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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."
... a protest actually accomplished something? Here in Portland, the primary accomplishment of a protest is to stop traffic.
"Derp de derp."
...If they weren't so often given to people for doing the equivalent of being the first cave man to crack open a coconut with a sharp rock. Any company that tries to patent something like "1-click buying" should be sent a present from the unibomber.
Repeal the DMCA!
Why not make the patents proportional to the amount of time and effort required to come up with the algoritm? I.e. "1 click shopping" should be patentable for about 10 minutes, while something like a machine vision algorithm which required years of research should be patentable for years...
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
It's good to see that protests can have an effect on issues every now and then. My fear, however, is that even if this is thrown down this time, how long until it comes up again, and how long until it passes into law? In my experience, the decision-makers tend to be Greedy, Stupid, or both. Of course, I live in the US, so...
The longer I'm a member of the Human Race, the more I believe Apocalypse is a valid solution.
Well, it's still paranoia. The difference is just that when they finally 'get' you, your friends will say 'well, I suppose he was right, after all.'
Marxist evolution is just N generations away!
I see. I didn't realize that it was that difficult. We need to tell them something like
"Vote no/non/ne/nicht/ne ne/nekas/...."
That way, they will see that we actually spent more resources on this than they did, and will see it as an effective counter to the proposal.
Thanks for the info. Okay guys, let's mobilize the troops!
Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
when did that happen? I must have missed it on FOX NEWS. they're usually so careful to get the big, important, meaningful stories.
The only way we can 'educate' our representatives here in the good 'ol US is with a basket full of cash and attached Hallmark card. 10 words or less.
In America, sure we have free speech. But why would a politician want to listen to "free" speech when he can listen to speech that will line his wallet.