May 19th, 2004
Software patents: A bad day for Europe and Germany
"Europe is about to finally give up on the goal of its heads of
states and governments to become the 'most competitive
knowledge-based region' until 2010 and has repeatedly failed
democratically. It is unfortunate that the optimism and trust placed
in the German government was somewhat premature. Yesterday was not a
good day for Europe and Germany!" is the sad summary of Georg Greve,
president of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) about the
decision of the council of the European Union about "computer
implemented inventions."
Among other things, the directive was created with the wrong goals
in mind: "The European Patent Office (EPO) has granted about 30.000
software patents so far. The declared goal of this directive was to
create patenting possibilities for 'computer implemented inventions'
and legaliziation of patents granted already."
As Jeremy Philpott of the UK Patent Office put it: "If the directive
had gone through with all the proposed amendments (Comment: made by
the European Parliament), there would have been plenty of patents
that would no longer have been valid. I cannot stress this enough:
[...] The whole point was that what is patentable today, will be
patentable tomorrow, [...]"
"So at no point in time was finding useful limits to patentability
for the sake of innovation the prime incentive, the directive should
rather make the already granted patents legally enforceable. If the
European Parliament agrees to this directive, about 30.000 patent
mines will be armed -- without consideration of the effect that
their explosions will have for economy and society."
Greve's conclusion: "The German minister of Justice Zypries spoke
about a 'Round Table' with interested parties to further mutual
understanding. Instead of 'furthering understanding' after the
decision has been made, I suggest to use this occasion to establish
a permanent round table to discuss sustainable political
decisions. The goal of this table should be to at least catch up in
international competition again."
With regards to the directive we strongly suggest to the European
parliament to not accept the current proposal despite better
knowledge. In particular a definition of what is to be considered
technical is indispensable, the whole directive rests on this
term. "Otherwise it would be like building a house on wheels and
without brakes under the assumption that its later inhabitants will
not move it even though doing so would promise them immense
profits."
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may
participate in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use,
copy, modify and redistribute software - as described in the Free
Software definition - allow equal participation in the information
age. Creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software
politically and legally, and giving people freedom by supporting
development of Free Software are central issues of the FSF Europe,
which was founded in 2001 as the European sister organization of the
Free Software Foundation in the United States.
http://fsfeurope.org
Contact
Europe:
Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org>
phone: +49-40-23809080
fax: +49-40-23809081
Further contact information available at
http://fsfeurope.org/contact/
Essen/Hamburg
May 14th, 2004
FSFE welcomes German government on its way towards
a clear position in the discussion around software patents
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) "welcomes the commitment
of the Federal Government of Germany to freedom from software patents
as being of extreme importance for innovation in Europe", Georg
Greve, president of FSFE, comments in a press release. "Clearly the
opinion of the Federal Government regarding the information society
is shifting towards a position which is clear and close to the
position of its citizens. The FSFE will support the German government
on this journey to its utmost."
The ongoing learning process is particularly notable to the FSFE,
because for a long time during the preparatory deliberations of the
working group of the Council of Ministers, the Federal Republic
belonged to the hawks.
These hawks wanted, for example, so-called "requirements of program"
to be accepted. If these were to be introduced, a patent would be
infringed by the mere existence of a program, not just by its
commercialisation.
"This would threaten all people who develop software -- whether the
software is intended for use in study, leisure or business -- exactly
what the patent industry wants", explains Greve, and points out that,
"it is contradictory to use Free Software in so many public
institutions on the one hand and to threaten them with software
patents on the other hand."
The patent supporters want to monopolize interfaces and file formats.
The consequence of this would be that import and export features and
even simple printing features might be offered by the holder of the
monopoly only.
With this shift in direction, the suggestions the FSFE has been
making for years are starting to pay off. A number of administration
officials understand software patents to be a serious thread to the
information society; now the Ministry of Justice seems to subscribe
to this view as well.
Last Wednesday Elmar Hucko, head of a government department in the
Ministry of Justice, announced at an event in Berlin that the Federal
Government would vote against the controversial software patent
directive of the Council of Ministers of the European Union. At the
same time, according to the online magazine "heise.de", Hucko
criticised the current practice in the European Patent Office (EPO)
of granting patents in the field of "computer-implemented
inventions". "Not all of these these patents should have been
granted," he emphasised.
"After this we are confident that even the Ministry of Justice will
accept sooner or later that software can be patentable under no
circumstances -- not even when it is supposed to control machines,"
says the FSFE in a press release.
In Greve's opinion, the Federal Government should, given its change
in stance, now argue against the other members of the EC, "in order
to avoid a wrong decision". It should then convince its colleagues to
exclude software patents for the future.
Then it might be possible to offer a draft directive to the European
Parliament by the end of the year, "benefiting freedom and ensuring
continued innovation and growth" which restrains the patent industry
from bludgeoning software companies.
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition
- allow equal participation in the information age. Creating
awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and
legally, and giving people freedom by supporting development of Free
Software are central issues of the FSF Europe, which was founded in
2001 as the European sister organization of the Free Software
Foundation in the United States.
http://fsfeurope.org
Contact
Europe:
Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org>
phone: +49-40-23809080
fax: +49-40-23809081
Further contact information available at
http://fsfeurope.org/contact/
[Note to the editor: To link your website with this article
you can use this adress:
http://fsfeurope.org/swpat/letter-20040510.en.html ]]
Dear Fellow Citizens,
Have you ever heard of internet protocol (IP) telephony? This is
beautiful technology! While sitting at your PC, you click a
number and the computer dials for you automatically! To chat to
the person on the side you can use a headset plugged into your
computer. To arrange a meeting with friends you can have a
telephone conference with as many people as you want. And if you
and your partners own a webcam you can also see each other. With
a flatrate no connection costs are incurred.
The business opportunities are considerable: IBM expects cost
reductions of 30% for professional users. The market research
company Gartner expects the market volume to quadruple till 2007
(as compared to 2002). Definitely a very interesting field!
However - there is a road block called 'software patents': While
Copyright law prevents competitors from selling applications
(eg "Microsoft Word") under a different product name, software
patents protect ideas and make them a creative wasteland for many
years. Apple, for example holds a patent on a virtual wastepaper
basket.
Given the appropriate legal framework, Apple can prohibit
implementation of the idea of a 'paper basket' in any other
software application, regardless of the technical solution or
programming methodology and language used. Alternatively they
might choose to extort licensing fees from the programmer writing
the paper basket software for using the idea of a wastebasket.
Back to internet telephony. IP telephony is like an incredibly
complex house of cards of ideas: how to synchronise audio and
video? How to compress data such that users with low bandwidth
analog modems are not excluded? All of these ideas are necessary
for internet telephony to become reality.
The result of software patents: no IP telephony at all! Professor
Henning Schulzrinne from Columbia University (New York) currently
informs programmers to wait another 17 years, after which the
patents will have expired!
In the US there is a legal basis to enforce claims from software
patents. Outside the scope of the law, the European Patent Office
has been granting software patents for a number of years, which
could not be enforced for lack of legal basis.
Against good reason employed at the crafting of the European
system and against the will of the European Parliament, which
reaffirmed the undesirability of software patents in September
2003, the European Union's Council of Ministers now seeks to
force legislation similar to the US! Now - less than seven months
later - the European Union's Council of Ministers and the
Commission prepare to vote for the exact opposite of the
parliamentarian will. What an affront to our elected
parliamentary representatives!
This abuse of the basis of democracy will have severe economic
consequences: despite current law the European Patent Office has
already granted 30,000 software patents. How much creative and
hence economic potential is blocked for decade(s) by this? How
many jobs do software patents cost or prevent?
Who has an interest in monopolizing ideas and dealing with them?
In November 2003, the CEOs of Alcatel, Ericsson, Nokia and
Siemens wrote to the EU commission and have spoken in favour of
software patents. Did they know what they were doing? Obviously
not - especially the telephony equipment suppliers would do
excellent business in IP telephony.
Obviously, patent lawyers are interested in new and complex
regulation: after the European Parliament's decision the chamber
of patent lawyers issued a 12-page position paper, signed by the
president of the "computer software committee". From the point of
view of the more than 700 patent lawyers in Munich (to these
you need to add the legal personnel in companies and chambers)
this effort is justified when there is a threat of losing an area
of activity with the potential for growth. But can the European
economy afford to sacrifice its competitiveness in favour of these
partial interests?? As long as the public discussion is
dominated by patent lawyers in patent offices, lawyers in law
firms, chambers, associations and ministries one gets the
impression that these particular interests are the interests of
the entire society.
The nuisance of the patent system in the software field has been
scientifically explored by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. In a 2003 study its researchers found out that the
more software patents a company holds, the less it invests in
research and development.
What happens in government, society and economy as a whole if
these developments are not stopped? We bar people from being
creative. We put societal development into the hands of
bureaucrats bullying us for their own benefit at every turn. To
use the words of the Czech President Vaclav Klaus "The EU is not
about freedom and openness, but about bureaucratisation,
regulation and harmonization". If we leave this discussion to
others, we may prove him right.
Dear Fellow Citizens you know us - www.fsfeurope.org and
www.ffii.org - as organisations fostering freedom in the digital
age (free software) and public information goods.
We will continue doing that work.
Software patents will enslave all software, but also free
software. So in consequence this might be much more: the
enslavement of society as a whole by the patent establishment.
Therefore we ask you for support in our struggle for freedom in
Europe! You can do this by:
1. Protesting to politicians and administrations of your country
2. Pointing entrepreneurs - not their patent department to
the dangers of software patents and asking your government to
fight for innovation and against software patents.
3. Contacting the papers in your region/in your professional
environment. Journalists have influence - but they first have to
recognize that you take this problem very seriously!
4. Supporting us with your donation: information on how to donate
is available at http://www.fsfeurope.org/help/donate.en.html and
http://www.ffii.org/assoc/financ/account/
Donations are tax-deductable in many European countries. If you
let us know about where to send it, receipts for your tax
authorities will be provided quickly. Also, in the case of FSFE,
please indicate whether you want to be publicly listed as supporter.
5. Participating in the demonstrations we are doing in Mid May in
many European capitals and cities,
http://kwiki.ffii.org/SwpDemo0405En
Moreover you can sign FFII's "Call for Action II" via
http://www.ffii.org/ffii-cgi/aktiv?f=euparl&l=de
With kind regards,
Georg Greve
Free Software Foundation Europe
www.fsfeurope.org
Hartmut Pilch
Foundation for a Free Informational Infrastructure
www.ffii.org
--
Joachim Jakobs jj(a)office.fsfeurope.org
Press Speaker - FSF Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
In der Roede 24, 64367 Mühltal (Tel: +49-179-6919565)
_______________________________________________
Pr mailing list
Pr(a)fsfeurope.org
https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/pr
Dear Collegues,
Dear Madam,
Dear Sir,
in September last year the European Parliament affirmed not to legalize
software patents in Europe. Less than seven months later, in cooperation
with some national governments and the commission, the Irish Presidency
of the European Union has drafted a working paper in favour of software
patents. The paper will most likely be voted upon May 17th, 2004.
Not only does such behaviour distort legislation and trample on
democracy, it also risks considerable negative consequences for
economy and society.
The Free Software Foundation Europe [1] and the Foundation for a Free
Informational Infrastructure [2] endorse an action week from May 10th
to 14th to inform citizens, economy and politics about the harmful
consequences of this initiative. In the course of this action week
demonstrations and panel discussions in many European cities [3] will
take place. These actions are accompanied by an open letter to the
citizens of Europe. To inform you ex ante we have enclosed the joint
position of FSFE and FFII concerning software patents (see below).
We would appreciate it if you could inform your readers on this issue
and have an open discussion with us and others. You will receive the
open letter by the beginning of next week. If you need further
assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
With kind regards,
Joachim Jakobs
__________________________________________________
Joachim Jakobs Tel: 0179/6919565
In der Roede 24 jj(a)pr-profi.com
64367 Mühltal www.pr-profi.com
___________________________________________________
Common Position of the Free Software Foundation Europe e.V. and the
Foundation for a Free Informational Infrastructure e.V.
According to some within the EU council, software should also be subject
to patentability. This includes protection beyond the source code of an
application, which is covered in Copyright law, but also the result.
Many different implementations with similar results are therefore
threatened by a single patent.
Through this mechanism, an arbitrarily chosen random number of ideas can
be turned into a monopolized area. A solution to the problem is not even
required: A vague idea is sufficient!
The online bookstore Amazon.com filed a patent in Europe to cover its
"one-click-technology" allowing single click purchases for registered
users. The well-known "progress bar", usually used during installation
routines, has been granted long before.
In a letter [4] to the EU commission in November last year the CEOs of
Alcatel, Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens took a position vehemently in
favour of software patents. This seems to imply that at least large
companies benefit from software patents: Smaller competitors can be
driven out of business easily and the big players can do mutual
"cross-licensing": "If you let me use 1000 of your patents, you get
permission to use 1000 of mine."
This impression is far from reality, though. Internet protocol telephony
for example is a complex mesh of different compression methods - or in
other words: different patented ideas. According to professor Henning
Schulzrinne of Columbia University (New York), internet telephony has no
chance in markets threatened by software patents. He only sees the
option to wait 17 years until the patents have expired [5].
The aformentioned CEOs do a disservice to their companies: software
patents cost them access to a market that market researcher Gartner
expects to have a turnover of 3.6 billion Euro until 2007 [6].
How is it possible that four global players follow such a short-sighted
policy? The answer is simple: they trust "false friends" - their patent
departments, patent attorneys, patent specialists in professional
organisations. Munich alone has 700 representatives of this profession
[7] + [8] - no wonder that the chamber of patent attorneys is in favour
software patents in a 12 page position [9].
The nuisance of the patent system in the software field has been
scientifically explored by MIT, the Massachusetts Institue of
Technology. Its researchers discovered in a 2003 study [10] that
companies holding more software patents invest less into research and
development.
What are the consequences for government, society and economy as a whole
if this legislation is not resisted? We punish and discourage
creativity. We put societal development into the hands of bureaucrats
who bully us for their own benefit at every turn.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus said in the German Newspaper “Handelsblatt”
few days ago: "The EU is not about freedom and openness, but about
bureaucratization, regulation and harmonization". Let us not prove him
true!
[1] www.fsfeurope.org <http://www.fsfeurope.org>
[2] www.ffii.org <http://www.ffii.org>
[3] http://kwiki.ffii.org/SwpDemo0405En
[4] http://swpat.ffii.org/news/03/telcos1107/index.en.html
<http://swpat.ffii.org/news/03/telcos1107/index.en.html>
[5] http://swpat.ffii.org/patente/wirkungen/voip/index.de.html
[6]
http://www.computerwoche.de/index.cfm?pageid=254&artid=54004&main_id=54004&…
<http://www.computerwoche.de/index.cfm?pageid=254&artid=54004&main_id=54004&…>
[7] http://www.patentanwaltskammer.de/cgi-bin/find_map.cgi?key=80
[8] http://www.patentanwaltskammer.de/cgi-bin/find_map.cgi?key=81
[9] http://www.patentanwaltskammer.de/aktuell/040318_6_03_Zur_Sache_3.pdf
[10] http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/bessenhunt03/index.en.html
<http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/bessenhunt03/index.en.html>
--
Joachim Jakobs Tel: 0179/6919565
In der Roede 24 jj(a)pr-profi.com
64367 Mühltal www.pr-profi.com
___________________________________________________
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Regards,
Georg Greve
FSF Europe http://fsfeurope.org
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