[Nottingham] Action required! New ("clandestine") EU Software Patent Legislation: a real threat for Linux and Open Source

[Martin Garton]

On Thu, 13 May 2004, Martin wrote:

> Cam wrote:
> > .... Political topics are best kept out of the LUG lists though, nuff
> > said.
> 
> Patents are being abused (in my opinion very dangerously) by Genetically
> Modified foods companies in the hope of monopolising our food. Other
> corporate greed is trying the same trick with software patents to
> control how we can or cannot use any programmed device...

I think if we are to win this argument on software patents, we should
explain that the software industry is nothing like these other industries
because competition in our industry has always been on the implementations
not on the ideas.

I think arguing that software is more like books and music than like cars
and pharmaceuticals if the right approach, and as such they should be
protected by copyright, not by patents.  Not only is is the obvious truth
IMO, but it doesn't make us as easy to label as a bunch of radicals.

Now the question of whether patents as a whole are a good thing is a much
wider topic, and tackling that (assuming you disagree with patents as a
whole) is biting off more than we can chew.

I'm willing to take this off list to a forum topic. Let's take it there.

Cheers,
Martin.