[NTLUG:Discuss] Software patentability - might kill Linux

[Cameron, Thomas]

To whom do we complain?  And really, what standing do we as non-EU citizens have?

Thanks,
--
Thomas Cameron, RHCE, CNE, MCSE, MCT
Assistant Vice President
Linux Design and Engineering
Bank of America
(972) 997-9641

The opinions expressed in this message are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer, Bank of America. 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-bounces at ntlug.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at ntlug.org]On
> Behalf Of tr_data1
> Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 11:11 AM
> To: discuss at ntlug.org
> Subject: [NTLUG:Discuss] Software patentability - might kill Linux
> 
> 
> 
> Wow. I'm totally shocked at the LACK of concern in regards to
> the upcoming decision of the European Council to legalize software
> patentability in Europe, on Tuesday May _18_.  If approved, it 
> "would lead to a situation where big companies with large patent 
> portfolios use these to lock their respective markets and prevent
> competition from innovative SMEs", ... Isn't this what M$ is up to
> right now in the US?
> 
> Please try to put aside the Fedora vs Red Hat arguments for a few
> minutes and pay attention to what appears to be a very serious 
> threat to Linux. I just got an update email from Mandrake that has
> the following links. If you want to see the full email from 'em, let
> me know.  This affects ALL LINUX, not just Mandrake:
> 
> A very readable analysis by François Pellegrini explaining
> the legal and economic issues of software patentability:
> http://www.abul.org/article191.html
> 
> A thorough analysis by Jonas Maebe of the difference between
> the three versions of the directive, and why software patents
> are indeed illegal with respect to TRIPS:
> http://www.elis.ugent.be/~jmaebe/swpat/councilanalysis/paper-en.pdf
> 
> Positions of the member countries of the European Union:
> http://swpat.ffii.org/akteure/  (add "pt", "ie", "fr",
> "de", "be", "gr", etc to have the positions of the
> member countries)
> 
> The page of the FFII giving some directions for actions:
> http://kwiki.ffii.org/?LtrSmePolit0405En
> 
> A recent paper published in the Washington Post describing the
> current situation in the United States:
> "Patenting Air or Protecting Property? Information Age 
> Invents a New Problem"
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A54548-2003Dec10?lang
uage=printer

31 companies sued for using the JPEG image format (the plaintiff
filed for a patent while recommending the adoption in international
bodies of a standard including its patented technology):
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,63200,00.html%3Ftw%3Dwn_bizhead_1

A US company sues companies of on-line content distribution:
http://www.e-data.com/
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5205529.html
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5144097.html

A well-documented file on the reference site Law.com:
http://www.law.com/jsp/statearchive.jsp?type=Article&oldid=ZZZV4RVSSPC