{news} Fw: USGP-INT Re: Int'l Committee: Software patents in Europe

[Justine McCabe]

Dear CT Greens, 

FYI--Please comment on this proposal to the International Committee from Maryland Green Steve Kramer. Any opposition to supporting his suggestions?  

Peace to you all, 
Justine 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: bahram 
To: Steve Kramer ; bahram at greens.org ; gerardgiblin at yahoo.com 
Cc: secretary at gpus.org ; gwenwages at earthlink.net ; usgp-int at gp-us.org 
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2004 11:15 PM
Subject: USGP-INT Re: Int'l Committee: Software patents in Europe


Steve,

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.  I am forwarding it to the International Committee for comments.

Regards,
bahram

Steve Kramer <scooter at guisarme.net> wrote:
  Bahram and Gerard,

  Happy New Year! Hope this finds you well.

  As Maryland's representatives on the International Committee, I wanted to 
  raise something to your attention that we may wish to act on.

  You may be aware of the controversy over software patenting (Bahram 
  especially, as he is a professional in the IT field). This allows the 
  patenting of what are technically and realistically *ideas* rather than 
  *devices*. It would be as if Haydn, for example, had patented the idea of 
  a "symphony"; thus, anyone else who wished to write one would have to pay 
  Haydn or be out of luck.

  This is a patently (pardon the pun) anti-Green idea, directly contrary to 
  the Key Value of Community-based Economics - essentially a sell-out to the 
  large, controlling software giants over the individual innovator.

  The fight has long since been lost in the U.S.; software patenting has 
  been a reality for years, and correspondingly, the stifled software 
  industry is becoming dominated by a few megacorporate programming houses 
  who have produced fewer software projects, and whose labor practices are 
  questionable to say the least, with labor classifications and mandatory 
  overtime being employed to bilk workers, and skirt around labor laws. 
  Calls for unionization in the software industry have brought the 
  inevitable backlashes by management.

  The European Union recently faced exactly this dilemma in allowing 
  companies to patent software in the EU. Prominent European software 
  designers, such as Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, dissented, noting 
  the chilling effect on the industry here in the U.S. However, the 
  ministers of the EU were prepared to forge ahead, without heeding the 
  grassroots.

  At the last minute, however, there was a dissenting voice. Poland's 
  Undersecretary of State for Science and Information Technology, 
  Wlodzimierz Marcinski, spoke out at the EU Council meeting, and announced 
  his country would block the resolution.

  The grateful European software programmers have responded by establishing 
  a Web site, http://thankpoland.info, in which they thank Mr. Marcinski for 
  his cogent and brave act of public service. The Web site has gathered 
  over 25,000 signatures.

  I believe it would be a fitting gesture for the GPUS to also send a letter 
  to the Polish government, thanking the Undersecretary for his act - 
  perhaps at the same time, sending a carbon-copy to the appropriate 
  Undersecretary of Commerce, restating the propriety of Mr. Marcinski's 
  objections, and asking that the United States consider Poland's example 
  and make significant changes in software patents and other areas of 
  intellectual property law, to recognize our shared "cultural commons" and 
  prevent a handful of moneyed corporations from controlling our very ideas. 
  (Perhaps we could further phrase it to the Commerce Department as, "You 
  forgot Poland." :-) I would appreciate it if you would consider this 
  matter in the International Committee.

  I've cc'd Greg Gerritt and Gwen Wages on this letter, as they are the 
  Steering Committee members responsible for the portfolio that includes the 
  International Committee.

  Here are a few Web sites you may wish to visit for more information about 
  the software patenting controversy:

  http://thankpoland.info
  http://www.eurolinux.org
  http://www.evolt.org/article/European_Union_Just_say_no_to_ePATENTS/25/2249/
  http://www.freepatents.org

  Thank you!

  -- 
  Steve Kramer || scooter (at) guisarme dot net ||
  _____________________ ===================================================
  | __/^\__ ,-^,| "Nope. Nope, I've been here before.
  |/~ \_ { / | I'm going on an adventure. We're going
  \/\ |! | the *other* way."
  / / ) |___
  (_ \ \ / Abby Kramer, age 6
  ~v^ ?_,-'
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