Software Innovation : an engineer point of view

http://petition.eurolinux.org/aalborg
CEO Nexedi SARL
VP AFUL / EuroLinux
EuroLinux
Dr. Eng. Jean-Paul Smets-Solanes
Software Innovation : an engineer point of view
EuroLinux : Largest Software Innovator in Europe
500
Researchers
Cambridge Research Lab.
Source: Microsoft Research Web Site
55
Everyone
Microsoft
30 % Proprietary Software
70% Open Source / Free Software
7 000
120 000
Members
Consultants
500 000
Everyone
Customers
Users
EuroLinux
EuroLinux : Largest Software Innovator in Europe
3.2% EuroLinux software made in DK
(1.6% EU population)
Jens Axboe
Kai Harrekilde-Petersen
Niels Kristian Bech Jensen
Torben Mathiasen
Henrik Storner
EuroLinux = the European Software Giant we always wanted
Multimedia: Blender, mplayer, Gnomemeeting, vlc
Security: ssh, gpg, ipsec free s/wan
Internet: KMail, Konqueror
Productivity: KOffice
Development: Qt, KDevelop, Python
Database: MySQL
OS: Linux Mandrake, SuSE Linux
Software Made by EuroLinux Members
freedom to innovate
EuroLinux believes in copyright and
competition and open standards
Interoperability principle: creates the ground for fair
protection of the implementation of software ideas
Source code secrecy: provides a kind of industrial
innovate from common ideas.
protected, not ideas of software. Everyone is free to
Copyright-like protection of Software: software is
EuroLinux believes in Copyright and Fair Competition
Sorry, now you read that, no insurance will protect you...
Sorry, I do not know how to get a license
likely infringing
patented in Europe, please read EP0895689 which you are
M. Bendtsen, since you believe that software can be legaly
URGENT
Software Patents Destroy Software Innovation
50.000 EU Patents held by US companies waiting to attack
Legal Risk is Too High for Innovators to keep on Innovating
Software Patents destroy the Interoperability Principle
for ASF in VirtualDub 1.3d, since I cannot risk a legal confrontation.
strange. At his request, and much to my own sadness, I have removed support
asked for the specific patent numbers, since I find patenting a file format a bit
the implementation was still illegal since it infringed on Microsoft patents. I have
rights on the ASF format and told me that, although I had reverse engineered it,
Windows Media group. He informed me that Microsoft has intellectual property
Today I received a polite phone call from a fellow at Microsoft who works in the
5/12/00: VirtualDub released, ASF support removed at request of Microsoft
I received a letter from...
(except in DK where it is against)
Consumers never taken into account
80% Patent Salesmen in favour of Software Patents
80% Software Salesmen against Software Patents
Commissariat au Plan 2002 (France)
Fraunhofer 2001 (Germany)
IPR-HELPDESK 2001 (EU)
UKPTO 2000 (UK)
Oz 1998 (USA)
Académie des technologiess 2001 (France)
DG Entreprise (EU)
DG-MKT 2001 (EU)
80% Software Companies Against Software Patents
the Rome Treaty
Lévêque/Dupuis/Tardieu 2001
Legalizing Software Patents in Europe is incompatible with
Smets 2000
Fraunhofer 2001
IPR Helpdesk 2001
DG-MKT 2001
IPI 2000
Bessen/Maskin 2000
Kortum/Lerner 1999
Hunt 1999
Tamai 1998
Waterson/Ireland 1998
Economists: Software Patents Destroy Soft. Innovation
make better washing machines
Improving the organisation of a factory can be enough to
FR28160816
see also.
PCT/NL95/00147
Fixing the Software Patent System
Subsidies
Improvement examination
Public patent fund
Cost of typical public policy
Cultural effect
Anticompetitive effect
0,5 à 4 GEuro / an
> 1,3 à 40 GEuro / an
http://swpat.ffii.org/stidi/pleji/
Price increase > 1% à 30%
Cost for society
The cost of software patents on the society
We can still decide the way we want to go...
There is no need to legalize software patents
EPO Software Patents are hardly enforceable in EU
preparatory works
incompatible with Art. 22 EPC and inconsistent with EPC
EPO decision on software patent subject matter
2000)
Not enforceable in case of trial (France 1975, Germany
(1977) or Benkard (1988)
Software innovation is not technical in the sense of Kolle
Software Patents are Illegal in Europe
Incompatible with TRIPS
Impossible
Best solution
Patent Insurance (Laffitte 90s)
No Software patents for now
Short & Weak Models of Utility, Sui Generic Rights
Incompatible with patent salesmen
(proposed by
French companies incl. Matra)
Short & Weak Patents (proposed by a group of large
Fixing the patent System
Software Patents = Limitless Patents for the Service Industry
patent)
software patents and escape taxes (> 100 KEUR / year /
Any commercial activity can export its profits through
be paid
Switzerland, Netherlands or Luxemburg where no taxes will
Patents filed in Denmark, France etc. and moved to Ireland,
the proposed EC directive
implemented by software running on a computer satisfies
the proposed directive: any innovative business method
Anything running on a computer is technical according to
Software Patents : the End of Corporate Taxes
Patent salesmen are taking a high risk
The proposed directive will lead to massive fiscal evasion
through Ireland, Luxemburg and the Netherland
Writers of the proposed directive have considered the point
of view of economists as irrelevant (but not the point of
view of patent salesmen)
The proposed directive goes against the wishes of the vast
economic majority of European Software businesses and
European Software Engineers
The proposed directive would destroy software innovation
and interoperability in Europe
The proposed directive on software patents consists in
legalizing the illegal and obscure practice of the EPO
Conclusion