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| EU Council to scrap parliamentary vote limiting software patents without discussion |
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By brian, Section News
Posted on Fri May 7th, 2004 at 17:51:55 GMT |
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[From FFII] The EU Council of Ministers has obtained a qualified majority for a counter-proposal on the software patents directive, with only a few countries - including Belgium and Germany - showing resistance. The new text proposes to discard all the amendments from the European Parliament which would limit patentability.
FFII is urging supporters to make their voices heard now, especially software SMEs who make up the majority of the IT industry (e.g. over 80% of IT jobs in Germany). In particular, supporters should try to mobilise organisations of which they are members, urgently try to meet or contact local MPs and MEPs, and also Commissioner Liikanen's office at DG Information Society. Full details from FFII.org.
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| E-Data files further patent infringement lawsuits |
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By blogtim, Section News
Posted on Tue May 4th, 2004 at 22:55:02 GMT |
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[From CNET] E-Data announced today that it has filed patent infringement lawsuits against Corbis and Getty Images for violating its patent on commercial downloading services. "We're moving forward in enforcing our rights under the patent laws. That's part of our global strategy," said Gerald Angowitz, special assistant to E-Data chairman Bert Brodsky. "We would like to reach a licensing agreement with the parties, rather than litigate for the sake of litigation. But failing that, we do intend to pursue our rights." The US patent held by E-Data (US4528643) expired in January, though they have until December 2008 to file retroactive claims. Full story from CNET.
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| IP Enforcement Directive passes EU Council |
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By brian, Section News
Posted on Fri Apr 30th, 2004 at 17:00:03 GMT |
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[From FFII] Andreas Dietl of EDRI.org reports that the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive has passed the Council yesterday as an 'A' item, without no further discussion. It will be published in the Official Journal soon. 20 days after that, it will become effective, and Member States have to transpose it within two years time. More about the directive can be found at FFII.org.
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| AFFS Conference and AGM (Birmingham, 15 May) |
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By brian, Section News
Posted on Fri Apr 30th, 2004 at 16:59:54 GMT |
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The Association for Free Software (AFFS) has announced that its annual conference and general meeting will be held on May 15 in Birmingham. It is an all-ticket event, but tickets are free to members and membership applicants (fee 10 pounds). Members must register in advance to be sure of conference tickets. Full details and registration from AFFS.org.uk
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| R Reference Manuals published |
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By brian, Section News
Posted on Fri Apr 30th, 2004 at 16:59:40 GMT |
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The first two volumes of the official R Reference manual are now available as printed books (ISBN 0-9546120-0-0 and 0-9546120-1-9). R is the GNU version of the proprietary statistics environment, S. The manual uses a free documentation license. For each set of volumes sold $10 is donated to the R Foundation by the publisher, Network Theory Ltd. Full details from the publisher.
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