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Poland Erases EU's Pro-Software Patent Majority

Posted by timothy on from the you-forgot-poland dept.

Algorithm wrangler writes "It looks like there is no longer a majority for software patents in the EU. Yay to our Polish friends - glad you made it in ... Now we can just hope for a bigger push in my own country too (the Danish minister got fried over this issue recently)."

8 of 46 comments (clear)

  1. Don't Forget Poland! by jkujawa · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They did well on the whole Engima thing, too.

  2. I have one thing to say ... by crimethinker · · Score: 3, Funny
    ... to the pro-software patent majority:

    YOU FORGOT POLAND!

    Thank you, I'll be here all week. Remember to tip your waitress.

    -paul

    --
    Pistol caliber is like religion: everyone has their favourite, and theirs is the only right choice.
  3. Re:That clinches it by Gadzinka · · Score: 3, Interesting

    3.98:1 exchange for Polish zloty to the dollar

    Actually, according to Polish Central Bank it's 3.2582/3.2758/3.3240 (sell/mean/buy) today.

    US dolar used to be even >4.0 some time ago (2002), but since the beginning of Dubya presidency it's constantly falling. Not that I claim that those two are related ;)

    Robert

    PS You are welcome, vodka and caviar are cheap here (from 30pln for 1 litre of vodka), women are cute and the "age of consent" is 15 ;)

    --
    Bastard Operator From 193.219.28.162
  4. As Bush would say to the EU: by douthat · · Score: 3, Funny

    You forgot Poland!

    --
    She loves me: 09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0 She loves me not: 09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688BF ...
  5. They admitted it? by CheetahMk2 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    However, at a meeting hosted by the Polish government on the 5th of this month, everyone including representatives of the Polish Patent Office, SUN, Novell, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, as well as various patent lawyers, confirmed that the present proposal of the EU Council does make all software potentially patentable.

    That's pretty interesting. Poland said that they would not stand for pattenting of business methods, and that's why they were against it - that's the same mess that makes '___ on the web' pattentable here in the US. I think that was a good call on their part.

    Also, when in a room with Microsoft & Co., they admitted it WOULD allow pattenting of everything. I think that says something. I only regret that Poland's only issue is the pattentability of code that can "run on an average personal computer", not code in general. As soon as they fix that issue, Poland looks like they will side with it next time around.

  6. Belgian vote in doubt -- Infoworld by JPMH · · Score: 2, Informative
    Infoworld's report is claiming that the Polish decision may still be negated, if Belgium changes its vote. According to Mark MacGann of EICTA:
    "In May, Belgium voted to abstain, and though I cannot speak for the Belgium government, we have been extremely encouraged by meetings we have had with officials in Belgium and are cautiously optimistic that they may change their vote to yes," MacGann said.

    Should Belgium decide to approve the Council's version of the directive, Poland's change of heart would not keep the "Patentability of Computer-implemented Inventions" from being formally approved and the legislation would then move to a second reading in the Parliament, where the contentious debate would continue, MacGann said.

    According to NoSoftwarePatents.com, MacGann has got his sums wrong.

    But this vote won't be over until it's over.

  7. More reports by JPMH · · Score: 2, Informative
    More reports:

    See also FFII's Breaking News wiki

    The Council of Ministers' first reading text had been scheduled for fast-track approval before the end of the year, probably by Agriculture and Fisheries ministers.

  8. Re:Poland looking for leveage? by Trurl's+Machine · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not likely. Poland is right now in a severe political turmoil, the government has recently fallen due to corruption allegations and there's another interim government with rather weak (if any) support in the parlament. There's no long-term planning of anything, the government will just manage things until the next election. Every day the press reveals another evidence of corruption. The sentence "Tinted windscreen, man, tinted windscreen.. it's better than... better than... better than... anything!", taken from transcript of secret service taping of conversations of one MP with a lobbyist corrupting him with a gift of a brand-new Mercedes Benz (with tinted windscreen) is now as popular in "watercooler" conversations as "You forgot about Poland". It turned out that in Polish government everyone took bribes from everyone, but they were too lazy/incompetent to do what they took bribes for. It's quite typical for Poland and that's why things have sometimes a happy ending here - when the politicians become too corupt and stupid, they sortof step back, enjoy their tinted windscreens and... let the wise men do their job. I guess that's what happened here.