2005-04-10: European Liberal Youth Calls on ALDE to vote against Software Patents

The Text

No to Software Patents

Adopted at the annual Congress of the European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 8-10 April 2005.

The LYMEC Congress Whereas:

• The European Patent Office (EPO) - which lies entirely outside the EU - has, in contradiction to the letter and spirit of the written law, granted tens of thousands of patents on rules for computing with conventional data processing equipment, below termed "software patents".
• In 2000, the removal of software patents' exclusion in the European Patent Convention (which governs the EPO) failed due to an unexpected public resistance.
• The European Commission adopted in 2002 a draft directive that aims at legalising patents on "computer-implemented inventions" and making them uniformly enforceable in Europe. · Following continued public mobilisation and a negative opinion expressed by the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Parliament made, in the first reading of the text (September 2003), very substantial amendments to the draft directive.
• The votes of the ELDR Group were highly divided in the first reading of the text · Under the Irish presidency, the Council of Ministers of the EU has rejected, through its political agreement of 18 May 2004, most amendments of the European Parliament.
• Following irregularities in the vote of the 18 May 2004 (no qualified majority of Member States), the approval of the Common Position by the Council has been several times pushed back.
• After the Council approves a Common Position, the directive will come back to the European Parliament for a second reading of the text

  Noting that:

  • Empirical studies show that software patents stifle innovation by increasing entry costs and favour large over small businesses: most software patents are indeed owned by large companies and obtained for strategic purposes rather than for preventing imitation of products
  • In the US, software patents have resulted in a transfer of resources from R&D to patenting activities and have created considerable implementation difficulties
  • The software industry is characterised by cumulative innovation, low capital costs, rapid consequential innovation and short life span of products, and alternative incentives for innovation such as copyright and Open Source.
  • The Irish Presidency was co-sponsored by Microsoft

  And considering that:

  Software market is different from traditional industries: small or no market in `components', most programs are written from scratch, high chances of infringement
  • Widening the scope of patents, tools of industrial age, to intellectual works which are immaterial, such as software, is highly questionable
  • Software patents not only may cause the software industry to cease being a creative industry, restricting it to large companies that cross-license, but also hurt Open Source and other non-corporate models for the software industry
  • The votes of the ALDE Group could be critical on the 2nd reading in the European Parliament

  The LYMEC Congress concludes that:

  • LYMEC urges the European Parliament to stand firm against the Council of Ministers in case the controversial political agreement of May 2004 is confirmed
  • The Bureau should on behalf of LYMEC contact Graham Watson MEP (Leader of the ALDE Group) to encourage him to call for all ALDE MEPs to vote against the patenting of software
  • LYMEC President should sign the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII)'s petition against software patents on behalf of LYMEC
  • LYMEC should join forces to FFII's campaign "Software Patents vs. Parliamentary Democracy".

  Annotated Links

  • resolutions adopted at the Amsterdam congress
  • President's column: Speech at the LYMEC Congress Referendum: mentions that "Lymec opposes software patents" and that this was decreed in a resolution adopted at the congress of 2005-04-08..10 in Amsterdam, but does not contain a link to the full text
  • LYMEC website
  • Youth of European People's Party (YEPP) against software patents, resolution adopted in 2000
  • German Liberal Democratic Party (FDP.de) against software patents, strongly supportive of 1st reading stance