As planning for this summer's Dutch hacker conference What The Hack gets underway, a bit of opposition has appeared as the municipality in which the conference will take place has denied the organizers an important permit.

J.A.M. van Homelen, mayor of Boxtel, the Netherlands, wrote in a letter to the conference organizers that due to “grave fear that this event will endanger law and order as well as public safety,” a permit needed for the event will not be granted.

Nonetheless, the planners remain confident that the event will go forward. Believing the denial to be the result of a misunderstanding about the event, they have written Mr. van Homelen requesting a review of the decision. They are also asking for help spreading awareness through a press release about the issue.

More information about the issue as it develops will doubtless be posted to What The Hack's news page. In the meantime, though, the conference organizers advise: “Don't let all of this get you down: a good mood and a sense of humor have always been powerful weapons.”