[Sussex] A letter to our MEPs and MPs [spelling]

[Steve Dobson]

Karl

I have now incorporated some of your changes.  Here are my arguments
against those I think need further work (or should be dropped).

On Sat, Oct 09, 2004 at 11:16:01PM +0100, Karl E. Jorgensen wrote:
> On Sat, Oct 09, 2004 at 02:06:47PM +0100, Steve Dobson wrote:
> And (if the SLUG and the rest of µThink agrees) our company name.  
> What is the opinion in the SLUG on mixing SLUG business with company
> business?  The SLUG does not represent our company nor vice versa...

Personal I think it is better that this letter come from people (voters)
not companies.  However, there is no reason that Ascentium, Reduced
Hackers, uThink, and/or 3AIT get together to present a case and use Mark's
argument and show how our business would be effected.
 
> What about timing of the letter?  Would it be better with a (extremely
> feeble attempt at) "shock-and-awe", coordinated with
> the-chosen-magazine/paper hitting the streets?

It will take time to get it into a mag - lets act now.
 
> > 1.  We, the undersigned, as members of the Sussex Linux User Group, would
> >     like to draw your attention to the effect US Patent Law is having
> >     today [1].
> 
> We run the risk of loosing readers at this point, as they might think
> "oh. It's the US. Not here. Not my constituency"...
> 
> What about following on with something like:
>     "We are very concerned that the UK will adopt similarly destructive
>     legislation".
> 
> Either way, a politician will probably be familiar with the UK patent
> office FAQ on this:
>     http://www.patent.gov.uk/about/ippd/faq/softpat.htm
> and we need to make sure that we cannot just be "repelled" by of those
> answers...

I see your point, but I think it is important to show that US Patent law
could have a big effect on Jobs here in Europe.  I don't think your
text does that.  We need something that does both.

How about?

     We, the undersigned, as members of the Sussex Linux User Group, would
     like to draw your attention to the effect that US Patent Law could
     have had in Europe.

Can someone come up with something better?  I haven't changed my master
copy yet.

> > 2.  Over ten years ago now Sun Microsystems, an American company, developed
> >     Java, a technology to write computer programs that run on any computer.
> >     Sun Microsystems give their intellectual property away for free, anyone
> 
> Is there any way we can avoid the term "intellectual property"?  I'm
> against treating pure ideas as property when there is no physical
> representation...
> 
> Besides, it mixes copyrights, trademarks and patents into one phrase...

I see your point, and in many ways I agree with it, but we should use the
same terms that the other side is using.  If they use the term "Intellectual
property" so should we.
 
>       benefitted != befitted

Or even "benefited" - by my spelling checker.
 
> idea:  "...write a letter (...) or even participate in the search for extra
> terrestrial life. In fact ..."

No!  Lets not put any "weirdo" and "nut-case" ideas in here.  I'm not sure
that all politicians know that the world isn't flat. :-)

> >     Sun Microsystems had fought the case and lost what effect would that
> >     have had on the Java community?  Would Sun Microsystems have continued
> >     to develop Java?  Without Sun Microsystems driving Java what effect
> >     would this have and on the thousands of Java programmers here in the
> >     UK and Europe?
> 
> This point is slightly dangerous territory, as it can also make it appear that
> Sun the bad guy...  For the purposes of this, we don't want them to be
> the bad guys...

Good point, I think this is much more powerful.

     Sun Microsystems had fought the case and lost what effect would that
     have had on the Java community?  Could Sun Microsystems have continued
     to develop Java the way it has under a Kodak's imposed license?  Without
     Sun Microsystems driving Java what effect would this have and on the
     thousands of Java programmers here in the UK and Europe?
 
> >                         Rather the world had moved on to use Microsoft's
> >     own replacement operating systems: Windows98, Windows2000, WindowsNT
> >     and WindowsXP.
> 
>     Windows98SE, WindowsME ? 

I've added WindowsME but left out Windows98SE as that is just a variant of
Windows98.
 
> > 12. Finally here is Bill Gate's perspective on patents [4]:
> >        "If people had understood how patents would be granted when most
> >        of today's ideas were invented and had taken out patents, the
> >        [software] industry would be at a complete standstill today. 
> >        The solution [] is patent exchanges [] and patenting as much as
> >        we can... A future startup with no patents of its own will be
> >        forced to pay whatever price the giants choose to impose.  That
> >        price might be high: established companies have an interest in
> >        excluding future competitors." 
> 
> Although we run the risk of say "HE said so", this is definitely a
> worthwhile point. It helps highlight that even BG's opinion has changed,
> possibly as a result of obtaining a few patents...

I think this more clear shows how Billy is going to use European Software
Patents and IS using the US system.  I don't think he has change his mind
at all, he just isn't telling the whole truth when he speaks with the
politicians.

Steve