@Jack,
> Works really well for thieves....
Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally irrelevant, even it were...
Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport.
I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...
Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...
Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly?
I thought perhaps it was something to do with...
Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...
"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...
Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...
And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick...
Kubuntu is late.
Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions.
cf.:...
@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...
Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...
Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...
"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system."
Point truly missed. Both use a...
whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article.
I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...
If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...
I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....
How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...
@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...
The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel.
The first bug that I found was applying the median...
Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...
I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...
Talkback
Firstly, the EPO does not grant "software patents" - it grants patents for some inventions that use software, but that is a different thing entirely. In fact, inventions that relate to software 'as such' are explicitly excluded. (This is very much in contrast to the situation in the US, where software is very much patentable).
Secondly, this is already approved in the law of the UK and other European countries. In fact, all EC member states except Malta are members of the EPO (Malta is a candidate country) and have to bring their national patent law in line with the European Patent Convention (in most areas, including the patentability of software, at least). There are some minor discrepancies in the way that this is implemented, which is why the Computer Implemented Inventions Directive was proposed. Unfortunately, the process was hijacked by those on both sides of the argument, through very heavy lobbying and spreading of misinformation.
The European Patent Convention (EPC) prohibits sw patents already, what's the confusion? Why not work from that base?
"Firstly, the EPO does not grant "software patents"
Pffft! I doubt there's *anyone* who could still believe such absurd lies but one can always check the EPO patent database for oneself or look at these:
http://webshop.ffii.de/index.en.html
http://swpat.ffii.org/patents/samples/index.en.html
If you are an especially naive patent attorney or patent troll whose business might be damaged by heeding such mischievous fantasies:
http://www.mofo.com/news/updates/files/update141.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/ebooks/B000BCQ36W/reviews/104-8386725-2487104#b000bcq36w2300
" - it grants patents for some inventions that use software, but that is a different thing entirely."
Oh yes! If the software might be intended to be run on a computer - God forbid any programmer should do such an extraordinary thing - then it is patentable:
http://www.european-patent-office.org/legal/gui_lines/e/c_iv_2_3_6.htm
"In fact, inventions that relate to software 'as such' are explicitly excluded. (This is very much in contrast to the situation in the US, where software is very much patentable)."
"Even modern technologies such as software are subject to widely unified treatment. Only when it comes to the very cutting-edge of the latest, controversial decisions can differences be discovered; most notable is the holding in State Street as opposed to that in Pension Benefits."
http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/articles/2003dltr0006.html
"Unfortunately, the process was hijacked by those on both sides of the argument, through very heavy lobbying and spreading of misinformation."
There was hijacking and misinformation alright - but from one side only: the side responsible for the "legal casuistry" of the Directive itself and whose despicable lobbyists were reported to the EU anti-fraud commissioner.
http://eescopinions.esc.eu.int/EESCopinionDocument.aspx?identifier=ces\int\int145\ces1031-2002_ac.doc&language=EN
http://www.epip.ruc.dk/Papers/ROSSI_Paper.pdf
http://www.corporateeurope.org/lobbycracy/prc4c.html
It's depressing to see the liars, extremists and parasites still at work in Europe, but in the UK at least, we have some wise and intellligent Judges:
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2005/1589.html
Should we be surprised that once set on a particular objective bureaucrats (of any flavour) will not seek for a way to circumvent the wishes of an elected assembly. Reliance on our judiciary to provide any safeguards is wishful thinking. At the end of the day the European court will side with the bureacrats - their jobs depended on doing that.
95% of all people including companys don't want this pantent shit. So if this gies through. Well then EU is dead.
After that everyone can say that EU that is equal to China. And for all who wants to be reelected for a new period. Forget it. You will rather recive rotten eggs and tomatoes. You are not welcome here anymore.
Lazy journalism. Florian Mueller cries "wolf" and ZDnet print the story. The Community Patent proposal is pretty much dead right now, despite a throwaway reference in an EC document.
The Commission has had the goal of bringing a Community Patent into force for a long time, but if the journalist had bothered to check, there is no hope of agreement by the countries on a number of issues and there is no momentum right now to bring it into force.
And the story is basred on putre scaremongering. If there was a Community Patent it simply means that instead of the EPO granting a patent for a computer implemented invention for the countries individually, it would grant a single patent for the EU members as a whole. The software patent issue is a red herring.
As long as patents and anything that has to do with them in whole hasn't been thoroughly checked and put and kept in place as agreed upon across the board there will be holes left that will be exploited by lobbiest and other commercially motivated parties. And these will be holes with high potential yet totally overseen by the misinformed and misguided (political) decision makers.
As usual the devil is in the details. And as long as politicians don't get that there's absolutely no need for a singularity with enough force to impact the whole of Europa in one blow. Which is a crying shame in itself because a united Europa, yet with leadership that knows how to deal with all the rotten and dirty business tricks in the world, would be a force that the rest of the world will have to pay attention to.
Thing is that there's a world of difference between what was said, what was agreed upon, what was understood, what was done, how things turned out, etc, etc.