"End Software Patents, a project working toward the elimination of software patents, was launched today. The ESP project will initially focus on two approaches: 1) assisting corporations that choose to challenge software patents in the courts and at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on the basis that patents for software and designs with no physically innovative step have no legal validity, and 2) public education aimed at passing laws to protect software from patent law. [...] In a separate announcement today, ESP released its first report on the current state of software and business method patents. The report covers the economic impact of software patents, including the $11.4 billion that U.S. businesses waste each year on software patent litigation. [...] « Software patents are a burden on U.S. businesses and innovation, and the debate on the patentability of software will have a profound impact on the software industry over the next 20 years » ..." -- http://endsoftpatents.org
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motters
16 years 31 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago
The fight begins
This must surely be FSF's biggest challenge yet. You can bet that many of the big software companies, including Microsoft, will fight tooth and nail to keep software patents going in the US. These companies can employ the most expensive lawyers and are well known for lobbying governments with some success. Despite seemingly overwhelming odds campaigners wanting to end software patents should take heart that they have been successfully opposed so far in the European Union.
Although free/open source software seems to be riding high right now it could face some difficult times ahead. If it's true that Microsoft is heading into debt then it's likely that the ailing company will deploy every usable patent in its arsenal to undermine competitors or extort as much money as possible from them.