Larian Studios Forums General Chat Chat (Anything) Thank you Poland

Thank poland for not only once but twice blocking to vote the european software patent law. The open source community thanks you.

And what hase the Council of Agriculture and Fisheries to do with software patents?



patents gone bad.

Let me just say THANK YOU POLAND.

/me is interested to hear Larians opinion on this. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />

Patent breaches on a "standard" webshop

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />
Thanks Poland
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

I've read it in the current issue of the mag "c't". Thanks Poland so far.

A specific example from the "patents gone bad" link provided by Morbo above:



Thanks for the link to the "Thank you, Poland" letter, Morbo. I'm not an EU citizen, but have gladly added my signature.

Reminds me of a cartoon.

Aid comesin Bill hiss office.

aid: More and more peole are switching to Firefox
Bill: Can we by the company
Aid: no It's open source.
Bill: Is it illeagal
Aid:No
Bill: Well then we just have to make it it illegal.

Thanks Poland!

me too. thank, u poland. isn't Polgara from poland? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Netherlands IIRC.

Belgium. She is from Belgium, as far as I know. She appears every now and then i the German Chat (I mean the "real" chat).

Yes, Alrik is right. She's a Belgian Flemish girl.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

(Zloty is Polish)

thnx Poland <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/XmasJump.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/XmasJump.gif" alt="" /> (sry for xmas thing its the only clap smily on the site thing) just think of all teh sueings (is thay a real word) if it got thru <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/stupid.gif" alt="" />

you do know that if the law gets passed (checked it) that those emoticons are patented <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> (look I broke the law)
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mage.gif" alt="" /> (and again)
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif" alt="" /> (and again)
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" /> (and again)
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" /> (and again)
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/xmassmiley.gif" alt="" /> (and again)

/Morbo is criminal mastermind <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" /> (and again)

EU asked to restart patents legal process for software

My faith in democracy has been restored

And a comment from Dieter Van Uytvanck, president FFII Belgium:

[color:"orange"] We owe this victory for democracy to the members of the European parliament. Today they have shown once again that they really care about the concerns of the European citizens. And of course we would like to thank those as well. I'm sure that without their impressive support for an innovative climate that is freed of software patents, this step would not have been possible. [/color]

Just wanted to post it here, too, what I've written in a different thread about copyrights :


Well, basically *everything* is copyrithted - by you, since you are the "Urheber" (a German lawyers term for that), you are the Originator of something.

In pronciple this means that you can forbid people to use things you've created - in fact no-on cares about that.

German laws and U.S. laws differ in the point that in the U.S. you can actually selkl the "spiritual proerty" of that - what we call "geistiges Eigentum" - the idea to create a thing as such. We here also call therefore therything that's created with the help of the mind or spirit as "Geistiges Eigentum" - not only the idea as such, but also its materialistic "impersonation", I mean an idea crystallized into its material form (an invention, maybe, or a painting, or a song).

In Germany, we cannot sell the complete rights, but the right to publish it. And that can b - like everywhere else - almost forever (well, I think I've read that after 75 years things become "public domain" or such a thing, but I'm not sure about that).

The thing is, that only rcently the music indistry and the publishers of printed meterial became more and more aware of their monopolistic status - publishing is power. People rely on you. You can dictate the prices.

That’s why they are forcing copyritht things this far - with the „Digital Millennium Act“ (I think that was the name) as the peak.

The sad thing is that the U.S. as a economical giant tries to push their laws into global business - rsulting in many countries adopting their kinds of laws (like seen in the european patent war). GATT is a prominent vehicle for that.
So, practically this means that the major companies are sitting in the U.S. and are pursuing copyright violations from the U.S. - with their laws as background. It’s symptomatic, imho, that they don’t do this from smaller countries.

A „collateral damage“ of that are the private users or home users. Business isn’t interested in helping them at all. All their rules and laws are tailored for their needs - not the needs of an home user. If I as a home user would try to use the copyright laws against a company, I would have no chance. Also, they have the best lawyers with lots of money to pay them, whereas I as a home user have almost nothing - compared to that.

A practical result of that - although never used this far - would be that companies theoretically are „allowed“ to happily steal copyrighted material from home users - simply because of their power and might (and money, and lawyers ...). No-one protects home users, and companies aren’t even interested to do o.

It’s like huge security congresses : They are for companies only. They are not for home users - although they are the far wakest point in the chain (or pyramid) - because it doesn’t pay. You cannot earn money with security and home users. Instead, you could rather use them as „cash cows“, because if their almost non-existent security fails, they’ss have to buy new Software, Hardware etc. . Makes money.

You see, I’m *very* critical and pessimistic over that.

Playing a little devil advocate here, I would have to say, I disagree with this comment:
“The U.S. as an economical giant tries to push their laws into global business.”

Why?
Because Global business men and women for the most part decide how their company is going to do things.
If someone really wants to know what real business is like on a global proportion, I’d suggest reading about the life of “Daniel S. Pena.”
Yes, he is American, but you’ll note he followed the laws required for each country.

Dig a little deeper into “Digital Millennium” and you’ll note it is a business mogul world gathering from all countries, not just the Americans pushing the laws they desire into things.

Don’t purposefully delude yourself into thinking some country is doing these things when it is really the biggest business leaders from all over the globe responsible for business decisions as a whole.

There are plenty of global businesses leaders that will do all in their power to stop any law in any country if it will prevent them from making money.
Business moguls have always been more powerful than any country.

I believe those who have read this are wise enough to know I'm not talking about the little guys in business. Hence when I say Global and Business Moguls.

Tsel <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Well, what I meant is that imho many companies are tryoing to sell their things in the U.S. market ... simply because it's that big.

The result is that they are adopting for the market there ... otherwise they wouldn't sell.

On the other hand, the U.S. companies - as inc of the market itself - know of their value - they buy, so to say, and the others sell. Who has the power ? The seller or the buyer ? So they bring their weight to bear, so to say and imply that the rules they are used to are also used elsewhere - to the conditions of the on who has the power.

I'm still quit concerned about GATT - because it tries to impse rules into countries that are not made for these countries - especially negating the influence of culture. You cannot use rules that are made for one culture in another culture without adoption. It doesn't work.

But that's what - as it seems to me - is tried.

Alrik.

Richard Stallman (GNU operating system; Free Software Foundation), has an interesting piece in The Guardian in which he claims that if patent law had been applied to novels in the 1880s, great books would not have been written. He uses Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables" to illustrate his points. Full article here.

Stallman says that patents covering software [color:"orange"] "would restrict every computer user and tie software developers up in knots." [/color]

HAZA for the European Parliament HAZA.

The Parliament voted 648 to 14 with 18 abstentions to reject the directive, which would have become EU law if approved in its current form.

article


648 to 14, man they realy teared the EU commission a new one. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif" alt="" />

Also the commision said (as a thread) this directive was "take it or leave it" meaning we won't see a new proposal soon. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />