Disaster for Free Software?

Posted by maca on April 13, 2004 Leave a comment (4) Go to comments

Just browsing the web and dropped by the Gimp website and discovered their internet protest.
To quote:
“Most software will become illegal to use in Europe if this dangerous directive is adopted without proper amending.”

“The Commission and the Council of Ministers are covertly pushing for unlimited patentability of software, heavily lobbied by multinationals and patent lawyers.”

There is a demonstration in Brussels tomorrow, April 14th. If you can be there then please attend!

Seafóid
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4 Comments.

  1. Mick April 15, 2004 at 1:10 am

    Last time this came up (April 2003?) I e-mailed all the Irish MEP’s, including Pat Cox whom is the EU Parliment President. The only ones who responded were pretty much against Software Patents.

    U can find out whom the members are at this page: http://wwwdb.europarl.eu.int/ep5/owa/p_meps2.repartition?ilg=EN&iorig=home

    Yes, e-mail them and tell them that bill will mainly benefit BIG Multinationls, especially America ones that have spend the last few years accumulating software patents in the US since they allowed software patents.

    Luck
    Mick

  2. maca April 15, 2004 at 9:05 am

    Hi Mick,

    Thanks for the link, you can be sure i’ll be mailing them.
    There doesn’t seem to be much awareness about this issue, surprising as it could have serious repercussions for software developers.

  3. Mick April 17, 2004 at 11:22 pm

    Here’s a sample letter I send last year. Maybe U and others can use it as a a starting template for any letters you write. I need to do more research on this again so I can send a update e-mail to Irish MEP’s.

    Dear Mr. Ó’Neachtain,

    As a Irish citizen and a Software Engineer I urge you to vote against
    the upcoming law instituting Software Patents in the European Union.

    I believe that the vote for this ruling is to be cast on June 30th 2003
    (or may have been postponed till September).

    I am a Donegal born Software Engineer living and working in the United
    States where Software Patents have been enforced. I believe that
    instituting similar laws in the E.U. would mainly benefit the larger US
    based IT (Information Technology) companies.

    The ability to patent software and algorithms in the US has lead to a
    patent office that allowing the patenting of such simple things as the
    "Peanut and Jelly Sandwich" (Jam for us Irish folk).

    Additionally, large US IT companies such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, and
    Microsoft hold the vast majority of software patents in the world. And
    it is these companies which will reap any benefit that this law may
    produced.

    Small software companies which a nation such as Ireland produces would
    be adversely affected by this law.

    Irish (and European) software companies could inadvertently find
    themselves using the IT version of a "peanut butter & jelly sandwich"
    patent. Their ability to prosper and grow and their ability to create
    new and innovative products could be severely curtailed.

    Additionally, they could face the prospect of a situation similar to
    what IBM did to Sun Microsystems in the early 1980′s when Sun was a
    young company. (To summarise what occurred, IBM demanded a large sum of
    money from Sun for software infringement. Sun could have won in court,
    but IBM’s patent portfolio is so large they could have kept Sun in the
    courts for years fighting over numerous patents that IBM own.)

    I urge you to persuade your colleagues in the European Parliament to
    vote against this measure. Additionally, I ask that you tell Arlene
    McCarthy, the chair of the Legal Affairs and Internal Market Committee,
    that Software Patents are bad for Ireland, and bad for Europe.

    If you would like to discuss this matter further please contact me at
    the e-mail address below. I would be more than willing to provide more
    and better examples of how and why such patents are bad for Europe.

    Any IT folk I know back at home are totally unaware and uncaring about this whole thing.

    Best O’ Luck
    Mick

  4. maca April 19, 2004 at 9:01 am

    Excellent Mick, go raibh maith agat!!
    I hope others see this and take action too!