FFII reports that the software patent Directive proposal was voted down by a large majority in Parliament. A so decisive rejection has never happened before. This is the first time that Parliament has rejected a Council Common Position before entering a conciliation procedure.
They have a gallery with pictures from demonstrations surrounding the vote. One shows a big cruiser in the background the Directive proponents used to show a "Vote for the CII Directive" banner, and a small boat with people holding up a sign reading "software patents kill innovation". Link to the picture here. See also this short report from FFII on that demonstration.
This shows that not always the side with the bigger boat wins. A "Vote for the CII Directive" did not happen, even with our side outspent by a large margin in the lobbying effort.
Since I have opposed for the last several years this project to sell the European software industry out to American interests while destroying any limits of the patent system, I am pleased to hear this news.
And this time there is no way Council can ignore the vote in Parliament.
Posted by Karl-Friedrich Lenz at July 7, 2005 01:58 PM