A proposal for a software patent directive, which will be
submitted to the European Parliament for plenary debate and
subsequent decision on 1st September, has incited protesters to
stage a rally outside the Brussels building on Wednesday.
"The directive proposal as prepared by Arlene McCarthy MEP would
impose US-style unlimited patentability of algorithms and business
methods such as Amazon One Click Shopping," claims Benjamin
Henrion, who is heading a local organisational team with the
backing of a coalition of organisations representing 2000 software
companies and 160,000 individuals, mostly software
professionals.
The proposal would, according to the organisers, "legalise
thousands of logic patents that have been granted by the European
Patent Office against the letter and spirit of the law, making if
impossible for national courts to continue to revoke these
patents".
But supporters of the proposed Directive may dismiss this as
sensationalism because the draft wording maintains a general
prohibition on software programs as such and, at least in theory,
forbids business method patents.
