Re: [Patents] Theregister followup

[Hartmut Pilch <phm@a2e.de>]

> EU software patents: the readers speak
> By Kieren McCarthy
> Posted: 03/07/2003 at 13:12 GMT
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/31553.html

It's still Kieren McCarthy speaking much more than the readers.

And the main quote is one of Arlene McCarthy, which claims that she has
excluded software per se, algorithms and business methods from
patentability.  This claim is left there standing, without any
criticism from anyone.  The rest are fragemnts of texts from people
who are somehow emotionally aroused but do not refer to the JURI
or CEC proposals at all.

The whole piece begins with a fairly detailed quote of allegations that
the "anti-patent lobby" is making big tactical mistakes and behaving
badly.  This quote, like the prominent AMcCarthy quote, is then not
subjected to any examination but only reinforced by a statement like "all
readers agreed .. but one reader insisted that AMcC is the Anti-Christ".

One may wonder what The Register is up to.

Perhaps some outsiders to the debate are becoming a bit puzzled about
other people's strength of feeling on the issue and want to learn more not
by reading but by provoking (typical troll behavior sometimes observed on
mailing lists).

Or maybe The Register is deliberately "biting the hand that feeds IT", in
this case that of the SMEs who do about 70% of the feeding ?

What is more likely?

-- 
Hartmut Pilch, FFII & Eurolinux Alliance              tel. +49-89-18979927
Protecting Innovation against Patent Inflation       http://swpat.ffii.org/
150,000 votes 2000 firms against software patents    http://noepatents.org/