[sclug] Richard Stallman in The Guardian

[lug at assursys.co.uk]

On Sat, 7 Jun 2003, Antony Bartlett wrote:

> Thanks for posting that information about biological patents.

No problem. I only became aware of them after becoming immersed in the Free
software world and began spotting obvious parallels between problems both
communities are facing.

> I was recently discussing patents with a friend of mine who's studying
> them at law school, and who seemed surprised when I started talking about
> some of the issues surounding them being morally and politically
> contentious.

Indeed. I have been politically active on this front too - when I was living
in Reading and the Rice-Tec issue came up, I wrote to my MP (John Redwood)
and got a favourable response after making him aware of the issue. I admit
being somewhat surprised by this.

> However, when I later "googled" for information to pass on to her, I found
> that the issues with respect to software dominated, even when I tried to
> filter it, to such an extent that, until I got you mail, I didn't have
> anything suitable to pass along.

Lots of noisy geeks ranting about DeCSS will do that! ;-)

> Not that the software issues aren't important, and yet, however ridiculous
> the idea that source code can be subject to patents might seem to many
> programmers, myself included, and no matter how much more throughly
> ridiculous business processes such as Amazon's patented one-click
> purchasing might seem:... I doubt that it is putting lives at risk.

I can foresee issues where the openness of software is a concern - for
example, the Chinook helicopter crash in 1994 has been blamed on the
software by some <http://www.cw360.com/Article22613.htm>. Given how
pervasive embedded controllers are these days, I can foresee similar
accusations relating to medical equipment and engine management units in
automobiles.

> So, thanks again.  And since this is my first post here, also:  Hello!
> Some of you guys are meeting this Wednesday night in The Back of
> Beyond, aren't you?  Hope to be there myself; cya.

I won't be, being a few score miles away. ;-)

>     Best regards,
>         Antony.

Best Regards,
Alex.
-- 
Alex Butcher      Brainbench MVP for Internet Security: www.brainbench.com
Bristol, UK                      Need reliable and secure network systems?
PGP/GnuPG ID:0x271fd950                         <http://www.assursys.com/>