Hi there,
On 20 Aug 2003 at 20:10:36 +0200, Felix E. Klee wrote:
> Is there any chance that the FVWM project participates in
> this event? Note that the FVWM web site doesn't need to
> be closed down completely. On
> http://swpat.ffii.org/gruppe/demo/index.de.html there are
> several examples on how it's possible to show ones
> concerns without taking such drastic measures, but there's
> no need to stick to the examples.
>
> Just as a quick reminder: Many trivial things are already
> patented in the US such as tabbed palettes
> (http://swpat.ffii.org/patente/
> wirkungen/palette/index.en.html) which e.g. FVWMTabs is
> infringing upon. I for one don't want to have the same
> situation in Europe and fear that it will ultimately kill
> the competitiveness of Free Software. So this protest is
> likely to be our last chance to somewhat influence the
> decision making process.
I really like if we support this demo. IMO software patents
are a serious thing which effects developing free software.
Past examples as gif or even the current discussion about
the linux kernel show what software patents and copyright
issues can cause.
As seen software patents lead to the situation that only big
companies, I don't want so say any names, can afford to use
certain patented ideas, algorithm or methods. Companies
which have the money will buy patents and others will have
to pay them for that.
Having our web site not available for one day for that good
reason is really worth it.
If nobody minds I could make the web site to be closed
completly (all pages will not work even direct links like
www.fvwm.org/documentation/manpages), closed partialy (only
the entry site will not work) or I could place a statement
about software patents on each page for that day.
Cheers, Uwe
--
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Received on Thu Aug 21 2003 - 01:33:20 BST