Input Needed: FreeNet's Form to Oppose Software Patents in EU

[Seth Johnson <seth.johnson@RealMeasures.dyndns.org>]

Please advise.

Is this correct?

I know I saw something on this list to the effect that they've moved forward
from a previous date of September.

Sjoera from the EDRI list says the vote is in September.

Seth

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [EDRi-forum] FreeNet's Form to Oppose Software Patents in EU
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 18:36:43 +0200
From: Sjoera Nas <sjoera@bof.nl>
Reply-To: edri-forum@edri.org
To: seth.johnson@realmeasures.dyndns.org, edri-forum@edri.org

Hi Seth,

I don't think the EP is going to vote on the software patents proposal 
next week. Check their agenda, at
http://www.europarl.eu.int/plenary/default_en.htm

According to our information, it is scheduled for (early) september...
That still leaves us with very short lobby-time, in light of the 
recess, but a bit longer than you make it look like.

Best wishes,
Sjoera Nas, editor EDRI-gram

P.S.; we write regularly about this proposal, last item was:

==================================================================
6. EP LEGAL COMMITTEE APPROVES OF SOFTWARE PATENTS
==================================================================

The European Parliament's Committee for Legal Affairs and the Internal 
Market (JURI) voted Tuesday 17 June about a list of proposed amendments 
to the planned software patent directive. It was the third and last in 
a series of committee votes. The results will be presented to the 
parliament in plenary early in September. The other two commissions 
(Culture, Industry) had chosen to more or less clearly forbid software 
patents. The rapporteur of the JURI committee, Arlene McCarthy (UK 
socialist) also claimed to be aiming for a "restrictive harmonisation 
of the status quo" and "exclusion of software as such, algorithms and 
business methods from patentability". Yet McCarthy presented a voting 
list to fellow members of parliament that does make it possible to turn 
ideas like the Amazon One-Click shopping method into patentable 
inventions.

McCarthy and her followers rejected all amendment proposals that would 
limit patentability while supporting all those that even go beyond the 
European Commission's proposal. The new amendments threaten to impose 
unlimited patentability and patent enforceability in Europe, with 
little chance of recovery for years to come.

Most of McCarthy's proposals found a conservative-socialist 2/3 
majority (20 of 30 MEPs), whereas the proposals from the other 
committees (CULT, ITRE) and study reports commissioned by parliament 
and other EU institutions were disregarded. A few socialists and 
conservatives voted together with Greens, Left and (partially) Liberals 
in favour of amendments that would limit patentability, but they were 
overruled by the two biggest blocks.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Greens - Fr), co-president of the Greens/EFA group 
and chairman of a conference earlier this year on software patents and 
SMEs, commented: "This patent report is an insult even to the principle 
of free trade. Pretending to protect inventors and their inventions, it 
instead allows multinationals to lock up the market."

Detailed description of the vote in JURI
http://swpat.ffii.org/news/03/juri0617/

Public debate about software patents in The Guardian: Richard Stallman 
and Nick Hill attack software patents
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,970294,00.html

Rapporteur Arlene McCarthy defends her proposals
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,975126,00.html

(Contribution by Hartmut Pilch, Foundation For a Free Information 
structure)