Torvalds has teamed up with Michael Widenius, co-creator of the MySQL database, and Rasmus Lerdorf, creator of the PHP scripting language, to urge the EU Council not to adopt a draft directive on software patents, calling the proposal deceptive, dangerous, and democratically illegitimate.
The joint statement has been released via the NoSoftwarePatents.com anti-patent campaign and continues a fierce and ongoing debate about the merits of the proposed changes to the software patent directive, officially known as the directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions.
Software patents are dangerous to the economy at large, and particularly to the European economy, Torvalds, Widenius, and Lerdorf said in their statement. Lawmakers should heed the warning of such reputable organizations as Deutsche Bank Research, the Kiel Institute for World Economics, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
These are three organizations that have spoken out against the proposed directive changes, which critics say would make all software potentially patentable. The draft directive in question is deceptive because it leads laymen, and even those legal professionals who are not familiar with the intricacies of patent law, to falsely believe that it would exclude software from patentability, Torvalds, Widenius, and Lerdorf added.
Having taken advice on the wording of the proposed directive from representatives of Microsoft, Novell, and Sun Microsystems, the Polish Government rejected the proposed changes, after it confirmed the proposed directive makes all software potentially patentable.
According to NoSoftwarePatents.com, Poland’s decision combined with new vote weighting that came into effect in the EU in November, means the proposed changes no longer have enough backing to become law.
However, opponents of the proposals are not taking any chances, hence the letter from Torvalds, Widenius, and Lerdorf ahead of a meeting of the EU Competitiveness Council on November 25 and 26 that could potentially lead to the formal adoption of the proposed directive.
For the sake of innovation and a competitive software market, we sincerely hope that the European Union will seize this opportunity to exclude software from patentability and gain a major competitive advantage in the information age, they said.
The three open source leaders also pointed out that attitudes towards the proposed directive have changed since political agreement on it was reached by the Council of Ministers in May. Not only has Poland changed its abstention to opposition, but also the Dutch parliament has passed a resolution that its government change its position from support to abstention, while all four groups in the German parliament have spoken out against the proposed legislation.
The proposed directive has also been opposed by the European Parliament, which has attempted to make amendments to make it clearer exactly what elements of computer-implemented inventions it would cover.
The patent debate has aroused particular opposition among open source supporters and vendors, but the CEO of open source database vendor MySQL AB, Marten Mickos denied that opposition was based on a religious crusade. We have rationally come to the conclusion that software patents are not the right way to protect innovation, he said. This is not a religious war but for us there is no rational reason for software patents.
MySQL is one of the backers of NoSoftwarePatents.com, alongside Linux distributor Red Hat Inc, and web hosting firm 1&1 Internet Inc, while Novell Inc also recently voiced its opposition to the proposed changes to European software patent laws.
