From: Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>
Message-Id: <200404120934.i3C9YPw01735@candle.pha.pa.us>
Subject: Re: [webmaster] online demonstration against EU Software
In-Reply-To: <50036.80.177.99.193.1081761968.squirrel@ssl.vale-housing.co.uk>
To: Dave Page <dpage@vale-housing.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 05:34:25 -0400 (EDT)
Cc: xzilla@users.sourceforge.net, scrappy@postgresql.org,
	jclift@digitaldistribution.com, pgsql-www@postgresql.org
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Dave Page wrote:
> It's rumoured that Robert Treat once said:
> >
> > I think the deal is that those in Europe aren't currently subject to
> > software  patent litigation even if it violates US law.  Further, some
> > of the  interpretations of the laws being proposed in Europe are fairly
> > draconian,  and could put more cautious open source distributors "out
> > of business" so to  speak.  check out
> > http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html for some  informational
> > links.
> 
> Yes, that's about right - in fact the link at the bottom of that page
> leads to the proper Knoppix homepage which mentions even simple common
> features like progress bars and scrollable windows being under threat. The
> problem isn't even whether on not a project actually infringes a patent
> anyway though - just checking whether on not it does can cost a huge
> amount of money, so an unscrupulous corporate could put a project out of
> business with an infringement claim that warrants further investigation,
> whether or not the claim is valid.
> As for the US issue - my understanding is that in the US you can only
> patent complex software processes and concepts, whereas in the EU you will
> be able to patent simple 'things' such as UI controls.

Here is a scarey article talking about patents and generating patent
revenue:

	http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-5189747.html?tag=nefd.top

Dave is right that just checking on patents can make software
development impossible for all but the largest organization.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 359-1001
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  13 Roberts Road
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073