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Report Says Patents Threaten Software Innovation
GORby_ writes "According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, software patents are 'a particular threat to the European ICT Industry.' Quote from the report: 'There are particular threats to the European ICT industry such as the current discussion on the patent on software. The mild regime of IP protection in the past has led to a very innovative and competitive software industry with low entry barriers. A software patent, which serves to protect inventions of a non-technical nature, could kill the high innovation rate.' The full report (pdf) discusses Europe's ICT strategy."
This is pretty interesting. PWC was purchased by IBM, one of the largest patent holders, many of which are software patents.
Here is the real link
It's not the first time we read such reports on slashdot...
:)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...
Now, with whatever threatens innovation, we guess if these reports were true, it should Darwinianly be extinct by now.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
There are two opportunities left. The Council of Ministers has already voted in favour of a pro-swpat text, but this has yet to be confirmed, and while uncommon, it is still possible for countries to change their vote. Given the extremely suspect way the original decision was reached (which would be scarily familiar to fans of "Yes Minister"), this could happen, but national governments must be lobbied, particularly the Netherlands and Germany.
If this fails, then the European Parliament gets to amend the Council's text, however this is much more difficult than that first time around, and so all Europeans that care about this issue must lobby their MEPs to ensure that they vote in the correct way.
We have made a difference, we can still make a difference, but only by engaging with the political process. If anyone would like to learn more, please visit the FFII website.
They aren't in Europe. Most EU countries have a higher test for granting a patent than the US.
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said: "I drank what?" - Chris Knight (Val Kilmer)- Real Genius
http://www.ecp.nl/dossier_files/pwc_rethinking_eur opean_ict_agenda.pdf/
The dutch ministery of economic affairs.
Sig? What's this sig thing I hear people talking about?
There are no software patents in Europe, but there are lots of patents on devices which are only set apart from general purpose computers by their software. These are in effect software patents, because software without a machine to run it on is useless, but with the machine it is a patented combination.
If you think they'll leave it at that, I admire your high opinion of our political system. I myself expect a little struggle for the media, followed by clear patentability of software.
You can listen to it if you want to. But I think that if it's getting time on a mid-morning general interest program then people must be becoming more aware of software patents and the problems they might cause.
You can patent a music box. If you record the sounds coming out of the music box and make copies on CDs of those recordings and sell them, can you get sued for patent infringement for making "a software implementation of a music box"?
If yes, then we can patent music and movies and books and everything else that's under the domain of copyright because it IS possible to make a piece of hardware that has only one book or movie or song on it. If no, then software patents don't make sense either.
And, I WILL support software patents strongly if they allow me to get patents on music and movies and books and so forth, because then I will know that the courts understand that they're allowing patents on expressions of abstract thought.
And if that's how they want to roll, that's fine by me. I just don't like it when I see them making an arbitrary distinction between code and data, because I see a CD as a set of instructions that causes a CD player to carry out a process, just as a computer carries out a process by running software. And, I believe that a new piece of music is in fact novel, nonobvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art of making music, and it's useful as it bring enjoyment or other emotions to people.
Best. Comment. Ever. Enjoy!
First, the paragraph quoted goes on to say that there are two sides to the issue (the other side being represented by "[m]any large companies operating on a global scale, including European ones, seem to be in favour of a software patenting regime.") So it's not nearly as anti-software-patent as it may seem. Second, search the document for the phrase "digital rights management" and you get several mentions, like this gem:
So while it's good to see that the report at least acknowledges things that have mostly been ignored by the powers-that-be up to now, it's not all puppies and kittens.-HJ
How about "Information and Communication Technology"
RMS gives very interesting and informative talks on software patents from time to time. Recently I went to such a speech and discovered how rewarding it can be for people who want to understand better the problem with patents. (I wrote some info on my blog). People who are interested on these subjects should have a look at FSF website.
EU should never allow any kind of software patents. Such mistake would destroy the software economy and force small or mid-sized companies to spend more on legal costs rather than software research and development. Also, the patents will not protect small businesses from hungry MegaCorps (tm): These laws are made for MegaCorps, not for protecting innovation. Inventors and programmers do not want and do not need software patents; without public domain stuff you cannot build or invent something new.
Information Communication Technology. It seems to be the currently fashionable term for IT.
Does anyone else also think that the text is more equivocal than suggested by the submitter?
As far as I can tell, this is the relevant paragraph from the report: 342 There are particular threats to the European ICT industry such as the current discussion on the patent on software. The mild regime of IP protection in the past has led to a very innovative and competitive software industry with low entry barriers. A software patent, which serves to protect inventions of a non-technical nature, could kill the high innovation rate. However, opinions on software patent in its current proposed form vary a lot. Many large companies operating on a global scale, including European ones, seem to be in favour of a software patenting regime. But most small enterprises are strongly opposed. Only very few European companies have prepared themselves for the consequences of a software patent regime. It raises the question how the introduction of the European software patent interacts with a European strategy based on widespread use of ICT's.
This is not the whole-hearted indictment of software patents I was hoping for.
On a slightly different note, who knows where I can find the MEPs for London?
Go to the European Parliament, UK Office - UK MEPs page, click on London.
Wow -- I can't even tell you how wrong you are.
A simplified history lesson for everyone
1) PwC spun off their MCS group (think large ERP/system implementations..e.g. Accenture) to become PwC Consulting
2) PwCC rebrands itself "Monday"
3) IBM Global Services buys Monday [insert horrible markeing jokes here]
PwCC/Monday was ~ 35K (I think) employees.
PwC STILL HAS OVER 130K EMPLOYEES.
PwC is the largest of the Big 4 Audit firms.
IBM does not "own" anything of PwC.
No, actually they are.
Check out European patent EP0,129,439. This is the European version of the infamous "gif" LZW patent that was enforceable in Germany, France, Britain, and Italy until June of this year.
Although "technically" the European patent offices are *not* supposed to allow patents to software, they routinely allow patents on what is actually a software invention (and have been doing so for decades). The problem is that the line between a software invention and a non-software invention is a really fuzzy one. Unfortunately, to suggest that software patents are not currently a problem in Europe (as has often been suggested on /.) is just plain wrong. They are already a problem and have been for many years...