[Discussioni][Fwd: Petition on software patentability / European Parliament]

[Emanuele Olivetti]

Vi giro un messaggio che la direttrice dell'istituto di ricerca
in cui lavoro ha trasmesso a noi dopo che avevo scritto a tutti
una lettera di sensibilizzazione al problema dei brevetti
software.

C'e' la segnalazione di Philippe Aigrain che la votazione al
Parlamento Europeo sara' il 23 (non il 22).

E' corretta questa data?

Ciao,
						Emanuele
						Olivetti

----- Forwarded message from Luigia Carlucci aiello <aiello a dis.uniroma1.it> -----

Subject: Fwd: Petition on software patentability / European Parliament
From: Luigia Carlucci aiello <aiello a dis.uniroma1.it>

Faccio seguito al messaggi di Olivetti
LCA

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Philippe Aigrain <philippe.aigrain a wanadoo.fr>
> Date: Fri Sep 5, 2003  18:16:08 Europe/Rome
> Cc: **[cut]**
> Dear signatories of the Petition to the European Parliament,
>
> Here is an update on the Parliament proceedings and the follow-up to 
> the petition:
>
> - After several postponements, the plenary vote in Parliament is 
> likely to occur on 23 September 2003. In the legal affairs committee 
> several bad amendments were voted: introduction of software claims 
> that expose every software developer or distributor to litigation 
> claims, weak definition of "technical" opening the door to a wide 
> perimeter of patentability. A good amendment was also voted that 
> creates states -with some precaution - that interoperability purposes 
> do not constitute infringement of patented techniques. However, the 
> vote of this JURI committee does not represent the final outcome. 
> Things can go much better or much worse in the pleanry vote. There is 
> a strong mobilisation inside and outside the Parliament for pushing 
> amendments that limit the scope of patentability to the control of 
> physical effects for purposes other than representing information, and 
> for rejecting software claims. There is also a mobilisation of the 
> pro-patent lobbies in order to keep software claims and reject the 
> interoperability exception.
>
> - In this context a press conference will organised by the Green/ALE 
> group in co-operation with other groups on Wednesday 17 September in 
> Brussels. There will be a video-conference with a keynote speaker 
> (Linus Torvald or Tim Berners-Lee), plus a presentation of your 
> petition, and a presentation of an open letter from economists that 
> conclude to similar rejection of officialising patentability 
> (www.researchineurope.org). A well-known signatory of the petition is 
> needed to present it. I will contact you individually to enquire about 
> your willingness to come.
>
> - On the other follow-up to the petition: it was published in many 
> National newspapers and specialised information channels, often thanks 
> to some signing person initiatives. It was republished in a special 
> issue of UPGRADE on "Open Knowledge" and its various languages 
> editions (Upgrade is the journal of CEPIS, the Council of European 
> Professional Informatics Societies: 
> http://www.upgrade-cepis.org/issues/2003/3/upgrade-vIV-3.html
> and this had some effect on on-going debates in various countries.
> The petition is likely to be debated in the Committee of Petitions of 
> the Parliamenty on 30 September 2003 ... one week after the vote. I 
> will be present if this materialises.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Philippe Aigrain
>
> Philippe Aigrain wrote:
>
>> Do not "reply to all"!
>> I have just submitted the petition to the European Parliament, using 
>> their on-line submission service.
>> PDF English and French versions can be downloaded from the following 
>> temporary URLs:
>> http://users.skynet.be/philippe.aigrain/petition-en.pdf
>> http://users.skynet.be/philippe.aigrain/petition-fr.pdf
>>
>> It was submitted by me "on behalf of 30 leading European computer and 
>> software scientists".
>>
>> Note that I took the freedom to correct a small discrepancy between 
>> the French and English versions by precising "make impossible ... any 
>> patenting of ... <software> interaction between human being and 
>> computers. The world software was missing in the English version, and 
>> it could be perceived excessive to reject patentability of specific 
>> physical interaction devices.
>>
>> The pure text version of the petition is below. Feel free to 
>> publicise it (for instance to the press). In doing so, it is 
>> preferable to omit the addresses and email addresses (so as to avoid 
>> any spamming).
>>
>> Thanks to all. Note that I will be away from cyberspace for the next 
>> 2 weeks.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Philippe Aigrain
>> --------------------------------------------
>> Petition to the European Parliament
>>
>> From 1997, the European Patent Office has initiated and generalised 
>> the granting of patents for algorithms, software ideas, data 
>> structures and information processing methods. In a directive 
>> proposal on 20 February 2002, the European Commission proposed to 
>> officialise this abuse, presenting it as a status quo. In fact, this 
>> is a considerable extension of scope of patentability, in breach of 
>> the spirit of the European Patent Convention that excludes from 
>> patentability mathematical methods, computer programs and 
>> presentations of information.
>>
>> The signatories are scientists and software innovators, each of which 
>> has contributed at his level to the extraordinary development of 
>> information technology. We draw the attention of the Members of the 
>> European Parliament to the danger that would arise from accepting the 
>> text proposed by the Commission as it stands. Acceptance of 
>> patentability of algorithms, of principles of software, of 
>> information processing methods or of data structures is scandalous 
>> from the view point of ethics, economically unjustified and harmful, 
>> would impact adversely scientific and technical innovation, and puts 
>> democracy at danger.
>>
>> It is ethically scandalous, because in today's world, knowledge, 
>> information and ideas can not be separated from their technical 
>> representations and the software that manipulate them. It would allow 
>> patent offices to further develop the giant auctioning of the domain 
>> of ideas and knowledge, when this domain was always considered as a 
>> precious common good, that can not be turned in anyone's property.
>>
>> It is economically unjustified, because the very arguments that have 
>> been used to justify patents for mechanical and chemical industries, 
>> or more generally manufacturing, do not apply in anyway to software. 
>> No need for software of those monopolies without which one could 
>> hesitate to build a production plant. Manufacturing can very well 
>> continue to patent their technical devices, whether or not they 
>> include software components, as have done for decades. But this 
>> protection must not be extended to software. Copyright protection for 
>> software has allowed the development of huge industries, without any 
>> need for patents. They would be not only useless, but also extremely 
>> harmful, because they would cast in concrete the so powerful 
>> oligopolies that naturally emerge in information-based industries, 
>> when we need on the contrary new instruments to create more 
>> competition.
>>
>> In the field of software and information, scientific and technical 
>> innovation needs the open exchange of ideas and knowledge more than 
>> anything, in contrast to the land grab of ideas. Patents would 
>> institute a giant tax on innovation, feeding a system out of control, 
>> servant of established positions.
>>
>> It puts democracy at danger, since the tools of public expression, of 
>> debate, of media, of public consultation are critically dependent on 
>> software. How can one imagine to create private monopoly statute for 
>> this essential basis of tomorrow's democracy ?
>>
>> Patent offices and some technocrats of intellectual property have 
>> demonstrated an imagination without limits in order to justify the 
>> auctioning of what belongs to the public against the spirit of their 
>> charter. We urge the Members of the European Parliament, whatever 
>> their party affiliation, to adopt a text that will make impossible, 
>> clearly, for today and tomorrow, any patenting of the underlying 
>> ideas of software (or algorithms), of information processing methods, 
>> of representations of information and data, and of interaction 
>> between human beings and computers.
>>
>> - André Arnold, Professeur d'Informatique, LaBRI, Domaine 
>> Universitaire, 351, cours de la Libération, F-33405 Talence Cedex, 
>> France, arnold a labri.fr
>> - Henk Barendregt, Prof.dr, Foundations of Mathematics and Computer 
>> Science, Faculty of Science, Toernooiveld 1, NL-6525 ED Nijmegen, The 
>> Netherlands, henk a cs.kun.nl
>> - Jan A. Bergstra, Instituut Informatica, University of Amsterdam, 
>> Informatics Institute, Kruislaan 403, NL-1098 SJ Amsterdam, The 
>> Netherlands, janb a science.uva.nl
>> - Mark van den Brand, General Secretary of the European Association 
>> for Programming Languages and Systems, Centrum voor Wiskunde en 
>> Informatica, Department of Software Engineering, P.O. Box 94079, 
>> NL-1090 GB Amsterdam,The Netherlands, Mark.van.den.Brand a cwi.nl
>> - Maurice Bruynooghe, Editor in Chief of Theory and Practice of Logic 
>> Programming, Professor, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Departement 
>> Computerwetenschappen Celestijnenlaan 200 A, B-3001 Heverlee, België, 
>> Maurice.Bruynooghe a cs.kuleuven.ac.be
>> - Luigia Carlucci Aiello, AAAI and ECCAI Fellow, Full Professor of 
>> Computer Science, Dipartimento di Informatica e Sistemistica, Via 
>> Salaria 113, I-00198 Roma, Italy, aiello a dis.uniroma1.it
>> - Bruno Courcelle, Professeur d'Informatique, Vice-Président de 
>> l'Université Bordeaux I, LaBRI, Domaine Universitaire, 351, cours de 
>> la Libération, F-33405 Talence Cedex, France, courcell a labri.fr
>> - Pierre-Louis Curien, Directeur de Recherches au CNRS, Directeur de 
>> l'UMR Preuves, Programmes et Systèmes,  Université Denis Diderot Case 
>> 7014, 2 Place Jussieu, F-75251 PARIS Cedex 05, France, 
>> Pierre-Louis.Curien a pps.jussieu.fr
>> - Philippe Flajolet, Prize Award 1986, Corresponding Member of the 
>> French Academy of Sciences, Member Academia Europaea, and Dr Honoris 
>> Causa, Brussels, Directeur de recherches, INRIA, Domaine de Voluceau, 
>> Rocquencourt, B.P.105, F-78153 Le Chesnay Cedex, France, 
>> Philippe.Flajolet a inria.fr
>> - Maurizio Gabrielli, Professor of Computer Science, Dipartimento di 
>> Scienze dell'Informazione, Università di Bologna,  Mura Anteo Zamboni 
>> 7, I-40127 Bologna, Italy, gabbri a cs.unibo.it
>> - Manuel Hermenegildo, Full Professor, Departamento de Inteligencia 
>> Artificial, Facultad de Informatica, Universidas Politecnica de 
>> Madrid, E-28660 Boadilla del Monte, Spain, herme a fi.upm.es
>> - Gérard Huet, Member of the French Academy of Sciences, Member 
>> Academia Europaea, Herbrand Award  1997, Directeur de recherches, 
>> INRIA, Domaine de Voluceau, Rocquencourt, B.P.105, F-78153 Le Chesnay 
>> Cedex, France, Gerard.Huet a inria.fr
>> - Neil Jones, ACM Fellow, Full professor of Computer Science, 
>> University of Copenhagen, Bukkeballevej 88, DK-2960 Rungsted Kyst, 
>> DENMARK, neil a diku.dk
>> - Paul Klint, Prof. Dr., President of the Board of the European 
>> Association for Programming Languages and Systems, Head of Department 
>> of Software Engineering, Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica ,  P.O. 
>> Box 94079, NL-1090 GB Amsterdam,The Netherlands, Paul.Klint a cwi.nl
>> - Herbert Kuchen, Prof. Dr., Westfäliche Wilhems-Universität Münster, 
>> Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik, Leonardo Campus 3, D-48149 
>> Münster, Germany, kuchen a uni-muenster.de
>> - Markus Kuhn, Lecturer, University of Cambridge, Computer 
>> Laboratory, William Gates Building, 15 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge 
>> CB3 0FD, UK, mgk25 a cl.cam.ac.uk
>> - Jean-Jacques Lévy, Directeur de Recherches, INRIA, Domaine de 
>> Voluceau-Rocquencourt, B.P. 105, F-78153 Le Chesnay, France, 
>> Jean-Jacques.Levy a inria.fr . Also Professeur à L'Ecole Polytechnique.
>> - Ramon Lopez de Mantaras, ECCAI Fellow, European AI Award, Full 
>> Research Professor, IIIA - Artificial Intelligence Research 
>> Institute, CSIC - Spanish Scientific Research Council, Campus 
>> Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, 
>> Spain, mantaras a iiia.csic.es
>> - Alan Mycroft, Reader, University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory, 
>> William Gates Building, 15 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0FD, UK, 
>> am a cl.cam.ac.uk
>> - Robin Milner, Turing Award 1991, Fellow of the Royal Society of 
>> London, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Founding Member of 
>> Academia Europaea, Holder of six honorary doctorates from five 
>> countries, Winner of Italgas Award 1991, Ex-head of the Computer 
>> Laboratory, Cambridge University, University of Cambridge, Computer 
>> Laboratory, William Gates Building, 15 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge 
>> CB3 0FD, UK, Robin.Milner a cl.cam.ac.uk
>> - Ugo Montanari, Professor, Dipartimento di Informatica, Università 
>> di Pisa, Corso Italia 40, I-56125 Pisa, Italy, ugo a di.unipi.it
>> - Maurice Nivat, EACTS Award 2002, 
>> (http://www.eatcs.org/Activities/Awards/eatcs_award2002.html), 10 av 
>> Chardonnerets, F-95570 Attainville, France,  mnivat a wanadoo.fr
>> - Bengt Nordstrom, Professor, Department of Computing Science, 
>> Chalmers University of Technology, S-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden
>> - Brian Randell, Emeritus Professor, and Senior Research 
>> Investigator, School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle 
>> upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK, brian.randell a ncl.ac.uk
>> - Willem-Paul de Roever, Prof. Dr., chair of Software Technology, 
>> Institut für Informatik und Prakt. Mathematik, 
>> Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Preusserstrasse 1-9, D-24098 
>> Kiel, Germany, wpr a informatik.uni-kiel.de
>> - Lorenza Saitta, ECCAI Fellow, Full Professor of Computer Science, 
>> Dipartimento of Informatica, Università Amedeo Avogadro, Spalto 
>> Marengo, 33, I-15100 Alessandria, Italy, saitta a mfn.unipmn.it
>> - Géraud Sénizergues, Godel Prize 2002, Professeur d'Informatique, 
>> LaBRI, Domaine Universitaire, 351, cours de la Libération, F-33405 
>> Talence Cedex, France, ges a labri.fr
>> - Carsten Svaneborg, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 
>> Theory Group, PO. Box 3148, D-55021 Mainz, Germany, 
>> svanebor a mpip-mainz.mpg.de
>> - Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Professor of Computer Science, Division of 
>> Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty of Sciences, Vrije 
>> Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1081A, NL-1081 HV Amsterdam The 
>> Netherlands, ast a cs.vu.nl
>> - Wolfgang Thomas, Full Professor of Computer Science, Lehrstuhl 
>> Informatik VII, RWTH Aachen, 52056 Aachen, Germany, 
>> thomas a informatik.rwth-aachen.de
>> also supported by (not yet EU citizen / EU resident):
>> - Jerzy Tiuryn, Full Professor, Institute of Informatics, Warsaw 
>> University, Banacha 2, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland, tiuryn a minuw.edu.pl
>>
>>
>>
>

----- End forwarded message -----