[Fsfe-uk] [Fwd: Software patents]

[Ian Lynch]

This seems to be a standard letter sent out by Arlene McCarthy. Is it a
softening of her position or is it a distortion to try and curry favour?

> "ARLENE McCARTHY 
>
> LABOUR, NORTH WEST REGION
>
>
>               16 July, 2004
>
> Dear Mr xxxxxxxxxx
>
> As Draftsperson for the Parliament I, along with the Parliament, voted for
> limits to the patenting of computer-implemented inventions. The Member
> States i.e. the Council of Ministers have chosen to ignore Parliament’s
> views, which has disappointed us greatly and we are now preparing for some
> very tough negotiations with them.
>
> However, fortunately the Council of Ministers and the Commission cannot
> ignore our views as democratically elected Members of the European
> Parliament. I can assure you that the Parliament will defend its position
> and there will be no final law without the agreement of the Parliament. If
> both the Council of Ministers and the European Commission refuse to
> reinsert Parliament’s amendments, there will be no Directive. Our power on
> this piece of legislation is very strong we can modify it or block it if we
> choose to do so.
>
> My position as Rapporteur and that of the Labour MEPs remains unchanged and
> in the negotiations I will defend Parliaments position.
>
> I am not in favour of patenting of software as in the US.
>
> Europe needs a uniform legal approach to stop the drifting towards
> extending patentability to inventions, which would not have been
> traditionally allowed, and to stop patentability of pure business methods,
> algorithms or
> mathematical methods.
>
> Software products as such, must not be patented.
>
> Opensource software must be allowed to flourish and the Commission must
> ensure that this Directive does not have any adverse effect on opensource
> software and small software developers.
>
> Patents and the threat of litigation must not be used as an
> anti-competitive weapon to squeeze out small companies.
>
> Furthermore I am supporting a UK campaign for a defence fund for small
> companies to protect themselves from litigation abuse by dominant market
> players.
>
>
> Yours sincerely
>
>
> Arlene McCarthy MEP "

-- 
Ian Lynch <address@hidden>
ZMS Ltd