From kde-core-devel Wed Aug 27 15:54:36 2003 From: Frerich Raabe Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 15:54:36 +0000 To: kde-core-devel Subject: Re: Software patent protest, could kde participate ? X-MARC-Message: https://marc.info/?l=kde-core-devel&m=106200014110612 Am Wednesday 27 August 2003 09:13 schrieb Cornelius Schumacher: > On Wednesday 27 August 2003 03:38, Frerich Raabe wrote: > > Am Wednesday 27 August 2003 03:26 schrieb Navindra Umanee: > > > Rob Kaper wrote: > > > > I'm sorry but this was just rushed into and form a PR perspective > > > > thowing down websites is a bad idea, generally. > > > > From a PR perspective, making people aware of KDE's position towards this > > issue is a Good Thing, not only because KDE is affected by the decisions > > made upon this patent-right proposal. > > I'm not aware that KDE has any position towards this issue. Then I assume you are not aware that logic patents, which is what all the hype is about, will have a dangerous impact on any form of software development, in particular open source projects which are usally not backed by companies with big purses. KDE is affected in that, assuming that Ms. McCarthy & co. get through with this, any kind of algorithm can be patented. Scrollbars are patented already, the plugin mechanism is patented already, virus scanners are - but luckily those patents are not executable at european courts so far) - at least this is what I gathered after a few days of reading through articles, IANAL hence my warnings might bear some imprecisions. - Frerich