"Eurolinux.org, together with some other non-profit
organisations, has produced an online petition for the European
Parliament protesting against planned changes in European patent
laws."
"We briefly touched on the topic last week in which the
distinction between software in itself (which cannot be patented)
and software that "achieves a technical effect" (which can) is
being debated. It is down to the Internet's influence that the
issue has become a hot topic."
"The petition also raises what it calls the "current track
record of abuses" by the European Patent Office, accusing it of
stretching its judicial powers. Its goal is to warn the
European Parliament about the wider implications of a change in the
law and it asks for a full report into related effects before any
decisions are made."