SecretMethod70

10 days of web strike Vs 20 years of patent nightmare


In February 2002, the European Commission proposed a directive that would legalize software patents. However, the European Parliament decided in its Plenary Vote of 24th September 2003 to fix all the loopholes in this proposal and explicitly banned software patents.

Currently, the European Council of Ministers is discussing this directive. Their internal working party proposes to simply discard all clarifying amendments from the Parliament. They want to make everything patentable.

Let's do everything we can to inform othrers on this issue and to show our support for our friends in Europe.
<!-- Online demo FFII -->
<a href="http://demo.ffii.org/">
<img src="http://demo.ffii.org/banner.php?i=1" border="0" alt="NO to software patents - come to brussels on 14 april" height="60" width="468" />
</a>

If you want to put this banner on your site, the code for it can be downloaded from <a href="http://demo.ffii.org/demobanners.php">here</a>

If you have a website and would like to protest, or simply make more people aware, see <a href="http://demo.ffii.org/online.php">this page</a> about changing/closing your website in protest.

A good example of this can be seen on http://www.kde.org or http://www.gimp.org

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From the kde.org website:

For KDE developers, investors and users alike, this directive would mean legal uncertainty: a patent minefield. With the current flood of <a href="http://webshop.ffii.org/">trivial patents</a> (see below) legalised, software innovation would become a dangerous enterprise in Europe.

The Council of Ministers is pushing for unlimited patentability of software, heavily lobbied by patent lawyers. Don't let them ignore the <a href="http://www3.europarl.eu.int/omk/omnsapir.so/pv2?PRG=CALDOC&FILE=20030924&LANGUE=EN&TPV=DEF&LASTCHAP=31&SDOCTA=2&TXTLST=2&Type_Doc=ANNEX&POS=1">European Parliament's democratic decision</a> of 24th September 2003. The parliament's decision to limit software patentability has the support of more than <a href="http://petition.eurolinux.org/">300.000 citizens</a>, <a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/ceapme0309/index.en.html">2.000.000 SMEs</a> and dozens of <a href="http://www.researchineurope.org/policy/patentdirltr.htm">economists</a> and <a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/komp0305/index.en.html">scientists</a>.

More info on software patents at <a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/">FFII</a>.

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If you live in Europe and would like to physically take part in the demonstration against this - something I highly encourage you to do - see <a href="http://demo.ffii.org/brussels.php">this page</a>.

Join in a demonstration in the streets of <a href="http://wiki.ael.be/index.php/Demo14and15april">Brussels on 14 april 2004</a>.

Join the online protest by changing your homepage <a href="http://demo.ffii.org/">from 5 until 15 april</a>.

Trivial Patents

The eye-opening information pointed to by the "trivial patents" link above is too important to trust in people clicking on the link to see it. As such, I am including it below:

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All of the elements and processes indicated in the graphic below are covered by granted (not just requested) European Patents. These kinds of patents would be rendered enforceable by the Commission's and the JURI Committee's proposal, as has been shown <a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/tech/index.en.html">elsewhere</a>. The <a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/europarl0309/">directive as voted by the European Parliament</a> however, makes sure these patents remain what they are today: examples of the EPO's drift towards unlimited patentability, without any legal value whatsoever.

<a href="http://www.ffii.org/">FFII</a> will continue to fight for clear and useful limits on patentability, so that atrocities like those shown below will not make their debut in Europe. If you agree with these goals, please take a moment to <a href="http://petition.eurolinux.org/">sign the petition</a> against European software patents and to <a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/europarl0309/demands/">sign our Call for Action II</a> (<a href="mailto:cpedu-help@ffii.org">mail us</a> if you want to be publicly listed there as company, scientist, professional, user group, ...). See <a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/group/todo/index.en.html">this page</a> for more things you can do to help.



1. Webshop: Selling things over a network using a server, client and payment processor, or using a client and a server - EP803105 and EP738446
2. Order by cell phone: Selling over a mobile phone network - EP1090494
3. Shopping cart: Electronic shopping cart - EP807891 and EP784279
4. [CDs] [Films] [Books]: Tabbed palettes - EP689133
5. Picture link: Preview window - EP537100
6. View/download film: Video data distribution through the web - EP933892
7. View film: Video streaming ("segmented video on-demand") - EP633694
8. MP3-format: Audio compression format, covered by numerous patents, e.g. EP287578
9. Credit card: Pay using credit card via the Internet - EP820620 and EP779587
10. Gift: Order a gift for someone via the Internet by providing his/her email address - EP927945 (note: the claims on the target page are less broad than the eventually granted claims in the B1 form of the patent)
11. Request loan: Automated loan application - EP715740
12. VISA: Digital signature in graphic to show that the shop is approved for receiving VISA payments - EP798657
13. Send offers: Send offers in response to request - EP986016
14. Send to vendor: Reroute incoming orders to a vendor - EP217308
15. Support database: Network support system using databases - EP673135
16. Preview chapters: Use of TV as metaphor for selecting different video fragments - EP670652
17. Ladybug image: JPEG format - EP266049
18. Related results: Show related results if customer likes the current ones - EP628919
19. Rebate code: Allow rebate codes to be entered by customers - EP370847
20. Burn at shop: Material reproduction of information stored at remote location - EP195098

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

T.U.B.

Thank you, SecretMethod70, this makes the software patent debate a lot clearer.

I second; software patents can not and may not happen!
for a (crappy) comparision: software patents would be the same as if Ford would have a patent off the acceleratorpedal...

I hope I can make it to Brussels the 14 april. Ironicly (?), I have an exam ASP.NET the next day...

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Amerika by Franz Kafka
“As Karl Rossman, a poor boy of sixteen who had been packed off to America by his parents because a servant girl had seduced him and got herself a child by him, stood on the liner slowly entering the harbour of New York, a sudden burst of sunshine seemed to illumine the Statue of Liberty, so that he saw it in a new light, although he had sighted it long before. The arm with the sword rose up as if newly stretched aloft, and round the figure blew the free winds of heaven.”

SecretMethod70

That's really not that crappy of a comparison - that's EXACTLY what it would be like. In fact, while this is not directly related to software patents it is a good example of how patent offices worldwide are doing a poor job and that the system is broken, a person in Australia has a patent on the WHEEL! (That info is from the audio link in my sig to hear why software patents are bad)

Hope you can make it to Brussels T.U.B. I wish I could, but I'm in the states Even worse, I have no website to put a protest page on, and even if I did it wouldn't be one getting heavy traffic So, I can only do this and hope other people can hear the message.

Oh yeah, and good luck on the exam - that is pretty ironic

__________________
Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

asittler

Minor correction to your .sig. Winamp 2.9x plays ogg vorbis as well. As does XMMS, Noatun, and Rhythmbox. Not sure of what the OS X one would be called, but there probably are some.

SecretMethod70

hmm, I thought 2.9x required a plugin. Oh well, thanks I left out XMMS, etc because I assume (I think rightfully) that someone using Linux probably already knows how to play .ogg

As for software patents in Europe, the battle is not going as well as one would hope. The best thing that can be done is for European citizens to speak up, so if you live in Europe, please go to http://swpat.ffii.org and find out what you can do to preserve freedoms and innovation!

__________________
Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling