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Poland Blocks European Software Patent Vote, For Now
Anonymous Brave Guy writes "Thanks to the Polish Minister of Science and Information Technology, Wlodzimierz Marcinski, Europe has dropped the current proposal for software patents. He made a special journey to Brussels to withdraw the proposal, basically in protest at the way the patents were being pushed through by the back door. Since the European presidency is about to pass to Luxembourg, this has effectively killed the idea, at least for the immediate future." More at FFII (Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure). This means that the promised move to delay actually worked.
My point was that you are simply regurgitating the typical thinking of the America-hating segment of this country. I'll grant you that simply doing that may or may not lump you in with that crowd, but the rhetoric would imply that you agree with them.
""If not us, who -- and if not now, when?"" - Ronald Reagan
So the U.S. "does pollution" and other countries don't? Or are you reffering to the ridiculously offensive and restrictive Kyoto Treaty that is designed to do nothing more than hurt the U.S. economy?
""If not us, who -- and if not now, when?"" - Ronald Reagan
1) I design a new type of machine to efficiently sort apples - I get a patent on my machine. You can build a machine to sort appples, that works differently, but not one that works like mine.
2) I write a book about how to sort apples and I describe my machine and how it works. I get a copyright on my book. You can write a book about how to sort apples and can describe my cmachine and how it works, but you can't use the saem words I used, nor paraphrase them.
My patent gives me some protection for my useful machine. My copyright on my book does not protect my machine or my method of sorting apples.
Now I write a new computer program to efficiently sort a database. Didn't this take the same type of mental effort that it took to design the apple sorter? Aren't I entitled to the same type of protection? Doesn't it make sense to use patent protection designed for protectiong useful things and not copyright designed for protecting expression of ideas, but not the idea itself?
At least with the patent, the duration is limited (20years) and there is someone checking to see that the patented item is really new and worthy of protection. Copyright doesn't have those checks, it's just a form you file and you can get over a 100 years. Teh reason is that it's not supposed to cover useful inventions, it's just supposed to cover expression, so anyone can write the same software as long as they don't copy the way you expressed your idea.