Software patent showdown 17 feb?

[Bart Meerdink]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Opnieuw lijkt, nu zelfs tegen de wens van het Europarlement in, de
Europese Raad van Minsisters zonder verdere discussie in te gaan willen
stemmen met software patenten (op 17 feb 2005).

Misschien moet het ondemocratische karakter van de EU maar eens flink
duidelijk worden in een gevecht tussen het EP en de niet-gekozen bobo's
van allerlei aard (incl. ministers) die zich blijkbaar ver verheven
voelen boven het plebs en niet aanspreekbaar zijn (behalve dan door de
grote multinationals blijkbaar, rara).

Bart Meerdink

http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/56226

news    09.02.2005 16:55
Software patents: EU Council and Commission on the hot seat

This Tuesday, the Upper House of the Spanish parliament joined various
special committees of the German Bundestag and the Dutch parliament in
stating its opposition to the position of the EU Council on the planned
directive on the patentability of "computer-implemented inventions". The
pressure is thus increasing on the Council of national governmental
representatives to renegotiate its controversial position of last May
rather than to officially approve it without further discussion at the
upcoming meeting of ministers in mid-February in Brussels.

The resolution against software patents was unanimously passed in the
"Senado" in Madrid. This resolution calls on the Spanish government to
prevent the ratification of the Council's current proposal. However, the
Spanish government has been against the Council's proposal from the
outset, so nothing would change. Jordi Guillot of the Catalan Progress
Party, which filed the resolution, explained that the directive
currently proposed by the EU Council "would nip technological innovation
and the development of the information society in the bud". He warned
that Europe might then "become dependent on the monopolies and
oligopolies of companies from the US and Japan". The Spanish
parliamentarians also expressed their support for a complete
renegotiation of the whole legislative procedure, which the legal
affairs committee of the EU Parliament filed for last week.

In the meantime, another European organization for SMEs, UEAPME, also
supports a complete overhaul of the proposal. The organization's
General-Secretary, Hans-Werner Müller, stated in a declaration (PDF)
that the Council's position is "detrimental to small and mid-size
companies". He called on "the Commission to react to the Parliament's
decision and to come up with a new, better balanced proposal with
greater coherence". The CEA-PME, an EU-wide organization to promote the
interests of small and mid-size enterprises, had already called for a
complete reconsideration of the directive.

On the other hand, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services
Charlie McCreevy is still at odds with the EU Parliament. One of his
spokespeople announced on Monday that a formal agreement on the
legislation the Council has proposed was planned at the meeting of EU
ministers of finance and economics on February 17. But the Council of
Ministers still has not officially confirmed this meeting. Luxemburg
currently holds the presidency of the Council, and it has the support of
the Commission to step up this procedure, which continues to lack the
transparency that a democratic process requires. (Craig Morris) / (jk/c't)

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