MEPs debate tightening up lobbying rules
,----[ Quote ]
| MEPs on Thursday launched the thorny debate on tightening rules covering the
| thousands of EU lobbyists in Brussels, with an initial discussion showing
| deputies in favour of defining the term "lobbyist" as broadly as possible but
| shying away from the 600-page rulebook that defines and confines lobbyists in
| the US.
|
| [...]
|
| For his part, Mr Stubb says he is not out to demonise lobbyists, whose
| activities have come to light recently during the ferocious lobbying on
| legislation that took place during the development of the chemicals, services
| and software patent laws.
`----
http://euobserver.com/9/25526
Tech Group Expands State Lobby Efforts
,----[ Quote ]
| High-Technology Trade Association Boosts State Lobbying Program With Funding,
| Personnel
|
| [...]
|
| The group represents about 2,500 companies, including Microsoft Corp., Google
| Inc. and Dell Inc., in the software, telecommunications, computers,
| semiconductor and other sectors. It announced the plans Thursday.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080125/technology_lobbying.html?.v=2
Brib...lobbying is a multi-billion-dollar industry now, according to report.
Only in America...
Related:
Dutch government threatens to sideline Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| Proposed legislation that would mandate the use of the Open Document Format
| (ODF) across the entire Dutch government has infuriated Microsoft.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft Netherlands has engaged in fierce lobbying in an attempt to derail
| the plan. The company argues that the current definition is too narrow,
| specifically by mandating ODF rather than open standards in general
`----
http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/12/10/dutch/index.php
Big businesses boast of patent benefits, for small businesses
,----[ Quote ]
| A report published by an EU task force on intellectual property claims
| that small businesses benefit from a patent system, despite lacking
| almost any participation by the small business community.
|
| Instead, the report, titled IPR (intellectual property rights) for
| competitiveness and innovation, was written up almost entirely by
| large corporations and the patent industry.
|
| [...]
|
| The report does note objections from the likes of patentfrei.de and
| Sun Microsystems, which were recorded at some length in the report.
| But this does not appear to have impacted the conclusion of the
| report in any way
|
| [...]
|
| Jean-Pierre Laisne, of ObjectWeb, an open source software community,
| said that he found the report useless: participants were told that
| all their contributions would be recorded but at the end only
| those of Business Software Alliance and Microsoft were used.
`----
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/99155/big-businesses-boast-of-patent-benefits-for-small-businesses.html
A Patent Lie
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft sang a very different tune in 1991. In a memo to his
| senior executives, Bill Gates wrote, "If people had understood how
| patents would be granted when most of today's ideas were invented,
| and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete
| standstill today." Mr. Gates worried that "some large company will
| patent some obvious thing" and use the patent to "take as much of
| our profits as they want."
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/opinion/09lee.html
Years of deadlock on EU patent bring some new thinking
,----[ Quote ]
| When Bill Gates visits Brussels on Thursday to speak with
| government officials, software developers and customers, he
| plans to wade into one of Europe's longest-running, most
| fruitless debates: the pursuit of a unified patent system.
| Gates, chairman of Microsoft, wants a simple system that will
| allow the world's largest software maker and other companies
| to protect their intellectual property in the European Union -
| and profit from licensing their patents.
`----
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/08/business/patents.php
,----[ Quote ]
| "A source that deals with the company said unofficially that Gates
| proposed Microsoft's Digital Rights Management technology as a national
| standard to fight piracy at the governmental level."
`----
http://www.kommersant.com/p719683/r_528/
Leaked letter warns of open source 'threat to eco-system'
,----[ Quote ]
| leaked letter to the European Commission has revealed the extent of
| lobbying by proprietary software groups to prevent the widespread
| adoption of open-source software.
|
| Sent in response to a recent report on the role of open-source
| software in the European economy, Microsoft-funded pressure
| group, the Initiative for Software Choice (ISC) warned of
| potentially dire effects if too much encouragement was given
| to open source software development.
`----
http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=7109
EPO says UK patent law is clear enough
,----[ Quote ]
| Article 52, clause 2, outlines items that do not qualify for
| patent protection, under European and UK law, and includes
| "schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing
| games or doing business, and programs for computers".
|
| Exactly how this clause should be interpreted has been extremely
| contentious, with passionate arguments on both sides of the debate.
| Some fear that too broad an interpretation could lead to US-style
| software idea patents being granted in the UK. Others are
| concerned that if it is interpreted too narrowly, it will
| discourage innovation in the UK.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/19/epo_says_no/
|
|
