[Air-L] World Day Against Software Patents (24 September): Call now open for signatures

[jeremy hunsinger]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Fouad Bajwa <fouadbajwa at gmail.com>
> Date: September 2, 2008 4:15:20 AM EDT
> To: discuss at foss.mit.edu
> Subject: [F/OSS-Discuss] World Day Against Software Patents (24  
> September): Call now open for signatures
> Reply-To: Dicusssion list for Free/Open Source Software researchers <discuss at FOSS.mit.edu 
> >
>
> World Day Against Software Patents (24 September): Call now open for
> signatures (Benjamin Henrion)
>
> 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 400 000) at the EU level are outdated (notably on the issues of the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
>
> -- 
>
> Regards.
> --------------------------
> Fouad Bajwa
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