Good news from the other side of the pond

Martyn H · Post by **Martyn H** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 11:43 am

EU throws out controversial hi-tech patent directive

The European Parliament has defeated a controversial hi-tech patent directive in a landslide vote.

'This is a great victory for those who have campaigned to ensure that European innovation and competitiveness is protected from monopolisation of software functionalities and business methods. It marks the end of an attempt by the European Commission and governmental patent officials to impose detrimental and legally questionable practices of the European Patent Office (EPO) on the member states,' says the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), which vehemently lobbied against the directive.

Full Story: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/hot-topics/ ... ctive.html

Post by **Patrick** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 11:53 am

We talked about this for a bit last night.

Gomer_X · Post by **Gomer_X** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:22 pm

This leaves the US as a totally different environmentt in which to develop (and market) software compared to the rest of the world. It would be interesting to hear some opinions on what the long term effects will be. Maybe you could even run into a guest for the show who is knowledgable on this.

Does this leave the US at the shallow end of the gene pool?

How will this affect the ablility to compete internationally in the software market?

Will the smart hackers just get fed up and move to Europe?

I've always wondered if the good old US of A would legislate itself into oblivion.

Post by **Patrick** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:34 pm

Gomer_X wrote:Will the smart hackers just get fed up and move to Europe?

If they do go they might not be that smart. I've been to Spain, Portugal, Britain several times and while the general standard of living is fairly close to the U.S. it's lacking in several aspects. High taxes, high unemployment and lack of economic opportuinity don't make it ideal (at least for me). Even though I have plenty of family on the other side of the pond I'm staying right here in the good old U-S-A. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world! Don't get me wrong. I'd still love to visit those places again in the future.