[ Thanks to Greta
Durr for this link. ]
“At least this way no one has to be accosted by a volunteer with
a clipboard. Instead, the EuroLinux Alliance has taken to
circulating its petition on a larger street corner–the
Internet.”
“Frank Hoen, president of the Dutch company NetPresenter, argues
that patents do not serve the purpose for which they are
granted–protection of intellectual property. “Financial analysts
should be aware that the software patent system, as it has evolved
in the U.S., does generate many costly legal disputes but does not
succeed in protecting real software inventors or investors. It
[the U.S. patent system] is a system which allows companies with a
strong legal team, and often no merit, to rip-off or block
innovative companies.“
“As it has been highlighted by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) and Harvard economists,” Hoen continues, “a system
based on copyright, or copyright-like sui generis (unique) law,
protects investment in software technologies much better than the
current U.S. patent system.”
“Jacques Le Marois, President of MandrakeSoft, expresses concern
regarding freedom of innovation. “Software Patents are a major
concern, not only for the Linux & Open Source Software
industry, but for the whole IT industry.”