[Fury]

Microsoft has teamed with General Electric to petition European regulators on a fundamental principle that will continue to drive a wedge between the company and open source supporters.

The duo filed an amicus brief arguing that regulators should believe in the existence of patents in software and that these patents should then be enforceable in European Union courts.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/02/microsoft_open_source_eu_patents/

[asyikarea51]

*stressed out*

[vyper]

Microsoft can suck a nut on this one. Patents are completely impractical when it comes to software. Copyright law is as far as it can go.

[pietraz]

I thought I'd seen everything, but this takes the cake.

Seriously, just reading this nonsense made my day.
I am just so glad I live in Europe, at least I can have a sense of sensibility around (if you pardon the pun...)

[Mika]

[Sigh] On the other hand it's about god damn time somebody does something to change the legal status of the software, but on the other hand I doubt that this would lead to positive results.

[pietraz]

[Sigh] On the other hand it's about god damn time somebody does something to change the legal status of the software, but on the other hand I doubt that this would lead to positive results.

Change - yes
Patent - no

We are being stripped of our rights enough with EULA now, and they still want more? Let them do what they want and one day we're gonna get charged for saying the word "Windows". Or we'd have to change the name of that thing in my wall I see the world through... Think...

[NGTM-1R]

I am not entirely unsympathtic here. The EU is not very wise regarding copyrighted or patented material frequently (ask anyone who works at Qualcomm about them, I dare you). But this is clearly abuse.

[karajorma]

If I were in charge I'd let them have software patents, reject every single one on the grounds of prior art and then run a pool on how much money companies like IBM and Microsoft threw away before they realised what was going on.

[pietraz]

Whenever a topic like that is posted people tend to abuse the conditional form. Mainly: "If I were a president/king/emperor"

I like the overall idea tho xD
Things like that could repair the budget of several countries

[karajorma]

I always love it when people correct me without actually posting the actual correction. It always makes me wonder if they don't actually know it or are scared they'll post it only to be corrected themselves.

[The E]

Patent office trolling.....there has to be a patent in there, somewhere....

[pietraz]

I always love it when people correct me without actually posting the actual correction. It always makes me wonder if they don't actually know it or are scared they'll post it only to be corrected themselves.

That wasn't a correction, my friend. I only said, that whenever something like that pops up, people tend to have a thousand different (better?) ideas they WOULD employ, had they the power. You know, all this conditional based stuff. Hell, I'd tell them to GTFO, had I the power. That's all. I never said your idea was wrong, cause honestly it is funny and appeals to me. I just didn't think of it myself.

My thoughts were expressed above, feel free to comment or correct if you disagree

Peace!

[S-99]

Screw software patents. They're used quite maliciously today by microsoft especially.

[phatosealpha]

Microsoft is hardly special in their usage of patents, nor can anyone really blame a company for doing so.  It's their duty to make money for their shareholders, and failure to do so is a betrayal.

Beyond that, patents aren't any more a fundamentally bad idea in software then they are in any other field.  One can argue about the need for a much more stringent application system, or the need for much shorter patent lengths then would be granted in a slower moving medium, but the fundamental need to provide an financial impetus for innovation is still there.

I'm fairly convinced the entire issue is really little more then industry trying to maximize profit versus OSS advocates concerned only with sprouting rhetoric.  The underlying concept - that you generally get more good ideas if you give enough incentive to take the risks of invention - has been lost.

[S-99]

Exactly, as much as people don't want software patents and how they shouldn't be here. There's an industry around selling patent licenses. It wont go away any time soon, or ever.

Software patents as ludicrous and pointless as they are.....EEEEEEEERRRUUURUggg~~~!!!!
Apple's been big on the game too, them and their ipod interface wheel and other stuff.

[Solatar]

Well, if you patent human DNA, why not software?

I feel so dirty for not paying royalties...