<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Francesco Potortì</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:pot@potorti.it">pot@potorti.it</a>></span><br>Date: 2009/2/4<br>
Subject: [Discussioni] appello contro i brevetti software<br>To: Discussioni sul software libero <<a href="mailto:discussioni@softwarelibero.it">discussioni@softwarelibero.it</a>><br><br><...><br>
<br>
------- Start of forwarded message -------<br>
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:17:00 +0100<br>
From: "FFII e.V." <<a href="mailto:stopsoftwarepatents@ffii.org">stopsoftwarepatents@ffii.org</a>><br>
Subject: Stopping Software Patents - let us make a difference in 2009<br>
<br>
Dear Francesco Potortì,<br>
<br>
we are contacting you as a signed supporter of the FFII. We highlight<br>
recent developments and ask you to endorse a new European petition at<br>
<br>
<a href="http://stopsoftwarepatents.eu/" target="_blank">http://stopsoftwarepatents.eu/</a><br>
<br>
If you do not want to receive infrequent updates from the FFII about<br>
crucial developments per email anymore, you can simply change your<br>
user/member status any time with your user-id copotort at<br>
<a href="https://aktiv.ffii.org" target="_blank">https://aktiv.ffii.org</a><br>
<br>
<br>
- -------------------- 2009 software patent petition --------------------<br>
<br>
Members of our community have once again developed a European petition<br>
to overcome the software patent crisis at<br>
<br>
<a href="http://stopsoftwarepatents.eu/" target="_blank">http://stopsoftwarepatents.eu/</a><br>
<br>
as a contribution to the European Year of Creativity and Innovation<br>
2009. The situation for software innovators remains cumbersome. European<br>
courts sometimes accept the validity of granted software patents. The<br>
campaign asks for clarifications to substantive patent law.<br>
<br>
A worldwide campaign site <a href="http://stopsoftwarepatents.org/" target="_blank">http://stopsoftwarepatents.org/</a> is also<br>
underway. Please contribute to our mailing list for software patents:<br>
<a href="https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/softwarepatents" target="_blank">https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/softwarepatents</a><br>
<br>
<br>
- ----------- Center Left lost trust in Commissioner McCreevy -----------<br>
<br>
Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy was a key defender of the<br>
software patent directive. Recently the PES group wrote an angry letter<br>
to Commission President Barroso because of McCreevy's alleged inadequate<br>
response to the financial crisis:<br>
<br>
"This is too much. Commissioner McCreevy's actions demonstrate a total<br>
absence of respect for the European Parliament, and appear to be more<br>
appropriate for a paid lobbyist of the finance industry than a European<br>
Commissioner.[..] We have lost trust and confidence in Commissioner<br>
McCreevy."<br>
<a href="http://www.pes.org/downloads/Letter_to_JMBarroso-16Dec08_EN.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.pes.org/downloads/Letter_to_JMBarroso-16Dec08_EN.pdf</a><br>
<br>
<br>
- ----------------------- Brimelow's Referral ---------------------------<br>
<br>
The European Patent Office moves towards a decision on its software<br>
patent granting practice. EPO President Brimelow has asked the Enlarged<br>
Board of Appeal (EBoA) to provide 'recommendations' concerning the<br>
crucial matter of technical character for the patentability of software.<br>
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/brimelow-referral" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/brimelow-referral</a><br>
<br>
<br>
- ------------------------ Czech Presidency -----------------------------<br>
<br>
The Presidency of the European Council rotated to the Czech Republic,<br>
which announced to prioritize on the community patent and the European<br>
central patent court.<br>
<a href="http://www.eu2009.cz/scripts/file.php?id=6226&down=yes" target="_blank">http://www.eu2009.cz/scripts/file.php?id=6226&down=yes</a><br>
<br>
Watch the presentation of our new President Benjamin Henrion at the<br>
25C3 conference about "Software Patents in Europe via the case law of a<br>
Central Court"<br>
<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/zoobab/stop-software-patents-25c3-presentation" target="_blank">http://www.slideshare.net/zoobab/stop-software-patents-25c3-presentation</a><br>
<a href="http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=SyC4nktJQbQ" target="_blank">http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=SyC4nktJQbQ</a><br>
<br>
<br>
- ------------------------ UK Symbian Case ------------------------------<br>
<br>
The UK-based company Symbian Ltd. appealed a decision which was against<br>
accepting the validity of one of its software related patent<br>
applications - which is about a dynamic linking at software compilation<br>
time. Mr Justice Patten ruled that the UKIPO was wrong rejecting it. The<br>
ruling of Mr Justice Patten can be read at<br>
<a href="http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/1066.html" target="_blank">http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/1066.html</a><br>
<br>
The UKIPO has already updated its practice notes regarding software<br>
patents:<br>
<a href="http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-patent/p-law/p-pn/p-pn-computer.htm" target="_blank">http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-patent/p-law/p-pn/p-pn-computer.htm</a><br>
<br>
<br>
- ----------------------------- ACTA ------------------------------------<br>
<br>
In 2008 the EU Commission started negotiations on an<br>
"Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement" (ACTA) with major trading<br>
partners. ACTA's procedural secrecy fuels concerns that the agreement<br>
may give 'patent trolls' the means to extort companies, and mandate<br>
surveillance of communication over the net. The FFII tries to formally<br>
obtain undisclosed documents.<br>
<br>
Our latest press releases <a href="http://tinyurl.com/7g4lyn" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/7g4lyn</a> and others are found<br>
on <a href="http://press.ffii.org/" target="_blank">http://press.ffii.org/</a> We send press releases always to a dedicated<br>
distribution list you can join at<br>
<a href="http://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/news" target="_blank">http://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/news</a><br>
<br>
<br>
- -------- Agreement between Microsoft and the Greek government ---------<br>
<br>
On February 2006, the Greek government and Microsoft announced a<br>
strategic partnership agreement. At least 6 questions by the parliament<br>
remained unanswered by the government. On January 2008, the government<br>
passed the law. The FFII Greece and the Hellenic Linux Users Group filed<br>
a complaint to the European Commission, which is still under<br>
investigation. See the full story at<br>
<a href="http://www.ffii.gr/ms-gov-agreement-en" target="_blank">http://www.ffii.gr/ms-gov-agreement-en</a><br>
<br>
<br>
- ------------------------ European Disney Act --------------------------<br>
<br>
The European Commission proposed to retroactively extend the copyright<br>
protection for recordings from 50 to 95 years. The European Parliament<br>
discusses the proposal under Rapporteur Brian Crowley<br>
<a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=5667672" target="_blank">http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=5667672</a><br>
<br>
The record industry supports the proposal but a British campaign finds<br>
it counterproductive:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.openrightsgroup.org/" target="_blank">http://www.openrightsgroup.org/</a><br>
<br>
Petition: <a href="http://www.soundcopyright.eu/petition" target="_blank">http://www.soundcopyright.eu/petition</a><br>
<br>
Event in Brussels (27.1.2009): <a href="http://soundcopyright.eventbrite.com/" target="_blank">http://soundcopyright.eventbrite.com/</a><br>
<br>
Entertaining video: How copyright term extention actually works:<br>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kijON_XODUk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kijON_XODUk</a><br>
<br>
The FFII General Assembly hold the view that copyright is an effective<br>
and accurate form of ownership for software, though the life+70 duration<br>
was considered far too long for software. The GA 2008 wants the<br>
association to take a strong stance against any attempt to use author's<br>
rights to attack the infrastructure of the net.<br>
<br>
<br>
- ------------------- SPLT (Substantive Patent Law Treaty) --------------<br>
<br>
For years there have been WIPO deliberations for harmonization of<br>
substantive patent law. It was reaffirmed in the 2008 Japan G8 meeting:<br>
<a href="http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2008/doc/doc080709_01_en.html" target="_blank">http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2008/doc/doc080709_01_en.html</a><br>
"reaffirm the importance of global patent harmonization<br>
and expanding international patent collaboration, including<br>
accelerated discussions on the Substantive Patent Law Treaty;"<br>
<br>
The FFII has observer status at WIPO and is monitoring these<br>
developments.<br>
<br>
<br>
- ------------------------ FFII mailing list reform ---------------------<br>
<br>
The FFII has the fame to comprise key technologists from all across<br>
Europe but administrate an idiosyncratic mailing list infrastructure. We<br>
have seen a need to cut our wild grown lists and have added new thematic<br>
open mailing lists:<br>
<br>
* Software Patenting:<br>
<a href="https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/softwarepatents/" target="_blank">https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/softwarepatents/</a><br>
<br>
* Biopatenting:<br>
<a href="https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/biopatents/" target="_blank">https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/biopatents/</a><br>
<br>
* Transparency and Access to Public Documents<br>
<a href="https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/transparency/" target="_blank">https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/transparency/</a><br>
<br>
* Free and Open Source Software<br>
<a href="https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/floss/" target="_blank">https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/floss/</a><br>
<br>
* Network Regulation and Filtering:<br>
<a href="https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/netreg/" target="_blank">https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/netreg/</a><br>
<br>
* Privacy and Data Retention<br>
<a href="https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/privacy/" target="_blank">https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/privacy/</a><br>
<br>
* SaaS, TIO and the Cloud<br>
<a href="https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/tio/" target="_blank">https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/tio/</a><br>
<br>
Please join the lists you are interested in and contribute!<br>
<br>
<br>
- --------------------------------- Quote -------------------------------<br>
<br>
"The current 'patent thicket,' in which anyone who writes a successful<br>
software programme is sued for alleged patent infringement, highlights<br>
the current IP system's failure to encourage innovation"<br>
- - Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel Laureate in Economics)<br>
<a href="http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1129" target="_blank">http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1129</a><br>
<br>
<br>
- ---------------------------- About the FFII ---------------------------<br>
<br>
The FFII is a not-for-profit association active in over fifty countries,<br>
dedicated to the development of information goods for the public<br>
benefit, based on copyright, free competition, and open standards. More<br>
than 850 members, 3,500 companies and 100,000 supporters have entrusted<br>
the FFII to act as their voice in public policy questions concerning<br>
exclusion rights (intellectual property) in data processing.<br>
<br>
<br>
- ----------------------- How to support the FFII ----------------------<br>
<br>
The FFII is divided in working groups. We welcome new active people in<br>
our working groups which are listed at<br>
<a href="https://action.ffii.org" target="_blank">https://action.ffii.org</a><br>
<br>
If you consider our work important but you are not able to help<br>
actively, you can become a passive sustaining member of the FFII,<br>
starting at 15 EUR per year. See<br>
<a href="http://action.ffii.org/member_application" target="_blank">http://action.ffii.org/member_application</a><br>
<br>
Donations are also welcome. See <a href="https://ffii.org/Donations" target="_blank">https://ffii.org/Donations</a><br>
<br>
<br>
- ------------------------- How to contact us --------------------------<br>
<br>
FFII e.V.<br>
Blutenburgstr. 17<br>
80636 Munich<br>
Germany<br>
<br>
<a href="https://www.ffii.org" target="_blank">https://www.ffii.org</a><br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:office@ffii.org">office@ffii.org</a><br>
<br>
Tel. +49 30 417 22 597<br>
Fax: +49 30 417 22 597<br>
IRC: #bxl-ffii @ <a href="http://irc.freenode.net" target="_blank">irc.freenode.net</a><br>
Blogs: <a href="http://planet.ffii.org/" target="_blank">http://planet.ffii.org/</a><br>
<br>
Tax number: 143 / 843 / 17600 at the German tax office in Munich.<br>
IBAN: DE78701500000031112097, SWIFT/BIC: SSKMDEMM<br>
<br>
<br>
- --<br>
Yours sincerely,<br>
Ivan F. Villanueva B.<br>
on behalf of the FFII e.V.<br>
------- End of forwarded message -------<br>
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</div><br><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Homepage: <a href="http://www.mithenks.com">http://www.mithenks.com</a><br>Slackware GNU/Linux User since 2003<br>Registered Linux User #383379<br>Registered Linux Machine #391361<br>