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[LUG] Open Source and Patents First Draft
I have spent alot of time today reading through the transcripts from
discussions relating to this issue. It seems that there have been
opinions expressed to the Voting MEPs by both the Industrial / Corporate
software development sector, Senior Patent office officials and
Academics. However during all of my reading I have not seen anything
that relates to the OSS community.
I have prepared a draft that covers some of the issues as I see them. I
would welcome your input and thoughts on this
Many Thanks
Rick
Issues surrounding Patent Law and Computer Programs.
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.
Subject Discussion thus far.
Much careful consideration has been applied to the debate surrounding
Patent Law. MEP's have sought much detailed advice from EU Corporate
Industry and Patent Law experts. This is a complicated area with
significant implications for both EU and World Economic growth.
Computer Software.
In recent years computer software has permiated every part of our lives,
few things in Human history have seen such exponential growth and
astounding technological advance. Computer software must be considered
very much as a facilitator in all aspects of our lives enhancing such
things as.
* Communications and global connectivity
* Performance in predictive modelling and number crunching
* Improving efficiency in Business models
* Enhancing our lives and removing repetitive roles
In all areas we should consider that software systems act as tools or
facilitators i.e they represent a means to an end.
Computing Hardware.
It is in the area of computing hardware that innovation has been hard at
work. In very few area's has the increase in performance and capacity
seen such incredible growth. These very changes in improved performance
and reduced cost has instigated the accelerated development of computer
software.
Corporate Software Development.
Companies such as IBM and Microsoft to 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 building upon previous developments. This in many ways has
improved the competitive ability of business and facilitated the growth
of globalisation and world trade.
Business requirements for Software.
Businesses are established and flourish based upon the concept of a
niche in the market. This niche maybe an area of new development or
based upon improving upon some area that other businesses in the field
have not capitalised upon. 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.
Open Source Software development.
The Open Source community has developed huge quantities of Computer
Software. Often emulating corporate computer software by developing
similarly featured software using alternative programming and
development techniques. One such technology 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. 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 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.
Problems presented by Patents to Open Source Software
The Open Source community often produces software with functionality and
features that are also produced by corporate software developers. In
addition much software takes the form of innovative and new concepts.
The Open Source community represents a large percentage of the global
software development resource. This is an enormous developer base with a
vast number of development projects. Software developements range from
super computing systems , Operating systems, Word processors and
Business Applications. Many research institutions also use Open Source
based systems, one example is Cambridge University where the Cosmology
department, the head of which is Professor Stephen Hawking, uses a
supercomputer which uses the Linux operating system which is a product
of the Open Source community.
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
* Methods and design, Similarly this would block OSS development.
* Discourage developers from working on OSS
* Reduce the ability of business to develop unique solutions for its
environment based upon OSS
* Stifle the continued development of OSS which in turn could slow
the development of software systems in general
Copyrights and Patents.
Copyrights have been used to protect the Intellectual Property of
software developers, whilst this mechanism has not been vastly effective
in preventing software piracy. It has ensured that the code and thus the
Intellectual Property of software developers is protected. This has also
presented a good guidance system by which the Open Source community has
been able to develop important software and systems without breaching
the rights or undermining the value of corporate software developers.
Care should be taken when considering patenting the functionality of
software, because this would effectively allow corporate developers to
monopolise the market for a particular feature or function.
Conclusion.
Clearly corporate software developers need mechanisms by which they can
protect there R&D investments and ensure that their is a level playing
field in the market place. Equally the Open Source community must be
considered in this complex equation. Both the OSS community and
corporate developers offer to facilitate users and business alike, with
their software and systems. Protecting the OSS community will ensure
that corporate developers continue to develop software that offers added
value that warrants the proprietory licenses and associated cost, and
will ensure that global business has greater choice in selecting
software appropriate to its requirements.
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