[d@DCC] Fw: [CRIS Info] [Wsis] Wtrlt: Software patents and European SMEs

[Krishna E. Bera]

developments across the pond. -keb

=== begin forwarded message ===

Date: Wed, 7 May 2003 09:37:31 +0200
From: Glenine.Hamlyn at eed.de
To: crisinfo at comunica.org
Subject: [CRIS Info] [Wsis] Wtrlt: Software patents and European SMEs

----- Weitergeleitet von Glenine Hamlyn/Abteilung1/eed/de am 07.05.03 07:08

[...]

Join Stallman and Software SMEs to refuse sofware patents ! (Français
ci-dessous)

On May 8 morning in European Parliament in Brussels, innovative software
companies such as MySQL, Galeco, Ilog, Opera ... will gather with Richard
Stallman and MEPs from the Greens-efa Group to voice their concerns on the
implications of software patents on SMEs.

Software are currently protected by copyright but there is a project for a
European directive to legalize patents on software (com 2002-092). Although
many Members of Parliament are aware that the patent system is not suitable
for sofware, the rapporteur Arlene McCarthy (UK, Labour) is in favour. If
Europe would adopt a system similar to the American system, 30.000 software
patents waiting to be legalized would be inforced. Patents favour huge
companies that can affoard a legal department, therefore harming small and
medium-sized enterprises that create most of the innovation in the IT
field. Patents are expensive, cause a lot of administrative work, are
granted slowly and for a long period, while the life cycle of sofwtare is
short ... Moreover, patents kill the free and open source software. The
patent system does not fit softwares.

We call on software developpers, sofware companies, and all those who
support copyright protection for software to come and address a clear
signal to the European legislative body, shortly before the final vote
takes place. After the conference a joyfull gathering on the theme "Free
ideas for a Free World" with street theater and a buffet lunch is planned
in front of the Parliament Place du Luxembourg.

Registration and programme : Laurence Van de Walle
Lvandewalle at europarl.eu.int +32-2-2841695
http://www.greens-efa.org

This is part of a larger event "Software patents from legal worldplay to
economic reality" with B. Kahin at the Dorint Hotel 7 May 14-18:00
organized by FFII

!!!!!!!THANKS FOR HELPING WIDESPREADING !!!!!!


SOFTWARE PATENTS AND EUROPEAN SME

A conference co-organized by the Greens-efa and the Liberal Groups in
European Parliament

Brussels Thursday 8 May 2003 9:00-12:00 room ASP 1G2


9:00   Welcome address by Dany Cohn-Bendit MEP chair Green-efa and Graham
Watson MEP Chair ELDR


9:15  "The Commission's proposal in a legal perspective" by R. Bakel,
university of Amsterdam, co-author study Juri 107
 With the participation of E. Plooij-Van Gorsel (ELDR, rapporteur ITRE) and
M. Rocard (PSE, rapporteur CULT) to be confirmed

9: 45 "Economic consequences of software patents" by Ph. Aigrain, European
Commission

10:00  Panel I : "Innovative SME and Software patents" : Case studies

David Axmark, CEO MySQL (data bases) Sweden
Hakon Wium Lie, CTO Opera (makes sofware for Nokia) Norway
Pierre Haren, CEO Ilog (object-oriented software engineering) France
Wojtek Narczynski CEO Power Media (Custom web software) Poland
Thorsten Lemke, CEO Lemke Software (Graphic Converter) Germany
nn, CEO Symlabs.com (identity manager) Portugal

11:00  Debate with MEPs, SMEs and the public

11:30  Keynote speach : Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU project : How
Software Patents Affect Software Development

12:00  Conclusion by Graham Watson MEP and Dany Cohn-Bendit MEP

After the conference a joyfull gathering on the theme "Free ideas for a
Free World" with street theater and a buffet lunch is planned in front of
the Parliament Place du Luxembourg.

On May 7 afternoon a conference "Software patents from legal wording to
economic reality" with B. Kahin and Lawrence Lessig will take place in
Hotel Dorint Bd Charlemagne 11-19 Brussels

NB : the participation of the ELDR Group is still to be confirmed
Rejoins les PME européennes et Richard Stallman contre le brevet logiciel !

Jeudi 8 mai 2003 au Parlement européen à Bruxelles (9-12h, salle 1G2), les
Verts invitent des PME du secteur informatique à s'exprimer sur le brevet
logiciel. MySQL, Galeco, Ilog, Opera et bien d'autres ... seront
accompagnées par Richard Stallman.

La protection par le droit d'auteur dont jouissent les logiciels est
menacée par un projet de directive européenne visant à en autoriser le
brevetage(com 2002-092). Bien que de nombreux députés soient conscients que
le brevet ne soit pas un système adapté aux programmes d'ordinateurs, la
rapporteur Mme Arlene McCarthy (UK, Labour) y est favorable. Si l' Europe
opte pour un tel système, similaire au modèle américain, 30.000 brevets
seront légalisés et mis en ?uvre. les brevets favorisent les grosses
sociétés qui peuvent s'offrir un département juridique, mais il pénalisent
les petites et moyennes entreprises qui sont les créateurs d'innovation et
de croissance dans ce secteur. Lents et coûteux, les brevets exigent
énormément de paperasseries. Ils sont donnés pour 20 ans, alors que le
cycle d'innovation est de 18 mois en moyenne, raison pour laquelle ils
bloquent l'innovation qu'il prétendent protéger. Enfin, les brevets sont
une menace réelle pour le logiciel libre. Bref, le système de brevet n'est
pas approprié aux programmes d'ordinateurs !

Nous appelons les développeurs, hakeurs, sociétés de logiciel, ainsi que
tous ceux qui soutiennent la protection du logiciel par le droit d'auteur à
nous rejoindre afin de lancer un message clair au corps législatif
européen. Après la conférence, un rassemblement festif est prévu face au PE
Place du Luxembourg à 12h avec un cabaret "La pensée libre" et un buffet.

Inscription et programme : Laurence Van de Walle
Lvandewalle at europarl.eu.int +32-2-2841695

Cette conférence s'inscrit dans le cadre de "Brevets logiciels : du jeu de
mot juridique à la réalité économique" à l'Hôtel Dorint 7 mai de 14 à 18h
organisée par le FFII_______________________________________________
Wsis Mailingliste
JPBerlin - Mailbox und Politischer Provider
Wsis at ilpostino.jpberlin.de
http://listi.jpberlin.de/mailman/listinfo/wsis

_______________________________________________
Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS)
For more information see http://www.crisinfo.org/ act at crisinfo.org
CRIS Info is a public list for information and questions about the campaign for Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS).
CRIS also has a Latin American regional list at: http://comunica.org/mailman/listinfo/crisal_comunica.org
________________________________________

Crisinfo mailing list
Send contributions to Crisinfo at comunica.org
CRIS Info archives are at: 
http://comunica.org/mailman/listinfo/crisinfo_comunica.org
This list is provided courtesy of Comunica - http://comunica.org

=== end forwarded message ===
--
For (un)subscription information, posting guidelines and
links to other related sites please see http://www.digital-copyright.ca