
- Press Release describing Jura’s security processes for printing [.pdf]
Commercial register: Commercial Court Vienna (Handelsgericht Wien)
Commercial register no.: FN135521
VAT No.: ATU39169109
News articles about Jura JSP and Zimbabwe:
- Zimbabwe Central Bank Plans Measures to Address Cash Shortage (25 July 2008) - New
- Claims Austrian software is fuelling Zimbabwean Dictatorship (24 July 2008)
- Government panics over failure to pay military and police (24 July 2008)
- Firm with licence to print Mugabe’s money (24 July 2008)
- Army may go unpaid as sanctions dry up supply of paper for Zimbabwe banknotes (24 July 2008)
- Zim regime may lose ‘licence’ to print money (24 July 2008)
- Soldiers await pay as Zimbabwe runs out of paper to print money (23 July 2008)
Links to blogs discussing this
- Zimbabwe currency under threat! (24 July 2008)
- Zimbabwe Runs Out of Paper to Print Cash (24 July 2008)
… if you find any more relevant media links please add them to comments so we can include them in this list
Receive updates via Twitter:
If you have a Twitter account (it is free to set one up ) then you can register your mobile phone details with your account, link up with our Sokwanele account on Twitter, and subscribe to receive our short updates on your mobile phone. We will send out short updates on this action in addition to using our blog.
July 24th, 2008 13:41
Some more contacts:
Austria Foreign Minister Dr. Ursula Plassnik
Contact page: http://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/foreign-ministry/foreign-ministry/the-minister/contact.html
Citizens Service of the Federal Chancellor.
Email: buergerservice@bka.gv.at
Republic of Austria at the EU
Email: europatelefon@bka.gv.at
Press Service of the Austria Government
Federal Chancellery
Ballhausplatz 1, 1014 Wien
Room EG 33/ground floor: only prior to appointment by telephone
Telephone: +43/1/53115-2561 or 2340
Email: federalpressservice@bka.gv.at
and some press agencies and newspapers in Austria:
ORF
online@orf.at
weltjournal@orf.at
Austria Today
office@austriatoday.at
ttp://www.austriatoday.at/cgi-bin/at_mitte.pl
+43 (1) 917 51 18-0
Thomas Brey – content, t.brey@austriatoday.at
Austrian Times
office@austriantimes.at
APA – Austria Presse Agentur
Laimgrubengasse 10
1060 Wien
Austria
+43/1/360 60-0
apa@apa.at
Pressetext Austria
pressetext Nachrichtenagentur GmbH
Josefstädter Straße 44
A-1080 Wien, Austria
Tel. +43 1 81140-0
Fax Redaktion +43 1 81140-55
gf@pressetext.com
CEO Dr. Franz Temmel, temmel@pressetext.at
Chief Editor, cvd@pressetext.com
Have added these to the database.
July 24th, 2008 13:50
Below is email I sen to Thomas Scholler and Renate Kroboth at the addresses above. I cant vouch for the translation which was done by the Windows Word 2003 research Pane.
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. 24 July 2008.
Dear Sir
As a former resident of the beautiful and previously prosperous country of Zimbabwe I would ask you and your company to sever all links with the brutal and illegal regime of Robert Mugabe.
Please help to prevent the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe.
Yours truly,
Raymond Allan.
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. 24. Juli 2008.
Sehr geehrter Herr
Als ehemaliger Bewohner des schönen und vorher wohlhabenden Landes von Zimbabwe würde ich Sie und Ihre Firma bitten, alle Verbindungen mit dem brutalen und ungültigen Regime von Robert Mugabe zu trennen.
Helfen Sie bitte, den Suffering der Leute von Zimbabwe zu verhindern.
Ihr wirklich,
Raymond Allan.
July 24th, 2008 14:18
This press release gives you quite a bit of contact info:
http://www.jura.at/en/press/PR_TWIN_ICI_ENG.pdf
July 24th, 2008 14:21
Digimark is Coperating with Jura on the security software:-
E-Mail: ddavis@rhstrategic.com
July 24th, 2008 14:33
@ Ray Allan
I changed some words in your letter to make it proper.
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. 24. Juli 2008.
Sehr geehrter Herr (for male respectively Thomas Scholler)….
Sehr geehrte Dame (for female resp. Renate Kroboth)
Als ehemaliger Bewohner des schönen und einstmalig wohlhabenden Landes von Zimbabwe möchte ich Sie und Ihre Firma dringlichst bitten, alle Verbindungen zu dem brutalen und unrechtmäßigen Regime von Robert Mugabe zu beenden.
Helfen Sie bitte, das andauernde Leiden der Leute von Zimbabwe zu verhindern.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen und in Sorge,
Raymond Allan.
July 24th, 2008 14:59
Honourable representatives of Austria
As a Zimbabwean I am writing to you about the continuing provision by an Austrian company, Jura JSP, of essential software for currency printing in Zimbabwe.
It is well known that the Mugabe Government has been printing huge amounts of worthless money to keep itself afloat. In particular, they are directing flows of cash to the military and thousands of violent paramilitaries who depend on this to sustain their campaigns of terror since they have no productive skills but can only steal and rob from others. In recent days these paramilitaries have turned to extortion and public humiliation, victimising the formerly displaced who are trying to return home, and despite some reduction in some areas, violence has not ended yet in Zimbabwe.
A further scandal is that while ordinary Zimbabweans have to queue for hours every day to draw limited amounts of their own money from banks, the soldiers and paramilitaries get preferential treatment. Not only are these useless parasites allowed much higher daily drawings than those who work for a living, they even have the cash delivered to them at their bases, places where civilians have been illegally detained and tortured. In their bloodstained hands one can find billions of dollars printed with Austrian software, which allow them to continue waging war and terror against the peaceful and unarmed population of Zimbabwe.
In order to sustain the pressure on ZANU-PF as they enter talks with the opposition, Zimbabweans ask you to reason with this company whose trade with people already censured by the EU brings the democratic spirit of Austria into disrepute. Suspension of the software license will stop the money printing, and that will send a clear message to President Mugabe that his misrule has ended and that he must therefore negotiate in earnest and in good faith with no hope of neutralising opposition as he has done before.
Now that this situation has been brought to public attention there is going to be a constant and rising outcry, as the world has witnessed with the Bavarian firm Giesenke and Devrient who recently stopped deliveries of banknote paper to Mugabe’s regime. They are to be praised for doing the right thing, as is the German Government who urged them to act.
Prompt, effect and timeous action by Jura JSP and the Austrian Government to cut their ties with Mugabe and the RBZ will not only be appreciated by Zimbabweans but by millions of people in the world and in Europe. It is an ideal opportunity for Austria and Europe to send a message to the Zimbabwe Government that its time is up and its ways must change.
Thank you for all the work that European leaders have done and continue to do, to support democracy in Zimbabwe.
Sally Davies
South Africa
July 24th, 2008 15:44
Done. Have sent off emails all over. We need Angela Merkel to push for this again. She was instrumental with the Giesecke and Devrient case.
July 24th, 2008 17:17
Angela Merkel didn’t act until pressed by other Bundestag members and by the EU. I think Sarkozy has been quite instrumental in this, and has the EU Presidency right now - we should lobby him too.
Don’t be shy of phoning people in Austria - I guarantee you they will all speak English.
July 24th, 2008 17:33
Fish Eagle: Do you have a website link for Digimark and can you clarify where you saw that they were involved with Jura JSP. Many thanks!
July 24th, 2008 19:25
Dear Hope.
There have been a number of press releases since 2005 quoting the collaborative venture with Jura.
I cannot prove it is the same security enhancements for the Zim currency, but it seems much too much of a coincidence.
Useful links below:-
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_Sept_19/ai_n15396083
This is the Digimarc site.
https://www.digimarc.com/
July 24th, 2008 19:31
Another hard link with banknote anti counterfeiting watermarking software.
http://www.secureidnews.com/news/2005/09/22/digimarc-and-jura-developing-digital-watermarks-for-travel-documents/
July 24th, 2008 19:38
Statement by Jura 24 July 6.15pm
http://www.socialbc.com/en/node/90286
July 24th, 2008 19:57
Jura have just released a press statement:-
http://www.socialbc.com/en/node/90286
Interesting statement. It implies what we think we know. That the security features are imposed by the software. They also state that the Zim Govmt can still print money but without the security features if they withdraw permission for it’s use.
I say lets press for the softwaren to be withdrawn.
July 24th, 2008 20:14
Unfortunately it appears that Jura cannot prevent use of the software by Fidelity Printers and Refiners (PVT) Ltd.
See release on their site:
http://www.jura.at/en/press/PR_Jura_JSP_Zimbabwe.pdf
but at least this keeps the issue in the European public eye!
Tony
Bermuda
July 24th, 2008 22:42
@ Tony if you are in Bermuda how about investigating some of those companies that are registered there such as mining companies bet you will come up with some other none ethical companies that are dealing with the Regime…it the flavour of the day these days to register your company in Bermuda and then list it on AIM stock exchange for cover the paper trail….
July 24th, 2008 23:21
The Austrian Times has done an article about it:
24 July
Claims Austrian software is fuelling Zimbabwean Dictatorship
http://www.austriantimes.at/index.php?id=7719
July 24th, 2008 23:31
Re: Jura JSP have released a statement:
So that’s it then. There’s nothing to stop them printing legal tender to their heart’s content. The security features can’t have much significance anyway as the notes themselves are virtually worthless within a few days of issue. I don’t suppose a cashier could be bothered to hold these notes up to the light to check its authenticity anyway. The main headache for the authorities must still be the increasing shortage of notes in circulation due to the lack of paper. The army and the police don’t care about designs or watermarks, they just want to be paid. It’s going to be fun to see what happens when they can’t be.
July 24th, 2008 23:50
Guys, what’s the TRIPS agreement, do you know?
http://afro-ip.blogspot.com/2008/07/zimbabwe-currency-under-threat.html
July 25th, 2008 01:05
@ Tara
Hugely complex issues with TRIPS, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agreement_on_Trade-Related_Aspects_of_Intellectual_Property_Rights
July 25th, 2008 01:08
I’m wondering if we should ask to see the JURA/Zim contract… I’d guess that with something as sensitive as security features of money printing there would be clauses covering withdrawal of licence in case of abuse?
July 25th, 2008 01:11
Or perhaps as G&D said at first, Jura and all money-security-linked companies have to comply with IMF or World Bank regulations? Does anyone know?
July 25th, 2008 01:53
Yup the joke is definitely that the security features aren’t necessary anyway - nevertheless, what Jura JSP did NOT say is that they WERE going to withdraw the high-security feature - if they can, why not, then? That’s what I want to know.
July 25th, 2008 03:03
Tara and legal heads - any more thoughts on this?
TRIPS is trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights;
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/TRIPS_e/TRIPS_e.htm
While this gives the author of software rights to withhold usage of their product, and Jura-JSP may have a claim to stop continued usage, another article can be cited, that in ‘times of national emergency’, any intellectual property right can be temporarily overridden, and this is what the article to which you refer, Tara,
Introduction:
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/wha … grm7_e.htm
The actual TRIPS agreement:
http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal … s_01_e.htm
Article 31: Other Use Without Authorization of the Right Holder
see also
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Including Trade in Counterfeit Goods
We need a lawyer’s opinion. However it seems clear that Jura JSP are trying just to brush this off under the pretense of being pragmatic. That is all the defence they are actually citing. This will not stand. There seems every reason to think that this will be scrutinised by EU officials, under the sanctions bracket. Furthermore, they may look at WTO law which may be on the side of parties wishing to withdraw use of their intellectual property; however, in ‘times of national emergency’, any intellectual property right can be temporarily overridden.
The issue of whether Jura JSP CAN still stop production of high-security banknotes is only very ambiguously expressed and I’m sure they’ll be facing a lot more questions about this in coming days.
July 25th, 2008 08:45
Although it’s probably true that the Zim government will continue printing as long as they’ve got toilet paper in Zimbabwe, the Jura statement looks disingenuous to me.
Maybe someone with more expertise could comment? What international IT company, these days, issues and installs software with no time limit or local control to ensure an income stream? At the very least they could state that they will no longer provide security patches, service support, upgrades or whatever.
If they did withdraw the license (which is what we heard the Fidelity staff were afraid of, assuming that’s not just a wild rumour), then they could at least take legal action of some kind and get a court order, which might make no practical difference but symbolically shoves the Mugabe regime just that little bit more out in the cold.
Looks like we need to seek out more detailed information (or encourage journalists to do that), and keep up the pressure. What a pity one of those antisocial young people gifted with excess grey cells hasn’t yet thought to hack the Fidelity system and fix the problem at source!
July 25th, 2008 08:56
I read the JURA statement as the first PR step : “denial”.
Now we write to confirm that the last time they contracted with Fidelity was 2001 and that they currently have no commercial agreement with Zimbabwe.
What do you think?
July 25th, 2008 10:38
I don’t understand. Fidelity Printers in panic but why when there is nothing to prevent (see statement of Jura JSP). Can somebody explain it?
July 25th, 2008 11:36
Denial indeed.
As for the “national emergency”, no such condition has yet been declared by Mugabe’s Government. Although there is in very truth a national and regional emergency as the whole world is aware, the ability securely to print billions of trillions of worthless Zim dollars primarily to succour the military, is completely irrelevant to the Zimbabwean people at this time since what they need is hard currency and a viable food supply.
It shouldn’t take too much legal argument for the EU to jump through that particular hoop, if there’s political will to do so.
July 25th, 2008 12:05
Hi all,
We’re still stewing on this one at the moment.
My perception - correct me if I am wrong - is that a banknote without security features is about as useful as a piece of paper run through an inkjet printer (although, in Zim, the inkjet verson would probably be worth more than the banknote!). In which case arguing that the security features must be stopped is still a worthwhile call to make.
We’re not asking Jura to stop the government produvcing banknotes - we’re asking that they help us prevent them from producing banknotes that have value? No?
What do you all think?
If anyone does manage to find more info on the way forward, please let us all know here.
In the meanwhile I am talking and thinking and will come back to this.
Thanks for all your help so far!
Hope
July 25th, 2008 13:50
My view on the Jura issue is that we are not asking or telling them to do anything.
We are informing them that the spotlight of attention is on them because of their relationship with Fidelity Printers and will remain on them while we have concerns that they are extracting commercial advantage directly from Zimbabwe’s distress.
It is entirely up to them. But we will continue to highlight their relationship until they show that they are not taking any action that leads directly or indirectly to the murder and torture of our friends and relatives.
I believe, as I said before, that the last press statement is just step one from a standard PR handbook. Deny.
They haven’t said clearly that they receive no payment at all from Fidelities (via the Reserve Bank! probably). They haven’t said they have withdrawn the license and Fidelity are printing illegally.
Really, if they were committed to good relationships they would be willing to return the license fee. Even at the rate we print money, I doubt it is very high. We are a small country after all! Quite possible Zimbabwe has a lower turnover than they do!
Generally, I think it is a poor strategy to tell business what to do. We must put pressure on business to be proactive and tell us what they are doing a) not to be associated with the violence and destruction of Zimbabwe - inflation at this level is obviously destructive and b) to bring the situation in Zimbabwe to a satisfactory resolution. First do no evil. Then, do good.
If we get specific, businesses, go yeah and duck and dive. They are making money in Zim and paying their rent, their mortgages, feeding their children. Let them tell us how they are helping us.
The principle is that they must satisfy us that their business practice is responsible. I think all parties to our national dispute will agree on that! Zimbabweans are the arbiters of whether foreign business in Zimbabwe is up to scratch!
July 25th, 2008 14:50
1. An agro-cheque has different security features to a conventional banknote, and we should keep this in mind - 2001 = banknotes of very different nature, right? What do we know about this?
2. High security features here mean patterns and swirls, NOT watermarks. The press seem to be confusing this. Can anyone verify?
3. Jura DO seem to be implying that it is somehow in their power to stop the high-security features;
“We’re not asking Jura to stop the government producing banknotes - we’re asking that they help us prevent them from producing banknotes that have value? No?” - Totally!! In fact, were it not for Jura JSP devilishly clever PR spin, one might even say that a banknote which can be printed out on an inkjet printer on toiled paper is no longer a banknote, (any pragmatic comparisons with the current low quality of **currency** - which is a different thing - aside.)
I guess that I define as a banknote that thing they use to pay the war vets, militias and soliders, or that thing the the same take out of their bank accounts to buy stuff. [switching to an electronic economy would not work]
4. Fidelity will be unable to print banknotes of higher denominations without software (not clear if unsecured or no); this has been claimed by two papers, but is unverified.
5. If Fidelity are worried about it, we do it, hehe; (I can’t think of why this story would be misinformation, although it may be Fidelity staff misunderstanding the stituation. Who cares. Panic about pay is good.)
6. They may be shooting themselves in the foot by declaring a national emergency, you’re so right Sally! However, even if it were to come to that, this article of TRIPS doesn’t necessarily imply that Jura would have to assist the regime to make the software work; basically, if the Bank/Fidelity can’t figure out the technology, and Jura can stop the high-security features, there’s nothing much the Bank can do about that. At this point we can confidently lobby the EU and Jura itself to stop all the software functionality they can.
7. We mustn’t stop pressing for more information or encouraging journalists to do so. Jura JSPs press statement isn’t just denial, it’s a completely lame attempt at denial; this is the lamest PR statemet I ever heard. Q I don’t understand. Fidelity Printers in panic but why when there is nothing to prevent (see statement of Jura JSP). Can somebody explain it? - A: Because Jura are rubbish at PR and not very good at denial. Because they are avoiding, as conscientious individuals and world citizens, HONESTLY CONSIDERING WHAT THEY ARE DOING. They are trying to fob this off, in terms which reveal that there IS still something they can do.
July 25th, 2008 18:26
There is an article in an austrian newspaper about our protest mails to JURA JSP. One new fact seems to be that at least the Vienna Ministry of Economic Affairs is investigating this matter now.
July 25th, 2008 21:19
If the ministry of Economic Affairs and the press in Austria are taking note we should keep up the pressure. Here are some further email contacts for Austrian govt people:
Dr. Martin Bartenstein
Federal Minister of Economics and Labour
Republic of Austria
Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Arbeit
A-1011 Wien, Stubenring 1
Tel.:+43/1/711 00-0
service@bmwa.gv.at
Austrian parliament
Dr. Karl-Renner-Ring 3
A-1017 Wien
Tel.: ++43-1-40110-0
Fax.: ++43-1-40110-2537
E-mail: services@parlament.gv.at
President of the Federal Council
Helmut Kritzinger
++43-1-40110-2204
++43-1-40110-2434
office@tiroler-seniorenbund.at
Vice President of the Federal Council
Mag. Susanne Neuwirth
++43-1-40110-2208
++43-1-40110-2435
susanne.neuwirth@salzburg.co.at
Vice President of the Federal Council
Jürgen Weiss
++43-1-40110-2209
++43-1-40110-2333
jweiss@vol.at
President of the National Council
Barbara Prammer
++43-1-40110-2201
++43-1-40110-2345
barbara.prammer@parlament.gv.at
Second President of the National Council
Michael Spindelegger
++43-1-40110-2202
++43-1-40110-2309
michael.spindelegger@parlament.gv.at
Third President of the National Council
Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek
++43-1-40110-2203
++43-1-40110-2308
eva.glawischnig-piesczek@parlinkom.gv.at
Eu Parliament Citizens contact page:
https://www.secure.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/citizensMail/secured/cmRequest.do?cmLanguage=en
July 26th, 2008 09:24
Thanks, BM.
Here’s the list in easy cut ‘n paste format:
service@bmwa.gv.at;
services@parlament.gv.at;
office@tiroler-seniorenbund.at;
susanne.neuwirth@salzburg.co.at;
jweiss@vol.at;
barbara.prammer@parlament.gv.at;
michael.spindelegger@parlament.gv.at;
eva.glawischnig-piesczek@parlinkom.gv.at