EU law could shut down software creators

MPs are fighting the corner of small software developers to clarify a new EU law on patenting that could spell bankruptcy for thousands of independent UK writers.



Science Minister Lord Sainsbury has been told by Liberal Democrat IT minister, Richard Allan, that he must clearly spell out the implications of the Directive to allay fears of an innovation shut down.



According to the Times, he believes small UK IT writers are entitled to know "how high the hurdle is to get a patent," because of current proposals tipped in favour of big business.



Microsoft has already labelled anyone opposing the law and its US-style model of software patenting as "modern day sort of communists."



The comments from Bill Gates reflect significant gains made by independent software creation, Firefox, against the company's dominant but consecutively flagging IE browser.



This is a prime example of where the Directive would intervene for big business, to ensure patents on the source code of the most basic software would stop individual programmers, legally or financially, from developing any similar products.



It is expected that smaller outfits in the UK will simply not be able to afford the cost of license fees or ensuing legal cost, spelling trouble for individual writers, firms and open-source providers.



The BBC's technology critic, Bill Thompson, said if the law is nodded through by the European Union, any programmer will fear the code they are developing is in breach of someone else's patent.



"This is not about stealing software, as code is already protected by copyright," said Thompson. "Patents are not copyright, but something much stronger.



"A patent gives the owner the right to stop anyone else using their invention, even if the other person invented it separately."



He cited the example of online retailer Amazon, which in the US owns the patent to a customer credit card database, which lets customers check out in one click.



No other company can build a similar one-touch payment system that stores the buyer's address online, without consulting Amazon and agreeing to comply with due terms and conditions.



Under current EU proposals, a similar system of technical authority would come into play for European nations, prompting Poland's move in December to withdraw and thereby derail the legislative progress of the Directive.



Their decision to table an amendment to the uncertain and burdensome law is further comfort to writers and small software developers in the UK.



One group supporting Poland's protest and the voices of many smaller software developers is the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure.



They believe computer software is already prone to domination by the most powerful global players and any legal enforcement of patent monopolies would "set this domination in concrete."



Citing Microsoft's claim to be filing up to 3,000 software patents per year, the FFII said the software giant is no longer the only IT heavyweight to aggressively push for patents in Europe.



They said that copyright protection should serve the European market place adequately, and is a welcome alternative to the raft of Japanese and US patents that would suddenly be enforceable in the UK.



"Software patents would reduce the competitive pressure for innovation, reinforce monopolies and reinforce market domination by the most established, largest and most powerful companies," said the FFII.



"They would be bad for small businesses, bad for open source, bad for innovation, bad for e-commerce and bad for software users."



The group said that they hope the Directive will clearly identify what products are eligible to patent and what ones have fixed limitations, beyond which developers will be liable for their creations.