[Fsfe-ie] "PUSH FOR PATENT CHANGE, GOVERNMENT URGED"

Ian Clarke ian at locut.us
Thu May 6 14:36:02 CEST 2004


Dear Mr Fanning,

I was disappointed by the one-sided nature of the short piece on 
"software implemented inventions" in today's Morning Business News. 
Brian Caulfield does not speak for the many people within the software 
industry who fought for and support the Parliament's amendments.  These 
people feel so strongly about this issue that on the 14th of April 
hundreds of them traveled from all over Europe to attend a demonstration 
in Brussels in support of the European Parliament's amendments to this 
directive.

Patents on software are not currently permitted in the EU, but the 
unamended version of this directive, which Brian Caulfield supports, 
sought to changed this.

Numerous economic studies have shown that software patents, where 
permitted, stifle competition and innovation in the software industry. 
They create legal uncertainty for innovators, and allow large companies 
to establish "war chests" of software patents on trivial processes which 
they can use to attack smaller competitors.

I would ask that RTE strive to present both points of view in future 
coverage of this contentious issue.  You can find out more about why 
people are opposed to software patents at http://swpat.ffii.org/

Yours Sincerely,

Ian Clarke

Chief Executive Officer,
Cematics Ltd



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