Re: [ITPOLITIK] Computerworld om softwarepanter.

[Erik Lange <sslug@sslug>]

On Thu, 19 Jun 2003 11:39:48 +0200 (CEST), <sslug@sslug> wrote:

>> http://www.computerworld.dk/default.asp?Mode=2&ArticleID=19544
>>
>> De får det faktisk til at lyde godt i denne artikel.

Ja, det er tydeligt at deikke har fattet en meter, og kun lyttet
tilden ene side :-(

>
>http://swpat.ffii.org/news/03/juri0617/

"Dr. Bernhard Runge, senior developper of SAP AG and former professor
of computer science

     SAP has suffered a lot from US patents on what under this
directive would probably be "computer-implemented inventions with a
technical contribution in their inventive step". SAP has grown big by
copyright, and being imitated was never seen as a big problem. We do
not need protection by patents but rather protection from patents. SAP
had to pay exorbitant extortion sums to some individual patent owners
(among them professors from well known US-universities) with high
criminal energy. Software patents legalize and encourage criminal or
immoral behaviour in the software industry. There are probably nearly
no non-trivial software patents. Therefore the only reasonable use of
software  patents is to have weapons for conflicts between companies
("you have infringed my 100 patents [admittedly trivial and
meaningless - which we will never say in public], we have infringed
your 100 patents [also admittedly trivial and meaningless - which you
will never say in public], therefore let's forget this conflict and
make sure, that nobody else will disturb both of us"). The armaments
race imposes high costs for all software companies. SAP had to install
a patent department for defensive purposes in 1998 and is
now regularly divert money to this department, which could otherwise
have been spent on R&D. However, even a high number of
patents does not help us against individuals with high criminal
energy.

     Our patent lawyers have meanwhile persuaded some people in the
managment that having a directive to allow us to play the software
patent game in Europe as well is good idea. But I think they are wrong
and their thinking will not prevail in the company.

     Contrary to what some of the directive's proponents say in
public, this directive make algorithms and business methods
patentable. How could it be otherwise? What else can there to patent
in our software, if not algorithms and business methods?"

Hilsen,
Erik L