software patents

[windhound]

http://xine.sourceforge.net/

eh. could be interresting
quite a few open-source projects will be effected by this..
we'll see ina bit, one way or another, comin up rather fast.. June 29th I believe..

http://noepatents.eu.org/index.php/NO_Software_Patents
http://swpat.ffii.org/
http://nosoftwarepatents.com/

It is conspicuous that Microsoft frequently mentions patents in a very close connection with the competitive challenge from open source. In 2004 alone, Microsoft projected to apply for approximately 3,000 patents worldwide, many of those in Europe. In July of 2004, NewsForge.com published a memorandum by a senior manager of Hewlett-Packard, one of the world's largest computer manufacturers. The respective E-mail predicted that Microsoft would "use the legal system to shut down open source" but would firstly await the outcome of the legislative process concerning software patents in the European Union. Those conjectures were based on a patent cross-licensing negotiation that the HP executive had with Microsoft, and on some clauses in that agreement.

edit:

Microsoft Corp. warned Asian governments on Thursday they could face patent lawsuits for using the Linux operating system instead of its Windows software.

heh.

[The Beatles]

Sons of bachelors!


p.s.
http://wiki.ffii.org/SwxaiVideolanEn

[ohmyjapan16]

Down with Bill Gates! >_>

[The Beatles]

On a slightly brighter note, this will probably just mean that all the OSS projects in the PLF, etc. move to Australia or Africa or something...

[windhound]

*laughs*. yay for aussies..
eh. just means that the patent stuff will follow to austrelia/africa..
what about the artic?

hum.

[The Beatles]

Somewhere, somehow, there will always be a web/ssh server in a country with no patent laws; I mean, there are just too many countries.
But closer to home, Bulgaria/Romania aren't even EU members, and neither is Russia, am I right?

[bjornredtail]

Old problem, at least here in the US. Thank you very much, judical activism...

On the bright side, patents run out in around 16 years, and can be struck down by the courts.

And if you can get away with it long enough to "cause harm" before the company sues, they are likely to be thrown out of court.*

As for Antarica... Might be worth it, but there are a lot of countries that have patent laws, but do not recognise software patents. Only a matter of time before some odd treaty nixes that, like what happened with the DMCA. China doesn't have patent laws, but it does have goverment internet censorship. Israel has patent laws, but doesn't enforce them.


* I got that off of some guy over at slashdot. Take that with a grain of salt...

[windhound]

US yep.. but quite a bit of Open Source software is in Europe (because of the stuff in the US I 'spose)
for xine to have a redirect on their homepage, I geuss its rather important.. 16 years is a long time to wait for somthin to expire.. MP3s will not be the dominant means of storing music by then.. (etc) software evolves much faster then most anything else.. look at the changes made to a linux distro ~ every 6 months.. and they're coming out with the new generation DVDs soon, capable of ~50 gigs I think.. forget.. but DVDs have barely settled in.. technology evolves way to fast.. 16 years.. think of the speed we'll have by then, and what the computers will be capable of...

windows updates once every 2 years or so.. and what they release is usually extremely buggy, its like they realease a beta product for public testing.. only charge 100-300 for it... usually wait till atleast the first service pack is released to upgrade..

microsoft has more competition and doesnt like it =-P

[The Beatles]

Y'said it baby, and they apparently have the muscle to crush it. See the history of the DOJ vs. MSFT case on Wikipedia.

[bjornredtail]

The first software patent ever granted is probably a patent for a "computer having slow and quick access storage, when programmed to solve a linear programming problem by an iterative algorithm, the iterative algorithm being such that (...)" applied for in 1962 by British Petroleum Company ([2] (http://www.cippm.org.uk/pdfs/JILT%20kre ... 011_03.pdf), see end of page 3). The patent relates to solving simultaneous linear equations.

The USPTO has traditionally not considered software to be patentable because by statute patents can only be granted to "processes, machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter". In particular patents cannot be granted to "scientific truths" or "mathematical expressions" of them. This means that most of the fundamental techniques of software engineering have never been patented.

In 1982 the US created a new court (the Federal Circuit) to hear patent cases. The court made patents generally easier to uphold by presuming patents were valid unless proved invalid and weakening the defence of nonobviousness. By the early 1990s the patentability of software was well established, and in 1996 the USPTO issued Final Computer Related Examination Guidelines (http://www.bitlaw.com/source/soft_pats/final.html). See Software patents under U.S. patent law.

-Wikipedia, "Software Patent"

Oh, and something else that might be funny,
"In 1989 Microsoft announced at Comdex that the 1991 release of Windows 3.0 would be the last version of Windows."- Wikipedia, "Microsoft"

[Devari]

!@#$%^&*

Not only will our favorite F/OSS programs suffer, distros like Mandriva could be in trouble.

[Slasher]

"In 1989 Microsoft announced at Comdex that the 1991 release of Windows 3.0 would be the last version of Windows."- Wikipedia, "Microsoft"

We wish *laughs*

[Veranor]

code: Select all

(2) The following in particular shall not be regarded as inventions within the meaning of paragraph 1:

(a) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;

(b) aesthetic creations;

(c) schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers; 

(posted as code because of stupid Invision string replacements)

http://www.european-patent-office.org/l ... /ar52.html


I think that pretty much settles the whole thing anyways.

[bjornredtail]

I guess that means I can patent my scam to make money off of phoney patents.