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An editorial of the US magazine BusinessWeek reports that a group of "left-leaning politicians" and "open-source advocates" by "last-minute lobbying" "upended" a directive proposal in such a way that it actually "bans software patents", thereby creating an "industry-specific exemption" which violates the TRIPs treaty amd "erases billions in intellectual property granted by the EPO". The author gives Europe a lot of advice, demanding that Europe should set an example by finding a formula that "spurs innovation while safeguarding intellectual property". The article contains various contradictions and false assertions. Jim Bessen (innovation economics researcher at MIT) and others have written letters to the editor.
