Damnit!
The “directive on software patents was passed”:http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39155028,00.htm. So now it’s going to become far more difficult to reverse. Very annoying, and slightly worrying. I hope I can meet some of these EU election candidates and have a “chat” with them…
+*Update*: The proposal which went through was a compromise, but not generally thought to be one which goes far enough to stop software patents. The only chance to get this reversed now is through a majority vote in the EU parliament.+
+*Update 2*: The proposal “actually didn’t get through”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3726375.stm. Okay, I just don’t know what to think at the moment, I’m going to let the dust clear and see what’s left…+
+According to the BBC site, the proposal came unstuck after EU officials were unable to agree on how many languages patent applications should be converted into. What a trite reason for it to fail, if that’s true!+
+*Update 3*: Okay, the Community Patent was a different issue. The software patenting issue did go through, worse luck for everybody!+