[From nobody Thu Jan 22 12:00:06 2009 Return-Path: <stopsoftwarepatents@ffii.org> Delivered-To: joao@silvaneves.org Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mx.intraneia.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 85D9FE8003 for <joao@silvaneves.org>; Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:21:24 +0000 (WET) X-Virus-Scanned: Debian amavisd-new at mx.intraneia.com Received: from mx.intraneia.com ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (atlas.intraneia.com [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id GgcoU35iO3LY for <joao@silvaneves.org>; Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:21:09 +0000 (WET) Received: from vic.ffii.org (vic.ffii.org [82.197.166.218]) by mx.intraneia.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id F2C46E8001 for <joao@silvaneves.org>; Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:21:08 +0000 (WET) Received: from llanueva by vic.ffii.org with local (Exim 4.63 #1) id 1LPb8v-0008Qx-8C for joao@silvaneves.org; Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:21:09 +0100 From: FFII e.V. <stopsoftwarepatents@ffii.org> To: joao@silvaneves.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" MIME-Version: 1.0 Subject: Stopping Software Patents - let us make a difference in 2009 Message-Id: <E1LPb8v-0008Qx-8C@vic.ffii.org> Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:21:09 +0100 X-DTC-Counter: X Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Dear Joao Miguel Neves, we are contacting you as a signed supporter of the FFII. We highlight recent developments and ask you to endorse a new European petition at http://stopsoftwarepatents.eu/ If you do not want to receive infrequent updates from the FFII about crucial developments per email anymore, you can simply change your user/member status any time with your user-id uelneves at https://aktiv.ffii.org -------------------- 2009 software patent petition -------------------- Members of our community have once again developed a European petition to overcome the software patent crisis at http://stopsoftwarepatents.eu/ as a contribution to the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009. The situation for software innovators remains cumbersome. European courts sometimes accept the validity of granted software patents. The campaign asks for clarifications to substantive patent law. A worldwide campaign site http://stopsoftwarepatents.org/ is also underway. Please contribute to our mailing list for software patents: https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/softwarepatents ----------- Center Left lost trust in Commissioner McCreevy ----------- Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy was a key defender of the software patent directive. Recently the PES group wrote an angry letter to Commission President Barroso because of McCreevy's alleged inadequate response to the financial crisis: "This is too much. Commissioner McCreevy=E2=80=99s actions demonstrate a = total absence of respect for the European Parliament, and appear to be more appropriate for a paid lobbyist of the finance industry than a European Commissioner.[..] We have lost trust and confidence in Commissioner McCreevy." http://www.pes.org/downloads/Letter_to_JMBarroso-16Dec08_EN.pdf ----------------------- Brimelow's Referral --------------------------- The European Patent Office moves towards a decision on its software patent granting practice. EPO President Brimelow has asked the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA) to provide 'recommendations' concerning the crucial matter of technical character for the patentability of software. http://tinyurl.com/brimelow-referral ------------------------ Czech Presidency ----------------------------- The Presidency of the European Council rotated to the Czech Republic, which announced to prioritize on the community patent and the European central patent court. http://www.eu2009.cz/scripts/file.php?id=3D6226&down=3Dyes Watch the presentation of our new President Benjamin Henrion at the 25C3 conference about "Software Patents in Europe via the case law of a Central Court" http://www.slideshare.net/zoobab/stop-software-patents-25c3-presentation http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=3DSyC4nktJQbQ ------------------------ UK Symbian Case ------------------------------ The UK-based company Symbian Ltd. appealed a decision which was against accepting the validity of one of its software related patent applications - which is about a dynamic linking at software compilation time. Mr Justice Patten ruled that the UKIPO was wrong rejecting it. The ruling of Mr Justice Patten can be read at http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/1066.html The UKIPO has already updated its practice notes regarding software patents: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-patent/p-law/p-pn/p-pn-computer.htm ----------------------------- ACTA ------------------------------------ In 2008 the EU Commission started negotiations on an "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement" (ACTA) with major trading partners. ACTA's procedural secrecy fuels concerns that the agreement may give 'patent trolls' the means to extort companies, and mandate surveillance of communication over the net. The FFII tries to formally obtain undisclosed documents.=20 Our latest press releases http://tinyurl.com/7g4lyn and others are found on http://press.ffii.org/ We send press releases always to a dedicated distribution list you can join at=20 http://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/news -------- Agreement between Microsoft and the Greek government --------- On February 2006, the Greek government and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership agreement. At least 6 questions by the parliament remained unanswered by the government. On January 2008, the government passed the law. The FFII Greece and the Hellenic Linux Users Group filed a complaint to the European Commission, which is still under investigation. See the full story at http://www.ffii.gr/ms-gov-agreement-en ------------------------ European Disney Act -------------------------- The European Commission proposed to retroactively extend the copyright protection for recordings from 50 to 95 years. The European Parliament discusses the proposal under Rapporteur Brian Crowley http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=3D5667672 The record industry supports the proposal but a British campaign finds it counterproductive: http://www.openrightsgroup.org/ Petition: http://www.soundcopyright.eu/petition Event in Brussels (27.1.2009): http://soundcopyright.eventbrite.com/ Entertaining video: How copyright term extention actually works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DkijON_XODUk The FFII General Assembly hold the view that copyright is an effective and accurate form of ownership for software, though the life+70 duration was considered far too long for software. The GA 2008 wants the association to take a strong stance against any attempt to use author's rights to attack the infrastructure of the net. ------------------- SPLT (Substantive Patent Law Treaty) -------------- For years there have been WIPO deliberations for harmonization of substantive patent law. It was reaffirmed in the 2008 Japan G8 meeting: http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2008/doc/doc080709_01_en.html "reaffirm the importance of global patent harmonization and expanding international patent collaboration, including accelerated discussions on the Substantive Patent Law Treaty;" The FFII has observer status at WIPO and is monitoring these developments. ------------------------ FFII mailing list reform --------------------- The FFII has the fame to comprise key technologists from all across Europe but administrate an idiosyncratic mailing list infrastructure. We have seen a need to cut our wild grown lists and have added new thematic open mailing lists: * Software Patenting: https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/softwarepatents/ * Biopatenting: https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/biopatents/ * Transparency and Access to Public Documents https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/transparency/ * Free and Open Source Software https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/floss/ * Network Regulation and Filtering: https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/netreg/ * Privacy and Data Retention https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/privacy/ * SaaS, TIO and the Cloud https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/tio/ Please join the lists you are interested in and contribute! --------------------------------- Quote ------------------------------- "The current 'patent thicket,' in which anyone who writes a successful software programme is sued for alleged patent infringement, highlights the current IP system=E2=80=99s failure to encourage innovation" - Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel Laureate in Economics) http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D1129 ---------------------------- About the FFII --------------------------- The FFII is a not-for-profit association active in over fifty countries, dedicated to the development of information goods for the public benefit, based on copyright, free competition, and open standards. More than 850 members, 3,500 companies and 100,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion rights (intellectual property) in data processing. ----------------------- How to support the FFII ---------------------- The FFII is divided in working groups. We welcome new active people in our working groups which are listed at https://action.ffii.org If you consider our work important but you are not able to help actively, you can become a passive sustaining member of the FFII, starting at 15 EUR per year. See http://action.ffii.org/member_application Donations are also welcome. See https://ffii.org/Donations ------------------------- How to contact us -------------------------- FFII e.V. Blutenburgstr. 17 80636 Munich Germany https://www.ffii.org office@ffii.org Tel. +49 30 417 22 597 Fax: +49 30 417 22 597 IRC: #bxl-ffii @ irc.freenode.net Blogs: http://planet.ffii.org/ Tax number: 143 / 843 / 17600 at the German tax office in Munich. IBAN: DE78701500000031112097, SWIFT/BIC: SSKMDEMM -- Yours sincerely, Ivan F. Villanueva B. on behalf of the FFII e.V. ]