By Lucy Sherriff for The Register.
This story has been reproduced with permission.
Anti-software patent campaigner Florian Mueller described the
proposals put forward by the conservative EPP-ED, the social
democratic PES and the libertarian ALDE as a "pretty reasonable
compromise", and a "defensive victory" for the anti-EPLA
movement.
"Since those three groups have about 550 of the chamber's 732
seats, it's a mere formality for that compromise proposal to be
carried by a solid majority," he writes.
The document calls for "significant improvements" to be made to
the EPLA text. It argues that the flaws in the Community Patent
proposal are unlikely to be resolved any time soon, but recognises
the need for some kind of pan-European approach to patenting
generally.
Against that background, the parties call for a legal review of
the EPLA and for significant improvements to be made to the text.
It also calls for a set of rules of procedure to be included in the
proposal.
The FFII has described the proposal as "a compromise that
prevents the worst", but you get the sense they would have
preferred a more resolute position from the parliament.
The campaigners write: "According to this compromise resolution,
the parliament basically supports the EPLA and asks for the EU to
'join the EPC', but calls for 'significant improvements' to the
current EPLA text."
The FFII warns that without a concerted effort, even an amended
EPLA will raise the costs of most patent lawsuits over the status
quo, make patent lawsuits prohibitively expensive for those who
publish software on the internet, threaten judicial independence,
and pave the way for granting enforceable software patents in
Europe.
It urges interested parties to contact their MEP "politely" to
find out where they stand on the subject ahead of the vote on 11
and 12 October.
© The Register
2006
