Slashdot Mirror
European Parliament Clashes Over Software Patents
D4C5CE writes "The European Parliament's Daily Notebook reports on the turbulent final plenary debate this morning regarding a draft Directive
to legalize Software Patents (which are currently unlawful under Art.52 (2) (c) of the European Patent Convention). The Notebook quotes some truly bizarre views and arguments (which no doubt you'll take the time to point out to Members of the European Parliament before tomorrow's
vote), with some MEPs even claiming to feel harassed because they are suddenly also being lobbied by numerous concerned citizens, rather than solely by industry representatives as usual."
at least it's a clash and not everyone for the patents!
Ah, hopefully things will go well and all these great software projects (and their home pages) will go back to normal!
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Free your mind.
Describing your opinion over a $200 dinner and a 1965 Merlot = Lobbying
Describing your opinion to an aide in the lobby after waiting for hours to talk to someone = Harassment
Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
The problem is that McArthy is a liar and will twist and turn to say whatever she needs to get software patents legalised. Some of the others listen to her and believe she has good intentions.
The fact that she's having to claim to be against software patents IS a good thing, it means she'll have a harder time opposing amendments that are genuinely designed to keep software patents illegal. She WILL continue to oppose all such efforts though. The longer she plays her two-faced game the more people will see through her. Hopefully it'll be enough.
There *is* discussion. There *is* a stir up. There *are* delays. It hasn't been passed as, err, suggested by a certain lobby, without any debate.
If all that matters is the mere glorious victory, well, then find a cave and have your victory there. It's not going to happen. A small win is a win even if it only means less of a loss.
So perhaps we can finally be a little positive about this. OSS has a lobby. It is being heard. More importantly it's being listened to and more people seem to be understanding what's at stake. That's quite something.
I never realized that so many sites could be / would be affected and will join the protest against this.
I would not have been aware of this unless there is this thing called INTERENET and EU people contributed a major portion of GPL Software.
If this works out, then, it will show that the "Europe" is still probably the place where people have the voice and can make a difference.
Balance of power between state and people is getting one sided in US--unfortunately. Before the IRAQ war more than 40% of the people in US actually thought that there is a connection between IRAQ/WMD/Terrorist etc. etc. Govt. is too strong compared to the people at this point to pull this and still stay in power.
(I supported the war anyway--this type of dictators need beating--well so is Pakistan/North Korea but that's another story).
So, congratulations EU people--you did well.
P.S.
Probably does not make much sense here, but, If you just happen to visit a bookstore, pick up the last issue of Foreign Policy ... read and get depressed.
- People who believe other people have no right to live, got no right to live ...
Is it just me or is the "innovation/patentability" part not making sense at all? Is this something like "war is predicted through declarability" or more like "rain is predicted through cheese"??
Fight hunger. Filet a politician and send him to a 3rd world country of your choice.
with some MEPs even claiming to feel harassed because they are suddenly also being lobbied by numerous concerned citizens, rather than solely by industry representatives as usual."
When election time pass this around to the candite of your choice running against the reps that said this. I'm sure the opposition would be happy to have those quotes.
There are a whole lot of citizens, and MEPs only expect to need a relatively small staff. MEPs, even if they don't favor industry representatives, really prefer hearing from representatives over hearing from the entire represented group. On most issues, concerned citizens organize or join existing organizations, which lobby on their behalf. This has become important to a lot of people pretty suddenly, which means that a lot of people are talking to their MEPs directly. It doesn't really give the MEP a good idea of the argument; if that many people are trying to talk to you individually, you can't even figure out what side each one is on, let alone sort out the different arguments or notice arguments you haven't heard before.
In such situations, the correct thing to do is really to deal the legislation, so that the citizens can sort themselves into groups based on their views and make coherent presentations of their concerns.
You are obviously not a programmer.
I don't know, but here is my guess. She probably got a lot of angry phone calls, to the point that other calls weren't getting through. Perhaps people also figured out her home telephone number and called her there.
However, I think whatever happened, as long as it was legal and didn't involve threats, that's something that an MEP should put up with without whining about it or calling it "harassment". If McCarthy had received such a response at something, oh, on some directive on child pornography or retirement benefits, I suspect she would not have considered it harassment but mainstream, widespread outrage. If you look at McCarthy's web site, you'll see that this issue isn't featured there prominently (in fact, I didn't see any reference to it at all on the web site).
MEPs need to come to understand that this is something that geeks and technologists are genuinely outraged over. It is something that matters to a lot of people, and it is something they need to take very seriously.
Of course, people trying to contact them should also realize that MEPs still just don't quite get it and perhaps adjust their behavior accordingly.
It's so sad that you're calling the US brain-dead and I can't disagree. It's mind boggling. The internet and world wide media was supposed to show the rest of the world how great we are, but it's done a lot to show me how f-ed up we are.
Just today on Fox News Oreilly had a big thing comparing America's teen pregnancy and STD rated to Europes, and then comparing America's Abstinence as the only option approach versus Europes Libertine sex-ed approach. We have four times the pregnancy rate as France and 12 times the ghonnorhea rate as Denmark. F-in Amsterdam where prostitution is legal, and there are more STD cases per 100000 here. WTF? Something isn't working.
Same holds true for binge drinking rates at college and underage drinking rates in the US versus alchohol use and abuse in europe. Suprisingly, toleration of alchohol creates a healthier mentality versus abolition (for those under 21). Exact same issue as sex.
The same holds true for Marijuana use/abuse. Not to mention the waste of money the war on Marijuana is.
Software Patents aren't an idealogy problem like these. They are instead a business vs. consumer problem. Yet, the business vs. consumer stance of europe makes so much more sense than America's sell-out policies.
I'm so disappointed in this puritanical corporate-sell out country. ( I know, if you don't like it, leave). Well maybe I will. I'll live where I'm free to code without fear of the DMCA and where I'm free to read without the government looking up my library records and where my children will get education and we'll all get health care and where my neighbor can smoke a J and it's no big deal because it really isn't a big deal and all that drug war money is instead spent to make life better. Imagine a land where you're free to tinker, and where we're brave enough to allow personal choices. Hmm, how ironic, home of the free and the brave. That should be HERE. That should describe America.
oh well. maybe someday.
because I have been enjoined by this Holy Office to abandon the false opinion which maintains that the Sun is the centre
Actually old bean, at least from where I stand, it is indeed a matter of ideology - the ideology of free speech, freedom to engage in the arts and sciences, freedom to communicate ideas and culture, freedom of thought.
It has been a long time since the failure of your great compatriot, Phil Salin and others to prevent the tragedy of ideas patenting in the U.S. and we Europeans have had the opportunity to prepare for this inevitable onslaught on our fundamental human rights. Yet it looks likely that the forces arrayed against us will prevail anyway.
I call them 'ideas patents' because that is what they really are - I am not primarily a software developer or a businessman but a mathematician and I see software patents from a rather different perspective than has been customary in the 'debates' in the E.U. Parliament. Ever since I first came across the abominations that are the RSA patent and the DHT transform patent and others like them I have become more and more disgusted and horrified at the level of intellect displayed by those charged with the responsibility of formulating and enacting laws on my behalf.
Every debate has centred on the economic consequences of patenting with no attention whatsoever paid to the rights of which I speak. Of course you'd think I needn't worry when a quarter of a million people (mostly programmers) signed a petition against software patents and an organization representing half a million European S.M.Es stated their opposition to them too. So it must be obvious to the MEPs that there isn't even an economic case to be made for patenting software - right?
Wrong! Unfortunately we have to contend with a level of disingenuity, stupidity or underhand venality - I don't know which - capable of making statements like this:
"With regards to calls for abolishing, within the EU, all patents on computer-implemented inventions, EU companies would be at a severe disadvantage in the global market place if they were not able to apply for a patent over their invention."
(From Arlene McCarthy's website). Even a child would laugh at such a cretinous non sequitur - not so your average MEP.
Ghandi declared a day of fasting and praying on the day the British made that andi Hindu law.. I bet if everybody using a free OS or software were to just shut the machine down for one day, or even a few... The world would almost be thrown into a panic. The governments would see the light of free software.
Lord_Alex
What kind of patriot turns tail and runs? I can't stand it when flag-hugging idiots spout that shitty "love it or leave it" copout.
From the evidence I've seen, a country where the decisions are made by "benevolent" multinationals is exactly the kind of place where Americans want to live. Some of the evidence of this comes from our own community.
Why don't we have a PAC capable of going head to head with "the big boys"? Because all of our high-tech millionaires, including the ones who read slashdot would rather put their money into things that give them immediate rewards instead of making the investment required to build a free country that might make it possible to build more profitable products in the future.
Democracy got sold in America to the highest bidder a generation ago. Unfortunately, the highest bidder is run by CEOs whose time horizon is whatever will increase the short-term value of his company enough to trigger his options in the next 90 days.
America is heading for the cliff, and the reaction of the average American voter is to blindly trust the mass media which says that the cliff doesn't exist and that The Man In The White House knows what he's doing and will look after our interests.
Fix it? This isn't "fighting the weather", this is fighting long-term climate change. A democracy whose citizens aren't interested in preserving democracy isn't going to stay one.
You and I can't make citizens want to think for themselves.
Tech Public Policy stuff
If you had done your homework instead of insulting the submitter, you'd have found countless reports like this:Or this... Here's another one (in German though; use the fish).