[pp.int.general] Fwd: World Day Against Software Patents (24 September): Call now open for signatures

[Amelia Andersdotter]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Benjamin Henrion <bh at udev.org>
Date: 2008/8/29
Subject: World Day Against Software Patents (24 September): Call now
open for signatures
To: se-parl at ffii.org


Please sign and spread:

http://stopsoftwarepatents.org

"
Considering the following:

    1. The issue of software patents is a global one, and several
governments and patent offices around the world continue to grant
software & business method patents on a daily basis; they are pushing
for legal codification of the practice, such as currently in New
Zealand and India, and via the misappropriation of Free Trade
Agreement instruments;
    2. Previous initiatives as the Noepatents.org petition (approx.
400 000) at the EU level are outdated (notably on the issues of the
central EU patent court) and not open for signatures anymore.
    3. Companies still view software patents as assets. They have
yet to understand that software patents should also be considered
liabilities, especially if they are in the hands of trolls.
    4. Time is on our side as litigation gets spread wide: Markets
learn the hard way that you may not leave reform to patent
professionals. Patent litigation is becoming wide spread in key
markets such as the financial sector, and will be more wide spread in
the software sector in the forthcoming years due to the number of
applications pending;
    5. The United States lacks a coalition of business and civil
society against software patents

     * The lobby gap makes Congress and Senate, the Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) and the Supreme Court
susceptible to lobbying from patent industries, holders and patent
professionals. American software creators have been intimidated by the
patent establishment and have failed to make themselves heard.
     * Companies affected by software patent litigation have been
lobbying for reform, but their advocacy for "quality" and "lower
damages" aims at symptoms rather than the roots of the problem.

 For these reasons,

 We declare the 24 September as the World Day Against Software
Patents, in commemoration of the European Parliament First Reading in
2003 with amendments stopping the harmful patenting of software,
guaranteeing that software programmers and businesses can safely
benefit from the fruits of their work under copyright law.

 A Global Petition will be launched which asks to stop software
patents, with some localised versions of the petition for specific
regions, such as New Zealand, India, United States and Europe. The
public will be invited to comment on the draft between the 1st and the
23rd September.
"

--
Benjamin Henrion <bhenrion at ffii.org>
FFII Brussels - +32-484-566109 - +32-2-4148403

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