Patents and Linux

[Paul Thomas]

On 17/05/2004 09:21 WipeOut wrote:
> Yes.. If the patent bills go through then it becomes law and anyone 
> breaking the law goes to jail..

Wrong. Check the law.

> Also mobalising people behind a cause is hard enough so the chances of 
> getting enough people behind it are pretty slim..

It seems to depend on which way the French vote. It could well go back to 
the European Parliament.

The UK seem to be sitting on the side-lines on this one as the proposed 
directive would require any liberalisation of UK patent law and UK patent 
law falls well short of the width of US patentability (anyone trying to 
tell you otherwise is either a fool, a liar or both).

My reading of the issue is that the EP amendments were sufficiently narrow 
to make some existing patents illegal and that's why they were dropped. Of 
course, this is by no means a as much fun as a conspiracy theory...

-- 
Paul Thomas
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