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Linux Kernel maintainer 'barred' from patents meeting
Alan Cox, sometime maintainer of the Linux kernel and well-known open-source advocate, is among those effectively persona non grata at the UK Patent and Trademarks Office (PTO) public meeting on software patents next week.
The meeting on the proposed Computer Implemented Inventions Directive, due to be held on Tuesday 14th December at the Department of Trade and Industry, generated controversy after it emerged that up to a third of people who had written to their MPs on the issue had not been invited to the invitation-only meeting.
Cox, who has previously been invited to speak on software patents at the EU, said the Patent Office apparently fears "every word I have to say about their plans". He went on to add: "Unfortunately with all the underhand game playing both in the EU council of ministers and in UK government and patent circles it isn't the slightest surprise."
Others who said they had written to their MPs but had no invite were similarly scathing: "This is not a debate, it is a presentation of government decided facts and proposals which you can query to get clarification," wrote Steve Bell, who works in IT. "There is no mention or a debate or any argumentative process so why the wonder that those who disagree have been left out.
Source: ZDNet UK
