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List:       mandrake-newbie
Subject:    [newbie] Software Patents
From:       Margot <margot () lawrence1961 ! fsnet ! co ! uk>
Date:       2003-10-01 11:36:24
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An interesting reply from my MEP Caroline Lucas...


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: Software Patents
Date: 	Wed, 01 Oct 2003 11:08:19 +0200
From: 	Caroline (Dr) Lucas <clucas@europarl.eu.int>
To: 	<margot@lawrence1961.fsnet.co.uk>



Dear Margot,

Thanks you for your email on software patenting. You'll be pleased to
note that it was the Green Group here in the Parliament that was the
only effective opposition to the proposal.

We, after months of delay, finally voted on the Commission proposal last
Wednesday, 24th September. It had been the intention of the European
Commission and numerous European governments to adopt a system that is
similar to the American one.

Software patents favour huge companies that can afford a legal
department, therefore harming small and medium-sized enterprises who are
responsible for much of the innovation in the IT field. Patents are
expensive, create much administrative work, and are granted slowly and
for a lengthy time period, while the life cycle of software is short.

The Green Group in the European Parliament was, and will remain, very
active on this topic, leading resistance to the Directive (see our
website http://www.greens-efa.org and click on "software patents").

Ahead of the vote we successfully managed to persuade enough MEPs to
substantially modify the text of the Commission proposal in the
following ways:

· to exclude software from patentability (but only in one part of the
proposal);
· to prohibit the patenting of intellectual methods (software, teaching
methods, business methods etc); and
· to allow reverse engineering and interoperability.

However, the draft Directive remains ambiguous and contradictory
(articles 2 & 4 contradict each other, with the preamble contradicting
the legal articles). As currently drafted I believe it will open the
gate for software patents in the European Union, just as the Commission
and UK government originally intended. It is for this reason that, after
voting in favour of the amendments mentioned above, but I voted against
the Directive as a whole.

Furthermore, and rather ominously, given our success in the Parliament,
the Commission may now withdraw the draft Directive and seek a
legislative route that does not involve democratic scrutiny. We must all
therefore remain alert and continue to campaign on this issue.

Best wishes,

Caroline




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