As European Union (E.U.) lawmakers begin debating a proposal for rules
on patenting of software, open source and free software supporters have
found a sympathetic ear in the form of the Green party in the European
Parliament.
The proposal by the European Commission sets parameters for what can and
cannot be patented and attempts to harmonize the existing fragmented
situation across the 15 member states of the E.U.
If the European Parliament and the 15 governments adopt it as is, the law
would fall short of the permissive approach adopted by the U.S. and Japan.
However, opponents of software patenting argue that it will still stifle
innovation in software development in Europe.
They will get a chance to present this argument in Brussels on
Tuesday. The Green Party in the European Parliament has invited Hartmut
Pilch, head of the Foundation for Free Information Infrastructure, and
Richard Stallman from the Free Software Foundation to speak at a hearing
at the European Parliament entitled: "Is software patentability
necessary?"
The Greens hold only around 10 percent of the seats in the Parliament, but
they can still influence the debate and propose amendments to the draft
law.
"Our point of departure is that until now we are not aware of any
advantages from patenting software. It appears to us that a patenting
system for the E.U. would only add to the costs for developers and assist
big monopolies in maintaining their dominance," said Swedish Green Party
MEP Heidi Hautela.
"Copyright law gives all the necessary rewards to the software maker. My
initial assumption is that a patent law is not necessary," she said.
