[Gllug] european software patents

[Mark Hill]

On Tue, Jul 01, 2003 at 11:31:12AM +0200, will wrote:
> Alex Hudson[0] of the FSF europe tells me that the vote on european
> software patents has been posponed until September the 1st

I sent an e-mail to the office of London's Green Party MEP Jean Lambert
this afternoon, and below is the reply I received. I thought some would
find it interesting reading.

=======================================================================
Directive Patent law: patentability of computer-implemented inventions
COM(2002)0092

Thank you for your email.  Jean Lambert has serious concerns on this 
Directive. Current proposals to extend patentability to basic elements of 
knowledge and to mathematical operations are extremely worrying and a 
potential danger to a variety of sectors (such as the software industry and 
the education and charity sectors). Jean and the Greens believe that 
copyright on software is a far more reasonable alternative, which protects a 
certain solution, while not preventing the development of alternative programs 
on a similar basis. 

The recent decision, taken by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs
Committee will, in Jean's view, entrench the market dominance of 
multinational companies, force small software firms out of business and bring 
to an end the European free software movement. 

The decision will be seen seen as a slap in the face of the Economic and
Social Council, the Industry committee, the Culture committee, 140,000
people and 30 leading software scientists who signed two petitions to the
Parliament, as well as the 95% of the European citizens who took part in a
European Commission public consultation. 

Pretending to protect inventors and their inventions, the report instead
allows multinationals to lock up the market.  This legalisation, as it
stands, represents a blow for the European software industry, and a blow
for the free and open-source software industry which, by more than a
coincidence, is primarily a European sector. 

If implemented, it would conclude the transfer of our data-processing
control to the US. You can be sure that the report will have a very bumpy
ride when it goes to vote in the Parliament in September with one third of
committee members in opposition.

The Greens will continue to lobby the Parliament in this way over the
voting period.  Thank you again for your email.

=======================================================================

-- 
Mark Hill

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