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TTIP & Open Source

  • 08-01-2015 12:40pm
    #1
    croo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 1,333 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Of late I have started to see more about the "Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership" [TTIP] which is being negotiated currently between the USA & EU and I began to wonder if this new agreement might mean the USA approach to IP, specifically software patents, might be applied in Europe. If it were so, I could imagine that would mean the end of Open Source.

    Has anyone see any details with possible impact on FOSS?

    I did find this ComputerWorld article, which but an interesting slant, that I had not even considered on thing. To summarize, the author suggests US Companies could use its [TTIP's] dispute resolution mechanism to be compensated for the loss of potential earnings because their patents are not recognized by the individual countries within the EU [even though a patent might be issued by the EPO!].

    Maybe, if anyone finds articles they might post here?


Comments

  • #2
    Grudaire
    Registered Users Posts: 3,620 ✭✭✭Grudaire


    Interesting topic - TTIP sounds scary enough without affecting open-source freedoms :(


  • #3
    Walnutcracker
    Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭Walnutcracker


    As bad an idea as TTIP seems to be, I'm curious as to how it would affect open source, and how software patents could block it? Even with crazy software patents in the US at current, this isn't stopping open source, right?


  • #4
    croo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 1,333 Mod ✭✭✭✭croo


    I think open source exists in the USA in spite of patents but there are still problems
    https://www.gnu.org/patent-examp/patent-examples.html for some examples

    It isn't stopping Open Source in the USA outright because the projects can just move to a jurisdiction where there are no patents. But, if the whole world recognized software patents you couldn't do very much without breaching a patent and then, I believe, you'd see a completely different approach from the holders of the software patents.

    As things stand in Europe, the software patents are not enforceable, but you can still get one from the European Patent Office - you just cannot enforce it. Many have availed of this and so right now there are patents for every litlle thing you can imagine . Want to have a website on which you pay by Credit Card? Patented. Want to have an ecommerce site were you add items to a "cart" to pay for at the end? Patented. These were just two I remember from the early 00s but there are huge numbers of patents being registered even now.

    If patents become enforceable in Europe there will be no systen you could write that without paying some patent fees.


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