The European Parliament’s draft directive on software copyright protection, passed last week, threatens to stymie the development of the open systems marketplace and open systems products, according to Rob Briggs, chairman of the Computer Users of Europe group. After intense lobbying by the likes of IBM Corp, Digital Equipment Corp and Microsoft Corp from the Software Action Group, a raft of ammendments to the directive which must now be applied by all European Community member states by Day One of the single market on January 1 1993 – was defeated. The directive is a common position thrashed out last December after nearly two years of negotiations and lobbying, and is likely to clash with the British government’s own software copyright act passed in 1988, which includes a clause providing for the fair use of software, including decompilation for maintenance, by users. The defeated ammendments included rights championed by Computer Users of Europe, such as the ability to maintain software beyond the level of simple error correction – doing in-house or third-party customisation removing copyright claims on interface technology and the right to decompile software to examine methods and techniques, which could then be used to create competitive open systems products. Briggs fears that large vendors may use the directive to hang on to proprietary systems and resist the growth of open systems, creating new monopoly markets in software and maintenance. If IBM, DEC and others are so committed to open systems, why did they put so much effort into the lobbying? he enquires.
