[Asterisk-Dev] European Parliament says no to software patents, yes to innovation

[Danny Froberg]

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European Parliament says no to software patents, yes to innovation
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Strasbourg, 6 July 2005 -- The European Parliament today decided by a 
large majority to reject the software patents directive. This rejection 
was the logical answer to the Commission's refusal to restart the 
legislative process in February and the Council's unwillingness to 
engage in any kind of dialogue with the Parliament. The FFII 
congratulates the European Parliament on its clear "no" to bad 
legislative proposals and procedures.

This is a great victory for those who have campaigned to ensure that 
European innovation and competitiveness is protected from the threat of 
software and business process patents. It marks the end of this attempt 
by the European Commission to codify into law the US-style practice of 
the European Patent Office. We believe that the Parliament's work, in 
particular the 21 compromise amendments, provides a good basis on which 
future legislative projects can build.

Rejection provides breathing space for new initiatives based on all the
knowledge gained during the last five years. All institutions are now 
fully aware of the concerns of all stakeholders. However, the fact that 
the Council Common Position needs 21 amendments in order to be 
transformed into a coherent piece of legislation indicates that the text 
is simply not ready to enter the Conciliation between Parliament, 
Commission and Council. We hope the Commission and Council will at least 
respond to the concerns raised by Parliament the next time, in order to 
avoid this sort of backlash in the future.

Jonas Maebe, FFII Board Member, comments on the outcome of today's vote:

"This result clearly shows that thorough analysis, genuinely concerned 
citizens and factual information have more impact than free ice-cream, 
boatloads of hired lobbyists and outsourcing threats. I hope this turn 
of events can give people new faith in the European decision making 
process. I also hope that it will encourage the Council and Commission 
to model after the European Parliament in terms of transparency and the 
ability of stakeholders to participate in the decision-making process 
irrespective of their size."

The FFII wishes to thank all those people who have taken the time to 
contact their representatives. We also thank the numerous volunteers who 
have so generously given their time and energy. This is your victory as 
well as the Parliament's.


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Background Information
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Free ice-cream for patentability
  http://wiki.ffii.org/CampIcecream050601En

Software patent lobbyists add boats to their arsenal
  http://lists.ffii.org/pipermail/news/2005-July/000297.html

Pictures of the boating
  http://gallery.ffii.org/Strasbourg050705

Permanent link to this press release
  http://wiki.ffii.org/PrReject050706En


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Contact Information
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Hartmut Pilch and Holger Blasum
FFII Munich Office
info at ffii.org
++49-89-18979927

Rufus Pollock
FFII UK
rufus.pollock at ffii.org.uk
+44-7795-176976

Jonas Maebe
FFII BE
jmaebe at ffii.org
+32-485-369645

Dieter Van Uytvanck
FFII BE
dietvu at village.uunet.be
+32-499-167010


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About FFII -- http://www.ffii.org
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The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) is a
non-profit association registered in several European countries, which
is dedicated to the spread of data processing literacy. The FFII
supports the development of public information goods based on
copyright, free competition, open standards. More than 600 members,
3,000 companies and 90,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act
as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion rights
(intellectual property) in data processing. The FFII maintains offices
in Munich and Brussels and national supporter groups in most European
countries.