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Linus, Monty, Rasmus: No Software Patents

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the stick-to-your-guns dept.

Jan Wildeboer writes "The three most famous European authors of open-source software have issued an appeal against software patents on NoSoftwarePatents.com. Linus Torvalds (Linux), Michael "Monty" Widenius (MySQL) and Rasmus Lerdorf (PHP) urge the EU Council, which will convene later in the week, not to adopt a draft directive on software patents that they consider "deceptive, dangerous, and democratically illegitimate". They also call on the Internet community to express solidarity by placing NoSoftwarePatents.com links and banners on many Web sites."

3 of 301 comments (clear)

  1. The time has come... by ChristW · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The time has come to stop this lunacy called 'software patents' in its tracks in Europe, but I'm afraid that lobby groups in Europe have been busy 'talking to' politicians here as well...

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  2. Re:It's a nice idea, but by Sanity · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I wonder how much mindshare it will really get at the level decisions are made it in business and government.
    As it happens, plenty. The anti-swpat movement has had a profound effect on the passage of this directive, the European Parliament, which is one half of the decision process, was essentially persuaded and introduced amendments to prevent software patents. The Council of Ministers, the other half, was initially pro-swpat, but even they are now bowing to geek pressure.

    Virtually all involved parties now claim that they are against software patents, even those who are in favour of them!

    It is certainly premature to declare victory, but I think the anti-swpat movement currently has the upper hand, and all because of geeks exercising direct democracy.

  3. What is crucially missing... by ZakMcCracken · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...is a proposition spelling how to transition from the current world to one where software patents are outlawed...

    Because the problem is, companies have *already * invested in software patents in Europe. So take a large company that has applied for maybe 50 software patents over each year, worldwide, in the past 3 years.

    Some companies do so because they believe that their software methods should be patented. And while it is true that some awarded software patents are outrageously stupid, some are really nontrivial.

    Other companies have mostly seen a "tactical advantage" in doing this, because (1) at a certain level (read: non-technical execs, financial analysts, shareholders) the number of patents granted per headcount per year is thought to reveal the quality of a Research & Development organization, and (2) when you have a portfolio of patents of your own, people are less likely to attack you for infringement, out of fear that you will attack them in return.

    You can agree or not with these reasons, but the reality is that they have pushed many companies to invest millions in software patenting. So, as long as activists out there don't propose a way for these companies to "land smoothly" in no-software-patent land, actions like these are very unrealistic.

    It doesn't help that the group is using bogus figures, such as claiming an average cost of EUR 30,000 for patenting something. Application fees have been made very small (in the hundreds of EUR depending on the country). Patent attorney fees, from my own experience, are more likely to range in the EUR 2,500 range for single-country application, and twice or three times that for worldwide application. That is not EUR 30,000 at any rate, unless you count in the inventor's own time writing down his/her invention.