[Asterisk-Users] Digium and mailing lists

[Steven Critchfield]

On Fri, 2004-10-01 at 14:47, Kevin Walsh wrote:
> Steve Underwood [steveu at coppice.org] wrote:
> > Kevin Walsh wrote:
> > > Software patents are generally patents on ideas and/or mathematical
> > > algorithms, both of which are not patentable in a lot of countries, and
> > > rightly so. 
> > > 
> > > If you were trying to express the opinion that the G.729 patents are
> > > somehow enforceable in the free world then you need to work on
> > > expressing your opinions a little more clearly - and preferably with
> > > some justification. 
> > > 
> > Why the heck would you expect a signal processing patent to be a problem
> > in any country with patent laws? How does software come into this, at
> > all? The commonest realisation of these things right now is on
> > programmable processors. They are also realised in pure, non
> > programmable, hardware as well. Do you think that by some magic a
> > technique becomes a free for all, just because you implement it in
> > software? Would you see any problem with patenting the hardware
> > realisation of the same things?
> >
> I seem to remember you asking several people to do some research
> before asking dumb questions.  It's probably about time for me to
> suggest that you take your own advice.
> 
> If you do, you'll find that "signal processing" algorithms, in fact
> all forms of mathematics, are NOT PATENTABLE in the free world.
> (Americans don't understand freedom.)

Temper your generalizations please. Some Americans understand it just
fine. Look at efforts by groups such as the EFF and PUBPAT for trying to
fix the insanity.

BTW, go look at 
http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/patents/database/pat-list.pdf


Under this I see where patents from the US have licensing declarations
stating they have counterparts in Canada, France, Germany, GB, Japan,
Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Taiwan, Austria,
Australia, Hong Kong, 

Hell I see a patent on "System for coding wide-band audio signals" from
Italy, number 1232084.

One from France, Number INPI 95 00133, looks like applied for but not
granted when this document was created.

NTT from Japan has a patent on "Speech coding and decoding methods and
apparatus for the same", Europe number 577 488.

Where is this free world you speak of. Closest I can think is somewhere
where the laws aren't being enforced. Thats not true freedom but closer
to anarchy. 
-- 
Steven Critchfield <critch at basesys.com>