This upcoming next wednesday, 6th of July, the EU Parliament has a last chance to prevent the US-software patents madness in the EU. These patents will prevent the normal citizen to create and innovate. These patents will prevent the citizen to put a normal poll, a e-commerce shop or a guestbook online without having the risk to be sued by any of these million-dollar companies having a portfolio of patents.

If the Parliamant fails to reach 367 votes against this key amendment, then the Council directive will legalize business methods and software patents.

What do these patents do?
These patents will serve no other citizen except corporations and the rich, holding such portfolio full of patents. Even if you create a entire new way of “shopping on the web” or “making your own vote-poll on the web”, the way of representing such software will be in danger, because of the corporations trying to push such software patents.

Corruption?
I don’t know, personally, if this is corruption at mass-level, or reality, but, if corporations already have the power to tell what YOU can and cannot do with your own information or ideas, the world will be becoming a very dark place. The line “You do what we tell you” is very appropriate in this matter!

What happens with the average citizen? YOU!?
Try to put your own photoalbum online, your own poll, your weblog, your own streaming video of your kids, your portfolio, your profile, your CV, your own created (web based) game and even YOUR WEBSITE! …

This list is not limited to the above, try to use your own Operating System whenever you want, like Linux, BSD or others with exceptions to the patent-holders like Microsoft or Apple. All these things could be sued because of this one thing .. the stop to innovation .. the “Software patent law”.

When someone cannot legally put a movie or lecture text online they gave, without paying licensing fees to the companie(s) that own those patents (for example on streaming media), then it has gone too far and the citizen is being muted; since there will be no way to communicate, create or innovate on them unless making those multi-dollar companies richer, to be able to buy more software patents; while making the normal citizen, poorer.

What happens if this law comes through with companies?
Lots of businesses are currently using open-source software.
Even when they are using Microsoft and other wide-used OS, some software to create PDF’s, PRINT, make graphical works, render 3D elements and even even create normal documents.

As a Internet company, we use Linux and lots of libraries that are freely available on the net. This allows us to create and innovate new ideas and implementations on the web; if such libraries and even ideas, are outlawed, with exception of paying a large “fine” to one or more of the patent holders; such ideas will be shattered in thousand pieces for us and many others wanting and willing to share their product(s) through the Internet.

What can we do?

• A online demonstration is going on of more than 2400 websites shutting down till the vote, the 6th of july.
• A physical demonstration is planned in Strasbourg, this upcoming tuesday, the 5th of July, crazy enough, the day after “independence day”.
• Subscribe yourself on the Economic Majority website.
• Read the DUTCH version of www.softwarepatenten.be

Lots of citizens and companies will see the effect once the patent-misuse will start; like we can already see in the United States; where the corporations have more power than the government and start suing people for no reasons, because their patent “matches” a certain idea even, without being the same implementation or way of “doing it”.

With patents; money talks .. and .. Money will have the only last voice in this situation! And will have the voice over what you can THINK-and-CREATE.

Act now or be screwed for a long time!

Update: The software patents law has been voted off yet again.

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