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On Saturday 05 July 2003 19:40, you wrote: > However during > all of my reading I have not seen anything that relates to the > OSS community. That surprises me. > Purpose of this document > > This document sets out to investigate the implications of > amendments to EU Patent Law on the continued development of > Computer Software in the Open Source Community. Further to > this it seeks to review how a Patent Law amendment can balance > the requirements of EU Industry in protecting its rights to > ownership of Software it develops. Consideration is given to > the present ability of copyright law, and as to how changes to > Patent Law can marry together the needs of both the Open > Source community and that of corporate industry. And EU/EC and national policy, no? And possibly the public sector as distinct from corporate industry (whose needs or wishes may include selling the same thing every three years to teh public secotr <g>) > Companies such as IBM and Microsoft to name but a few ----------------------------------------------------------^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ style: leave out name but a few > have > deployed much resource into the development of software > systems that facilitate both the independent user and > corporate users alike. Developing new concepts and also ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^comma^^^^^ > building upon previous developments. > of a niche in the market. This niche maybe an area of new ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^may be ^^^^ > development or based upon improving upon some area that other > businesses in the field have not capitalised upon. ^^^^^^ exploited, seized entered grasped serviced rather than capitalised (my preference rather than any rule) This > identifies the factor that whilst there are many similarities > in businesses, each individual business has unique properties > and thus has unique requirements for its software systems. It > is these unique requirements that have actively produced a > development platform for software development. > ^^^^^^ this ha been a long argument to get to here, and we are only just about to get to the meat. > Open Source Software development. > > The Open Source community has developed huge quantities of > Computer Software. Often emulating corporate computer software ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ comma ^^^ > by developing similarly featured software using alternative > programming and development techniques. One such technology ^^^^^ technologies plural I think > that owes its very presence to the Open Source community is > the Internet. The internet has become an everyday part of our > lives and is now an important aspect of all businesses across > the glode. ^^ tyou mean to assert that the Internet comes about from, runs becuase of, and would not present us with its benefits were it not for, the Open Source method of development and management of intellectual property and copyright Not everyone would spot that unless it is actually said. > Open Source software offers the following features > to business. > > * Software is provided with all the source code, enabling > modification where required > * Freedom to distribute and use the software however it > sees fit without license or restriction > It is of vital importance that the Open Source community be > protected in its pursuit of software development. The OSS > community is a body of volunteers, some are professional > software developers Some are drafted by their companies, and this is in this argument a positive feature. > and some are gifted amateurs who wish to > put their talents to good use. In more recent times coporate > enterprise and business has also joined the ranks of the OSS > community enhancing features and developing bespoke solutions > to suit their requirements and then releasing this work back > to the community for others to use and benefit from. > As a result of its voluntary nature the OSS community has > little funding. This prevents the OSS commuity from marketing > itself resulting in a low profile within the industry and a > quieter voice in public discussion. ^^^ it is a grassroots movement and activity > Problems presented by Patents to Open Source Software > Patenting software presents the following issues for Open > Source software development. > > * Functions of software are patented, this would stop Open > Source software from providing these functions I'm not sure it does. It may prevent (unreasonably I'd say) a company using and distributing a FLOSS soluttion to something. The worst thing seems to be the chilling effect of patents which are quite likely not to stand up but where individual OSS developers have little prospect of either searching exhaustively or proeprly defending their actions against a large company and patent lawyers. If judgement is not practically available, then justice will not be done. Another area of trouble is in integration. Patented algorithms may become hostages, not actually doing anything themselves, and not beneifiting society as the intention of patents is, but impeding the characteristic activity in software engineering of integration of varied compoenents to support some specific activity. THis points back to a medieval trade guild, and their conspiracy against the public. University and comp sci teaching as well ... -- From the Linux desktops of Dr Adrian Midgley http://www.defoam.net/ -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe.