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EU postpones action on software patents
MANHASSET, N.Y. — The European Union's Competitiveness Council delayed a decision on the controversial Patent Directive, which would define new limits for technology patents within the countries of the EU.
The decision came after a flurry of activity last week from opponents of the directive, including Linus Torvalds, the developer of Linux, Michael Widenius, developer of MySQL, Rasmus Lerdorf, the developer of PHP, and other celebrated software creators.
The three issued a statement calling on the EU Council to block the legalization of software patents included in the directive because patents are "deceptive, dangerous, and democratically illegitimate."
Source: EE Times UK
An interesting note for Asia-Pacific governments and highlighted in this article, is that one of the sides pushing for software patents is the Business Software Alliance. Software patents only serve to benefit large foreign companies and stifle the development of local software industries of developing Asia-Pacific countries. - IOSN
