Re: [FYI] (Fwd) Richard Stallman talk on Software Patents

[PILCH Hartmut <phm@a2e.de>]

> As the special guest of the Foundation for Information Policy
> Research:
>
> Richard Stallman
> ================
>
>     Founder of the GNU Project, and campaigner for free software which
>     people are at liberty to copy, redistribute and change. Winner of
>     Grace Hopper Award, Electronic Frontier Foundation's Pioneer
>     award, and Takeda Award....
>
> Software Patents - Obstacles to software development
> ====================================================
>
>     Software patents are patents on software ideas. A typical computer
>     program today combines many software ideas, just as a symphony
>     combines many musical ideas. Inevitably most of them have to be
>     old ideas. Software patents mean that every design decision brings
>     with it a risk of getting sued.
>
>
> Date:        Monday 25th March 2002
> Time:        16:15-17:30
>
> Venue:       University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory,
>              JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge. CB3 0FD
>
> Directions:  http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/UoCCL/contacts/
>
> Poster:      http://www.fipr.org/stallman.html
>
>
> This event will also see the launch of the "Friends of FIPR" - this
> will be your chance to become a founding supporter of the UK's only
> effective think tank addressing Internet issues.
>
> All are welcome!
>
>     but please RSVP <rmstalk@fipr.org> so that we can assess numbers!
>
> Entry is free; but do bring your cheque book :)

This has also appeared on

        http://www.linux.org.uk/

and seems to be quite well publicised.

For more info on the UK situation see our

        UK patent lobby watch page
        http://swpat.ffii.org/players/uk/

which is being continuously updated.

Great Britain is a country with many leading free software developpers and
>7000 supporters of the Eurolinux petition, who showed an overwhelming and
well argued rejection of software patentability in their consultation. We
are up for an interesting drama, as Mr. Hayward struggles continue to
lobby Brussels for patent extremism and to deceive a home country which is
not as easy to harness as Malta, Greece and the other typical supporters
of software patentability in Europe.

-- 
Hartmut Pilch, FFII & Eurolinux Alliance              tel. +49-89-12789608
Protecting Innovation against Patent Inflation       http://swpat.ffii.org/
100,000 signatures against software patents      http://www.noepatents.org/