Re: An Open Letter On Software Patents and EU Election (fwd)

On Sat, 2004-06-05 at 20:25, James Heald wrote:
> Andrew Duff MEP (Eastern Region, Lib Dem) does seem genuinely 
> sympathetic to the overall argument for copyright rather than patents -- 
> but seems primarily drawn to unhappy compromise -- "any directive rather 
> than no directive", and "no point in backing anything which won't 
> achieve a qualified majority".
> 

So he doesn't want to stand up to the Commission. This "any law is
better than none" mentality, which seems to be common among our MEPs, is
sad because here, as is so often the case, it simply isn't true. On the
face of it, it would appear that Tom's post that discussion on the EU
are off-topic, but it may be relevant that some MEPs --- and some
LibDems may be among this --- have a tendency to think that being
"pro-European" means that you mustn't rock the boat too much.

This is one time when we actually have the chance to shape the legal
framework. If we have the wrong framework, we won't have a chance to
correct it. Better to keep holding out for what we want than settle for
a "compromise" which is then set in stone.

Mr Duff also needs to understand that there's no possible compromise
with the patent movement. Not only because leaving open 5 doors to
unlimited patentability is not a meaningful compromise between closing
all doors and leaving open 10 doors. But also because the so-called
"compromises" actually leave open the same 10 doors, just hidden behind
a thicket of waffle.

Alex (a disillusioned LibDem)