Re: [Fsfe-uk] Draft PR on swpat directive

[Martin Keegan]

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003, Alex Hudson wrote:

> The outline is basically aligned with that of the FFII, although
> obviously we are only concerned with Free Software. There is one
> amendment that I have neglected to mention directly, that was defeated:
> the amendment that would have excluded Free Software from any kind of
> patent infringement. Personally, I'm not really 100% I liked the
> amendment (the idea of patent infringement being at least partially
> controlled by the copyright licence of a piece of software seems bizarre
> at best, and doesn't help separate the issues within intellectual
> property - it would actually make it worse), but the actualite is that
> it would have made the directive 100% fine for Free Software. So, I'm in

No. To say it would have been *100%* fine simply isn't true. With an
exemption for free software, the swpat would still have harmed the broader
digital ecosystem in which free software must exist. 

Saving free software for a world without compatible hardware or willing
developers is pointless.

Mk