[Sussex] Covert adoption of EU Software Patent Legislation

[Phil Slade]

Flash: EU Software Patent Legislation: a real threat for Linux and Open
Source

Mandrakesoft would like to alert all users and the software community at
large about a recent clandestine attack by proprietary interest through
covert adoption of EU Software Patent Legislation.

In direct contravention of the recent vote by the European Parliament to
curtail Software Patents, the Irish Presidency of the European Union has
surreptitiously reinstated unlimited software patent language into the
text of a statement to be adopted by the European Council of Ministers
on Monday May, 17th, without further debate!

The new text, if adopted, will extend Software Patents to every piece of
software, including computer programs, data structures, and process
descriptions.  This will directly harm most software firms and all Open
Source projects unable to pay patent licensing tribute, and amounts to
an appropriation of the public domain by proprietary interests.  A
direct beneficiary will be a new class of pure patent companies without
any real business or contribution to employment, which will use the
threat of litigation to extort payments.
Of note is that a sponsor of the Irish Presidency is Microsoft,
currently building a large patent portfolio.  If the Software Patent
text is adopted, Microsoft may use this patent portfolio against Linux
and other Open Source projects.

Mandrakesoft would like to forewarn and mobilize its users and the
software community about the very real threat of such a law.  Please
contact the media, your political representatives, and your government,
and urge them to vote against unlimited Software Patents and to revert
to the previous European Parliament position.

For further information please see the following links:
http://swpat.ffii.org/journal/04/cons0507/index.en.html
http://kwiki.ffii.org/SwpatcninoEn

Mandrakesoft Online Team.