[ffii] Reuters berichtet über Brief der 5 Konzerne

FFII-Nachrichten -- zur sofortigen Freigabe -- Weiterverbreitung erwuenscht
+++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
Auch die Nachrichtenagentur Reuters ist auf den Brief der 5 Konzerne
aufmerksam geworden, den wir von nunmehr fast einem Monat unter

	http://swpat.ffii.org/news/03/telcos1107/

veröffentlichten.

Aber Reuters verweist weder auf den Quelltext noch auf relativierende
Kommentare irgendeiner Seite.  Der Text liest sich wie eine Hausmeldung
der Großkonzern-Patentanwälte.

Ähnlich las sich der Reuters-Bericht am 24. September kurz nach
Verabschiedung des RiLi-Entwurfs durch das Parlament.  Damals berichtete
Reuters, das Parlament habe Softwarepatente gebilligt.  Auch dabei wurden
keine Quellen zitiert.

Der Fall Softwarepatente eignet sich vielleicht besonders gut, um
Verflechtungen zwischen Medienwelt und Großkonzernen zu studieren, die
sonst nicht so offen zutage treten.

----------------------

http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=technologyNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=3980010

11 Dec 2003 21:57 Europe's top tech firms oppose EU patent draft

By Jan Strupczewski

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Europe's top five technology firms have warned the
EU in a joint letter that 15 billion euros ($18.25 billion) of their
annual R&D spending could be wasted if it implemented proposed changes
to its software patent law.

The letter, which was sent last month but surfaced on Thursday, was
signed by the heads of telecoms and technology giants Nokia, Ericsson,
Siemens, Philips and Alcatel.

The companies asked the European Commission to scrap changes introduced
to a new software patent draft by the EU parliament on September 24,
saying they deprived their products of patent protection.

"The vote in parliament...has completely turned the commission's
original proposal around, removing effective patent protection for much
-- and in the case of telecommunications and consumer electronics
probably most -- of our R&D investment," they said in the letter, a copy
of which was obtained by Reuters.

"This would have devastating consequences for our companies. It would be
open for all-comers to exploit the results of our expensive R&D
(research and development) programmes at no cost."

They sent the letter, dated November 7, to the European Union's (EU)
Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkenstein and Information Society
Commissioner Erkki Liikanen.

An Ericsson spokesman said on Thursday he was not aware of an answer
from the Commission yet. A spokesman for Commissioner Bolkenstein said
he was checking if the letter had been received.

Under current European Union rules software cannot be patented but
inventions that use the software can. The new patent law drafted by the
EU Commission aims to turn that practice into law.

But the EU parliament changed the draft, introducing amendments to
ensure patents are not used to block competing inventions.

As a result, the patent protection on software-based products, like
modern telephone exchanges, had been weakened, the five companies argued.

"You could compare it with an old telephone exchange where all the parts
were patent-protected. Today the exchange is digital and run by a
computer programme, which under these rules could not be protected,"
Ericsson spokesman Peter Olofsson said.

-- 
Hartmut Pilch, FFII e.V. und Eurolinux-Allianz            +49-89-18979927
290.000 Stimmen 2000 Firmen gegen Logikpatente      http://noepatents.org/
Innovation statt Patentinflation                    http://swpat.ffii.org/

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