Re: [gentoo-dev] European Patentability rules

[Stuart Herbert]

On Wednesday 27 August 2003 10:35 pm, Matt Chorman wrote:
> It's amazing to me that any open-source developer would agree with software
> patents.

The current software patent system you have over there in America has been a 
source of much merriment on this side of the pond over the last few years ;-)  
At least, it was until the beaurocrats over here decided it was a good idea 
to install something similar :(

Personally, I believe that some form of IPR protection is morally right, no 
matter what the field of endeavour.  Unfortunately, no-one seems to have 
invented a creditable form of IPR protection which would seem fair in the 
computing world.

Let's say that HP *did* actually invent remote access to another computer.  
(Two disclaimers: first, I've worked for HP in the past, and second I have no 
idea whether the patent in question is creditable or not)  Why shouldn't they 
be entitled to protect their IPR, and to earn revenue from it?  Never mind 
the details, it's a simple yes or no question of morals.

Now let's look at the music industry as a parallel.  Songs aren't patented (at 
least, I've never heard of one that is :), but they are copyrighted.  The 
performance is copyrighted.  The original music is also copyrighted, often 
seperately.  So, if you wanted to use a sample of Hendrix on your own song, 
you'd need permission from whoever holds the copyright to the actual 
*performance* that you've sampled.  But, if you want to publish your own 
performance of a Hendrix song, you need permission from whoever owns the 
copyright to Hendrix's original music.

> While you're at it, look up 6,611,268. Then look up all patents where the
> Assignee is Microsoft or HP. Then think about the implications of the SCO
> lawsuit and what these companies can do if the courts don't reject SCO's
> argument. There is a major differnese between software patents and
> copyrights. Copyright=good. Software patent=bad.

The *system* you've got is bad.  It is without any sense of balance.  But 
remember: it's your system, put in place by your government.  And its the 
citizens who put the government in place (well, it used to work that way once 
;)

Protection for IPR itself isn't a bad concept.  It's been a key part of the 
commerce-based way of life in the West since before 1449 AD.  Stopping the 
current software process patenting nonsense is good and worthy.  But the need 
*is* there, as well as the moral right, and this is where campaigners such as 
yourself always fail to convince me.

Propose and demonstrate a creditable alternative legal framework for IPR 
protection, and you'll have my vote.

But until then ...

Best regards,
Stu
-- 
Stuart Herbert                                              stuart@g.o
Gentoo Developer                                       http://www.gentoo.org/
Beta packages for download            http://dev.gentoo.org/~stuart/packages/
Come and meet me in March 2004                 http://www.phparch.com/cruise/

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