[Office-commits] r9946 - trunk/campaigns/patents

[sysadmin]

Author: www-data
Date: Fri Oct  2 08:38:27 2009
New Revision: 9946

Log:
web commit by ciaran: another overall review

Modified:
   trunk/campaigns/patents/bilski-supreme-court-brief.mdwn

Modified: trunk/campaigns/patents/bilski-supreme-court-brief.mdwn
==============================================================================
--- trunk/campaigns/patents/bilski-supreme-court-brief.mdwn     Fri Oct  2 
04:01:08 2009        (r9945)
+++ trunk/campaigns/patents/bilski-supreme-court-brief.mdwn     Fri Oct  2 
08:38:27 2009        (r9946)
@@ -5,29 +5,33 @@
 calling on the Supreme Court to affirm that software ideas are not
 patentable.  After outlining the positive impact that the free
 software movement and the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) have
-had on computer use, the brief explains how software patents are
-nothing but an obstacle and a danger to software developers.
+had on computer use, the brief explains how software patents are an
+obstacle and a danger to software developers.
 
 FSF founder Richard Stallman and the free software movement have been
 campaigning worldwide against software patents since the late 1980s,
-but the effort in the United States has recently come to a head. In
-April of 2008, FSF worked with the End Software Patents (ESP) campaign
-which filed an amicus curiae brief in the Court of Appeals for the
-Federal Circuit's (CAFC) rehearing of the *in re Bilski* case. In
-October 2008, the CAFC issued its ruling which gutted patents on
-program ideas running on general-purpose computers.  In June of this
-year, the Supreme Court decided to review the case, making this their
-first review of patentable scope since 1981's *Diamond v. Diehr*.
+but the effort in the United States is coming to a head with the
+Supreme Court now reviewing patentable scope for the first time since
+1981's *Diamond v. Diehr* case.
 
 ESP executive director Ciaran O'Riordan explained, "Every software
-patent is something you can't use your computer to do. In the US today
-that means there are 200,000 things you're prohibited from doing with
-your computer.  Time has now also proven software patenting to be an
-economic failure and a hindrance to the progress of the useful arts,
-which means they've failed their consitutional mandate and have no
-legal legitimacy.  The Supreme Court has itself never authorized the
-patenting of software ideas, so there's real hope that this problem
-can finally be solved."
+patent is a restriction on software developers and users of computers,
+and there are currently 200,000 software patents in the USA.  As well
+as being an unjust restriction on a common household tool, time has
+now also proven software patents to be an economic failure and a
+hindrance to the progress of the useful arts.  This means they've
+failed their consitutional mandate and have no legal legitimacy.  The
+Supreme Court has itself never authorized the patenting of software
+ideas, so there's real hope that this problem can finally be solved."
+
+O'Riordan credited the swpat.org wiki contributors for their help,
+saying, "Much of the material for this brief came from our publicly
+editable wiki at swpat.org.  For each point we decided to make, we
+used the wiki to find references and quotes and further information --
+and I hope other brief drafters found it useful too. Contributing to
+this resource is a great way for people to get involved in the
+campaign -- the Bilski case will continue for months, and there is
+still much work to be done to eliminate software patents worldwide."
 
 The 24-page brief further details the commonly noted outrageous risks
 and expenses imposed by patents, which leave individuals and small
@@ -41,16 +45,12 @@
 for your daily life is a fundamental form of expression, just as using
 a pen and paper is."
 
-The impact of the patent system on individuals was evidenced by the
-community research effort for the brief.  O'Riordan credited the
-swpat.org wiki contributors for their help, saying, "Much of the
-material for this brief came from our publicly editable wiki at
-swpat.org.  For each point we decided to make, we used the wiki to
-find references and quotes and further information -- and I hope other
-brief drafters found it useful too. Contributing to this resource is a
-great way for people to get involved in the campaign -- the Bilski
-case will continue for months, and there is still much work to be done
-to eliminate software patents worldwide."
+In April of 2008, FSF worked with the End Software Patents (ESP)
+campaign which filed an amicus curiae brief in the Court of Appeals
+for the Federal Circuit's (CAFC) hearing of the *in re Bilski*
+case. In October 2008, the CAFC issued its ruling which gutted patents
+on program ideas running on general-purpose computers.  In June of
+this year, the Supreme Court decided to review the case.
 
 The full text of the brief is available online at
 <http://endsoftpatents.org/amicus-bilski-2009>.