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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/patent-reform-is-not-enough.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/patent-reform-is-not-enough.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4424d8b --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/patent-reform-is-not-enough.html @@ -0,0 +1,154 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> +<!-- Parent-Version: 1.77 --> + +<title>Patent Reform Is Not Enough - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> + +<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/patent-reform-is-not-enough.translist" --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> + +<h2>Patent Reform Is Not Enough</h2> + +<p> +When people first learn about the problem of software patents, their +attention is often drawn to the egregious examples: patents that cover +techniques already widely known. These techniques include sorting a +collection of formulae so that no variable is used before it is +calculated (called “natural order recalculation” in +spreadsheets), and the use of exclusive-or to modify the contents of a +bit-map display.</p> + +<p> +Focusing on these examples can lead some people to ignore the rest of +the problem. They are attracted to the position that the patent +system is basically correct and needs only “reforms” to +carry out its own rules properly.</p> + +<p> +But would correct implementation really solve the problem of software +patents? Let's consider an example.</p> + +<p> +In the early 90s we desperately needed a new free program for +compression, because the old de-facto standard “compress” +program had been taken away from us by patents. In April 1991, +software developer Ross Williams began publishing a series of data +compression programs using new algorithms of his own devising. Their +superior speed and compression quality soon attracted users.</p> + +<p> +That September, when the FSF was about a week away from releasing one +of them as the new choice for compressing our distribution files, use +of these programs in the United States was halted by a newly issued +patent, number 5,049,881.</p> + +<p> +Under the patent system's rules, whether the public is allowed to use +these programs (i.e., whether the patent is invalid) depends on +whether there is “prior art”: whether the basic idea was +published before the patent application, which was on June 18, 1990. +Williams' publication in April 1991 came after that date, so it does +not count.</p> + +<p> +A student described a similar algorithm in 1988-1989 in a class paper +at the University of San Francisco, but the paper was not published. +So it does not count as prior art under the current rules.</p> + +<p> +Reforms to make the patent system work “properly” would +not have prevented this problem. Under the rules of the patent +system, this patent seems valid. There was no prior art for it. It +is not close to obvious, as the patent system interprets the term. +(Like most patents, it is neither worldshaking nor trivial, but +somewhere in between.) The fault is in the rules themselves, not +their execution.</p> + +<p> +In the US legal system, patents are intended as a bargain between +society and individuals; society is supposed to gain through the +disclosure of techniques that would otherwise never be available. It +is clear that society has gained nothing by issuing patent number +5,049,881. This technique was going to be available anyway. It was +easy enough to find that several people did so at around the same +time.</p> + +<p> +Under current rules, our ability to use Williams's programs depends on +whether anyone happened to publish the same idea before June 18, 1990. +That is to say, it depends on luck. This system is good for promoting +the practice of law, but not progress in software.</p> + +<p> +Teaching the Patent Office to look at more of the existing prior art +might prevent some outrageous mistakes. It will not cure the greater +problem, which is the patenting of every <em>new</em> wrinkle in the use +of computers, like the one that Williams and others independently +developed.</p> + +<p> +This will turn software into a quagmire. Even an innovative program +typically uses dozens of not-quite-new techniques and features, each +of which might have been patented. Our ability to use each wrinkle +will depend on luck, and if we are unlucky half the time, few programs +will escape infringing a large number of patents. Navigating the maze +of patents will be harder than writing software. As <cite>The +Economist</cite> says, software patents are simply bad for business.</p> + +<h3>What you can do to help</h3> + +<p> +There is a massive effort in Europe to stop software patents. Please +<!-- [Dead as of 2019-03-23] support <a href="http://stopsoftwarepatents.eu/">this +petition</a> for a Europe free of software patents, and --> see <a +href="http://www.ffii.org"> the FFII web site</a> for full details of +how you can help.</p> + +</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> + +<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> +<div id="footer"> +<div class="unprintable"> + +<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to +<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. +There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> +the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent +to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> + +<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, + replace it with the translation of these two: + + We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality + translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. + Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard + to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> + <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> + + <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of + our web pages, see <a + href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations + README</a>. --> +Please see the <a +href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations +README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations +of this article.</p> +</div> + +<p>Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2008, 2019 Free Software +Foundation, Inc.</p> + +<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" +href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative +Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p> + +<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> + +<p class="unprintable">Updated: +<!-- timestamp start --> +$Date: 2019/03/23 11:26:56 $ +<!-- timestamp end --> +</p> +</div> +</div> +</body> +</html> |