European Council Approves Software Patents 482
A. S. Bradbury writes "ZDNet reports that the EU Council has voted to pass changes to European patent law that will allow the patentability of software. See the FFII for more coverage. Currently, the FFII states 'The Irish Presidency's proposal was passed, with support from Germany, France and most of the other countries whose ministers had publicly promised to oppose or at least abstain. The only no vote came from Spain (to be confirmed), Italy and a few others abstained.' As you may remember, Germany had previously promised to vote against software patents. The FFII news page seems to have been showing growing support in European countries for the FFII and other organisations fighting against software patents, but unfortunately that wasn't enough. So, what now? The European elections are approaching, which means MEPs might be more willing to listen to our views than normal. Slashdot has covered software patents in Europe before."
Audio files and transcripts (Score:5, Informative)
I'm disappointed that the German government voted for after initially saying they'd at least abstain -- my understanding is that they could have held up the process if they had at least abstained. :-(
Apparently the Germans forced some changes through (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What do you think? (Score:5, Informative)
Besides, what kind of dorky attitude is it that nobody should be allowed to build on an idea for twenty years?!? Imagine that somebody has had a trivial idea and you get the same idea from elsewhere, and build something much larger on it. Well, you cannot use your ideas for the next twenty years if the first person has patented it.
Re:Audio files and transcripts (Score:4, Informative)
Your understanding is correct. As odd as it may sound, an abstention is equivalent to a no vote. The reason for this is that only yes votes are counted (rather than ration yes vs no). So, an abstention is a vote which is not yes, and thus equivalent to a no. Difference is only symbolic, no impact on the outcome.
I'm also disappointed that Germany didn't do more (and that they didn't insist that their entire amendment got into the final text, rather than just the unimportant part).
I'm also disappointed about the Luxembourgish delegation: Although Butcher's Son did get 6a in, an abstention would have been in order. Especially since Greece would probably have followed suit.
Re:So where do I apply... (Score:2, Informative)
Well, except that software still isn't patentable in Europe (according to the law).
Parliament gets to speak next. It must pass both EP and Council when it's co-decision. This was not such a surprising result.
You seem to be saying there should be not patents (Score:5, Informative)
If you put it out there and don't get a patent then you can use it and it then becomes prior art to any patents. If you can't afford a patent lawyer then just put it out there. If someone else patents it then yours is prior art to theirs.
Besides, what kind of dorky attitude is it that nobody should be allowed to build on an idea for twenty years?!? Imagine that somebody has had a trivial idea and you get the same idea from elsewhere, and build something much larger on it. Well, you cannot use your ideas for the next twenty years if the first person has patented it.
This concept can be held to any kind of patent. From engines to circuit boards to anything. So, your saying there should be no patents. No IP protections.
I was part of the Dutch FFII delegation (Score:5, Informative)
We were rather lucky, since one of us had good contacts with one of those MP's, who was sympathetic to us and had considerable influence, resulting in a quick arrangement to hand over the petition. Normally, the procedure would have taken weeks.
Many MP's were quite interested in our information, and were particularly concerned about the fact that our minister of Economic Affairs, Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst, who was to vote in the EU council on our country's behalf, had apparently misinformed our national parlement.
They even announced they would be holding an extra debate, probably tomorrow.
During the day, we were kept informed through our mobile phones. It was nerve wreckening. We kept receiving conflicting reports about wether we would be getting a majority against or not. Near the end, we even heard that the Netherlands would probably have the deciding vote! You can understand that nearly drove us crazy.
Eventually, the news broke...
And again, mister Bolkestein seems to have played a crucial role on the side of the software patent supporters.
On behalf of all the people in the Netherlands, I would like to apologize to all the people of Europe for mister Bolkestein. He makes me ashamed to be Dutch.
The fight is not over, however! It will be more difficult now, but the European Parlement seems to be really pissed, and most Eastern members that are joining the EU now (and will be part of the parliament after the next elections in June) appear to be opposed against software patents.
Also, it amazed me how easy it can be to get in touch with influential people, as long as YOU KNOW THE RIGHT PERSONS that have the relevant connections!
In spite of the defeat, I'm still impressed with the difference we managed to make today. At least more people in our government are informed now. And we won't be giving up the fight! We made a few mistakes the last few days (hey, we were new at this), but we also accomplished a lot and also learned A LOT of lessons.
I would like to end this post with two pieces of advice:
1) I'm calling upon ALL European Citizens to VOTE IN THE NEXT EUROPEAN ELECTIONS! Even though there is much wrong in European politics, not using your vote and at least applying that little influence you do would be insanely foolish!
2) Let's all coordinate our lobbying efforts! If you have even just one or two hours a week available to help out, spend it by contacting certain EP's (preferably try to start a dialogue with one or two specific EP's, so you can concentrate on them and build up more personal relations) and contact FFII to notify them of your efforts and inform them who you are in contact with. There were only five of us, and look how far we have come in only 5 days time!
Let's get to work! Autumn will be upon us before we know it! And the elections are even less than a month away!
Re:The BBC has a different story (Score:5, Informative)
They are talking about a different proposal, for having a single patent 'territory' covering the whole EU, rather than patents within individuual countries. The directive on what is patentable will still have to be implemented by the individual countries, even if the EU-wide patent never happens.
Re:Apparently the Germans forced some changes thro (Score:3, Informative)
The new parliament will have to vote on this, and the new parliament is going to have a lot more right-wingers from several countries (Germany, England). We will have to see how they vote.
Still has to go back through the Parliament (Score:4, Informative)
On the other hand, some amendments were made at the last minute which convined a number of the representatives; since the parliament version was also this bill with amendments, they might have actually passed that version.
Re:Think about righteous patents for once (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Passed AGAINST the will of the parliament (Score:5, Informative)
Not so fast (Score:1, Informative)
Re:You seem to be saying there should be not paten (Score:4, Informative)
One of the differences between how lawsuits tend to work in the USA versus how they tend to work in Europe is that in Europe, the winner is usually compensated for the costs they made. Which means that you _can_ afford a patent lawyer - if you have a solid case.
Re:You seem to be saying there should be not paten (Score:4, Informative)
bollocks. Just write down a description of your idea, have one or two people sign/date it, and have it notarized. No $500 an hour patent lawyer needed. This is what a group of patent lawyers told the software development group in a persentation on what we should keep an eye out for with regards to patentable work, while I was working at Optical Solutions in Minnesota. Note to those who have heard of it, mailing it to yourself doesn't hold up in court. You can steam open the envelope and reseal it with whatever you want inside. The lawyers said, repeatedly, have one or two people sign and date a description, and have that notarized. Cheap and easy way to establish prior art. Just don't loose it.
Re:Think about righteous patents for once (Score:4, Informative)
Re:What do you think? (Score:2, Informative)
You have a misunderstanding about patents. if someone patents something, and you come up with an improvement to his idea, you are free to patent your improvement. The fact that you must get a license to use his patent in order to use YOUR patent is just part of the patent concept.
Likewise, if he than improves upon YOUR idea, he must get a license from YOU to use his improved idea (which is based on your improvement to his original idea).
Now, it is possible that someone will refuse to license his patents. I am unsure of the legality of this. However, this does NOT stop you from developing improvements to his patented idea, and patenting them. And he is NOT free to use your patents just because they require his patents to be useful. "Derivative works" are protected under Copyright, NOT under Patent Law.
Re:EU beauracracy promises patent filing not paten (Score:3, Informative)
The UK is indeed a member state of the European Union.
http://europa.eu.int/abc/european_countries/eu_mem bers/uk/index_en.htm [eu.int]
RMS in London with MEP candidates, this Friday (Score:5, Informative)
The talk will then be followed by round table comments and discussion by Euro-candidates from all of the political parties. Come along, and tell them what you think.
The event is free, and all are welcome.It's a 300 seater lecture theatre, and this has had to be organised at the last minute, so help us get the word out. Let's show the candidates that swpat is something we really care about.
Re:Audio files and transcripts (Score:2, Informative)