Re: [Patents] EU Commission: Competitive and efficient European enterprises

[Rui Miguel Seabra <rms@1407.org>]

On Wed, 2003-04-09 at 16:08, Gregory Aharonian wrote:
> > 3) Why do we want more software patents?  To pay lawyers?
> > 5) Why are we going to reduce user-end and incremental innovation?
> > 6) Why can't 2 persons have the same idea (the basis for patents)?
> 
> Interesting questions. But they apply to all fields of technology, not
> just software.

Well, 3) isn't exactly like that but:
3) Why do we want software patents ? To pay more money to lawyers ?
                                            ^^^^^^^^^^
Keywords: more money

Also, 3) obviously does not apply to all fields of whatsoever since it's
quite specific about software. There are no legal software patents in
the European Union, why do we want them?

But what about 1, 2 and 4? Are they not interesting? Please allow me to
remind you of them:

1) Do they make sense for software ? If you think so, please give me
your answers to the eleven questions posed by Philippe Aigrain:
http://cip.umd.edu/Aigrain.htm

2) How do you distinguish software from text in natural language
processors ?

4) As for the historical background, why did governments had to force
the licensing of patents when they wanted a certain techology to
develop, like happened with aviation around World War II ?

> Once again, such questions illustrate why software is
> just the next field of engineering to be subject to the patent system.

Why? Please try to turn that illustration into words because I seem to
be quite colour blind. Since when did software become a field of
engineering/tech and not a field of art, or a field of communication?

Why do you think software isn't something a lot broader than one or a
few fields of engineering/tech like, say, knowledge?

Rui
-- 
+ No matter how much you do, you never do enough -- unknown
+ Whatever you do will be insignificant,
| but it is very important that you do it -- Gandhi
+ So let's do it...?

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