Protests Delay European Software Patent Vote

vinsci writes "According to CNET News, 'The European Parliament has delayed voting on a controversial software-patents directive, following protests and criticism by computer scientists and economists.' ZDNet UK adds: 'Warnings that a controversial directive could devastate European software businesses have struck a chord with MEPs. The European Parliament has delayed voting on a controversial software-patents directive... the vote, originally planned for Monday, will now take place at a plenary session starting on 22 September.' Wired also has a story on the protests."

Comments

Voting

[jabbadabbadoo]

Voting 'Yes' for this directive is like voting 'Yes' for Arnold as governor. Crazy.

Re:Wait a mo..

[__past__]

Here in Greece protest do no more than stop traffic.

Scince when do you need a protest for that? ;-)

Seriously, though, I guess that demonstations have a richer and more sucessfull tradition in most parts of europe than they have in the USA. Which isn't saying much.

However, this fight isn't over yet. Let's keep kicking ass. It not only helps keeping europe a saner place, maybe it someday also helps our american friends realize what they could achive if they would stop being nationalist pricks.

Re:we had protests in the US?

[Illbay]

You're right, they are. Which is exactly why CNN is dying the slow death, ABCNBCCBS has become "entertainment 24/7", and PMS-NBC is yet another failed division of Microsoft.

You people who slam Fox never seem to mention that FNC came out of nowhere to stomp the competition. And why? Because it's news for the silent majority, without the Walter Cronkite-wannabe "let's talk down to the unwashed pointy-headed masses" bullshit.

Re:Let EU be beginning

[axxackall]

You're right. But who cares? I mean I care, and so do you, but the administration doesn't. It cares always only about big corps. And I guess 90% of patents are hold by big ones, am I right? So, untill big corps are beaten by offsore fellows nothing's gonna change the current situation about software patents inside the US. Well, we all now know that US administration may solve offshore problems without any lawyers. But we all hope it won't happen again.

Re:Yay for Europe!

[mesocyclone]

You see why I say "left-leaning." I am aware that there are some who are much further left than NYT, which itself is to the left of center.

As far as Chomsky, I wouldn't believe anything he said (unless it was the mathematics of formal linguistics) because he is extremely far left and very biased. I hear his stuff all the time, and it is unadulterated BS rhetoric.

Of course, many liberals are fed up with the Dems like many conservatives are fed up with the Repubs. To make a party which can gain significant power, it must move towards the center, which is one of the good things about the two party system.

Re: Michael Moore's bowling for Columbine... I have a simple test. If my in-laws love it, it is left wing propaganda. They loved it. They even believed it! And bowling for Columbine, loaded with inaccurate editing and even, in one case, a phoney Bush ad (removed in the CD version), is pure baloney. His cutting and slicing of Charlton Heston's speech, for example, gave one completely false impressions. The Nazis also had outstanding propagandists that impressed people with their artistic ability, but that didn't mean that their stuff was right. See this for a few highlights of the nonsense in that "documentary."

I don't think you will find such a liberal movement, because you are farther left than you think. Many liberals have tried talk radio, and with the exception of liberal markets, they fail totally. There's a reason for that: they are to the left of center!

For people far to the left, there's always Indymedia.

As far as media control mechanisms and left wing propaganda, I was listening to Radio Moscow and Radio Havana in the '60s. I know propaganda when I hear it. What shocked me was that by the '80s, Radio Moscow was as close to the truth as CBS News!

BTW... as far as "real liberals" - the real liberals believed in most of what are now called "conservative" values in the US. They were displaced by the '60s radicals who were far to the left.

And yes, my blog is conservative. It's also got a lot of facts that you won't hear on NBC,CNN, or read in the New York Times. Not tin-foil conspiracy theory stuff (the right has plenty of those folks too), but just simple facts. Check it out.