[ Thanks to Sam
Varghese for this link. ]
“Close on the heels of New Zealand declaring that
software would not be patentable, a Melbourne free software
advocate and developer has drafted a petition to press for the same
to happen in Australia.“Melbourne developer Ben Sturmfels (below) is soliciting
signatures for the petition which, he says, will be personally
delivered to Senator Kim Carr, the minister for innovation,
Industry, science and research in the current Labor government.“The petition has been launched at a time when the federal
government is reviewing the scope of patent law and Sturmfels says
it is the right time to push for abolition of software patents. It
also comes at the start of a federal election campaign, with
Australia going to the polls on August 21.”