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Hi Rick Sorry I won't be able to attend as my wife and I live on a very small pension and thus no transport. Also my respiratory problem prohibits prolonged travel (self-inflicted I'm afraid: 40 yrs a smoker).
Well done! A quick read of your contribution indicates a good first draft. It will need tighting up with a succinct and thought provoking intro. Politicians have little time and anything which makes them want to read the rest of the doc is vitally important. Short and to the point is an absolute necessity. One thing to note. Always declare abbreviations before using them eg Open Source Software (OSS).
I can't help with the detail of Patent Law but as a KCL Philosophy graduate I've some skill in writting cogent and readable text when required.
Has anyone checked to see if our national LUG has started a similar action? There is everything to gain by making this issue nationwide. Perhaps even Europe-wide?
Unfortunately I shall be offline until Monday morning due to the imminent (dreaded) arrival of the mother-in-law for a short stop-over.
Regards Keith
On Saturday 05 July 2003 8:40 pm, Rick Timmis wrote:
I have spent alot of time today reading through the transcripts from discussions relating to this issue. It seems that there have been opinions expressed to the Voting MEPs by both the Industrial / Corporate software development sector, Senior Patent office officials and Academics. However during all of my reading I have not seen anything that relates to the OSS community.
I have prepared a draft that covers some of the issues as I see them. I would welcome your input and thoughts on this
Many Thanks
Rick
Issues surrounding Patent Law and Computer Programs.
Purpose of this document
This document sets out to investigate the implications of amendments to EU Patent Law on the continued development of Computer Software in the Open Source Community. Further to this it seeks to review how a Patent Law amendment can balance the requirements of EU Industry in protecting its rights to ownership of Software it develops. Consideration is given to the present ability of copyright law, and as to how changes to Patent Law can marry together the needs of both the Open Source community and that of corporate industry.
Subject Discussion thus far.
Much careful consideration has been applied to the debate surrounding Patent Law. MEP's have sought much detailed advice from EU Corporate Industry and Patent Law experts. This is a complicated area with significant implications for both EU and World Economic growth.
Computer Software.
In recent years computer software has permiated every part of our lives, few things in Human history have seen such exponential growth and astounding technological advance. Computer software must be considered very much as a facilitator in all aspects of our lives enhancing such things as.
* Communications and global connectivity * Performance in predictive modelling and number crunching * Improving efficiency in Business models * Enhancing our lives and removing repetitive roles
In all areas we should consider that software systems act as tools or facilitators i.e they represent a means to an end.
Computing Hardware.
It is in the area of computing hardware that innovation has been hard at work. In very few area's has the increase in performance and capacity seen such incredible growth. These very changes in improved performance and reduced cost has instigated the accelerated development of computer software.
Corporate Software Development.
Companies such as IBM and Microsoft to name but a few have deployed much resource into the development of software systems that facilitate both the independent user and corporate users alike. Developing new concepts and also building upon previous developments. This in many ways has improved the competitive ability of business and facilitated the growth of globalisation and world trade.
Business requirements for Software.
Businesses are established and flourish based upon the concept of a niche in the market. This niche maybe an area of new development or based upon improving upon some area that other businesses in the field have not capitalised upon. This identifies the factor that whilst there are many similarities in businesses, each individual business has unique properties and thus has unique requirements for its software systems. It is these unique requirements that have actively produced a development platform for software development.
Open Source Software development.
The Open Source community has developed huge quantities of Computer Software. Often emulating corporate computer software by developing similarly featured software using alternative programming and development techniques. One such technology that owes its very presence to the Open Source community is the Internet. The internet has become an everyday part of our lives and is now an important aspect of all businesses across the glode. Open Source software offers the following features to business.
* Software is provided with all the source code, enabling modification where required * Freedom to distribute and use the software however it sees fit without license or restriction
It is of vital importance that the Open Source community be protected in its pursuit of software development. The OSS community is a body of volunteers, some are professional software developers and some are gifted amateurs who wish to put their talents to good use. In more recent times coporate enterprise and business has also joined the ranks of the OSS community enhancing features and developing bespoke solutions to suit their requirements and then releasing this work back to the community for others to use and benefit from. As a result of its voluntary nature the OSS community has little funding. This prevents the OSS commuity from marketing itself resulting in a low profile within the industry and a quieter voice in public discussion.
Problems presented by Patents to Open Source Software
The Open Source community often produces software with functionality and features that are also produced by corporate software developers. In addition much software takes the form of innovative and new concepts. The Open Source community represents a large percentage of the global software development resource. This is an enormous developer base with a vast number of development projects. Software developements range from super computing systems , Operating systems, Word processors and Business Applications. Many research institutions also use Open Source based systems, one example is Cambridge University where the Cosmology department, the head of which is Professor Stephen Hawking, uses a supercomputer which uses the Linux operating system which is a product of the Open Source community.
Patenting software presents the following issues for Open Source software development.
* Functions of software are patented, this would stop Open Source software from providing these functions * Methods and design, Similarly this would block OSS development. * Discourage developers from working on OSS * Reduce the ability of business to develop unique solutions for its environment based upon OSS * Stifle the continued development of OSS which in turn could slow the development of software systems in general
Copyrights and Patents.
Copyrights have been used to protect the Intellectual Property of software developers, whilst this mechanism has not been vastly effective in preventing software piracy. It has ensured that the code and thus the Intellectual Property of software developers is protected. This has also presented a good guidance system by which the Open Source community has been able to develop important software and systems without breaching the rights or undermining the value of corporate software developers.
Care should be taken when considering patenting the functionality of software, because this would effectively allow corporate developers to monopolise the market for a particular feature or function.
Conclusion.
Clearly corporate software developers need mechanisms by which they can protect there R&D investments and ensure that their is a level playing field in the market place. Equally the Open Source community must be considered in this complex equation. Both the OSS community and corporate developers offer to facilitate users and business alike, with their software and systems. Protecting the OSS community will ensure that corporate developers continue to develop software that offers added value that warrants the proprietory licenses and associated cost, and will ensure that global business has greater choice in selecting software appropriate to its requirements.
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