Discussion of FFII warns against another attempt to sneak software patents into EU law
by Turbocapitalist from LinuxQuestions.org on (#59AJC)
Some time has passed and I notice a number of views for the news post FFII warns against another attempt to sneak software patents into EU law. I also notice a lot of silence, at least here, so maybe General is a more useful venue than News.
The gist is that there are ongoing attempts, mostly through illegal means, to resurrect the very dead Unitary Patent Court (UPC) in the EU. That would cause the arrival of patents for software, mathematical formulas, business methods, and designs in Europe. That threat warrants some discussion, I think, especially as the attempts move around from country to country.
Patents are about usage, not distribution or creation. So if software patents were allowed to enter Europe, things would affect all software users and not just software developers very much. It would affect FOSS users most of all, however. A move like sneaking in the UPC would then embolden software patent activities in the US, especially encforcement. For now, Non-Practicing Entities (NPE) in the US are mostly biding their time in order to not frighten Europe in to action.
Since it has been well established that software patents have a profound negative effect on both development and economy, I would say that the attempts to resurrect the UPC are thus profoundly negative.
The gist is that there are ongoing attempts, mostly through illegal means, to resurrect the very dead Unitary Patent Court (UPC) in the EU. That would cause the arrival of patents for software, mathematical formulas, business methods, and designs in Europe. That threat warrants some discussion, I think, especially as the attempts move around from country to country.
Patents are about usage, not distribution or creation. So if software patents were allowed to enter Europe, things would affect all software users and not just software developers very much. It would affect FOSS users most of all, however. A move like sneaking in the UPC would then embolden software patent activities in the US, especially encforcement. For now, Non-Practicing Entities (NPE) in the US are mostly biding their time in order to not frighten Europe in to action.
Since it has been well established that software patents have a profound negative effect on both development and economy, I would say that the attempts to resurrect the UPC are thus profoundly negative.