Bonum Certa Men Certa

A Candle-light Vigil to Protest Patenting Software



FREE SOFTWARE USERS GROUP (FSUG), BANGALORE

23rd August 2008

For Immediate Release



Software patents protest in India



A Candle-light Vigil to Protest Patenting Software



Concerned citizens from all walks of life gathered today in front of the Town Hall for a candle-light vigil to send a message saying no to software patents. This vigil was held in anticipation of the Bangalore Consultation on Draft Patent Manual being prepared by the India Patent Office on the 27th of this month. The protesters main concern is the use of this manual to allow patenting of software through the back door. As of now, software can only be copyrighted and not patented. The protesters believe that Patenting of software would be detrimental to the growth of the software industry in general.



According to Praveen,, a Free Software Consultant and one of the organizers of this protest; “Patenting software would be as absurd as patenting a mathematical equation or an algorithm”. Attempts were made to bring software under the patent regime in 2004 through an ordinance, which was rejected outright by the Indian Parliament. This manual is an effort to legitimise what has been rejected by the Parliament.

This vigil is also a call to rally for software innovations and block potentially harmful patent regime that would act as an obstacle to software development. Renuka Prasad,, a Professor at RV College of Engineering feels that pushing a patent regime in software would tantamount to criminalizing genuine and innocent software programmers.



According to Richard Stallman, “Software patents are the software project equivalent of land mines: each design decision carries a risk of stepping on a patent, which can destroy your project”

In this context, patenting software is violative of the freedom of speech and expression, guaranteed under Art 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution of India particularly in the context of software programmers and developers.


For further information contact

  1. Anivar Aravind Ph: +91- 9449009908

    e-mail: anivar@movingrepublic.org

  2. Vikram Vincent Ph: +91 9448810822

    email: vincent.vikram@gmail.com



For More Details, Please visit

http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Say_No_To_Software_Patents



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India



Software patents protest in India

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM's CEO Roasted, Sizzled and Grilled for Dumb and Inconsistent Vapourware Promises
It looks like being a chronic liar is what it takes to lead the company once synonymous with computing
Who Imitates Who? Plagiarist as Client (From Microsoft), 'Plagiarism' at the Law Firm?
let's revisit the subject
 
Links 11/06/2025: More Vulnerabilities Found in 'Smart' Phones, China Extends Reach in the Pacific
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/06/2025: Grain and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Links 11/06/2025: "Quantum" Hype From IBM, US Closer to Martial Law, and “The Nation” Celebrates Milestone
Links for the day
IBM's Goal Is Not (and Never Was) Computer Users' Freedom
More than 1.5 decades ago I found IBM to be an "ally of convenience" because of OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Wayland Shows the IBM/Red Hat Way of Doing Things
IBM is trying to 'kill' X
GitHub is Proprietary, Controlled by Microsoft, and GPL Violation Warehouse
"IRS tax filing software [will be] released to the people as free software" ... In general this is good news
Slopfarm Catastrophe
Seems like BetaNews (or BetaNoise) has just suffered a major data loss and restored the site from a week-old backup
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VIII: Illegal Working Conditions
How many people need to die for these people to get their massive salaries?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Links 10/06/2025: Apple Hype and Physical Attacks on Bloggers
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/06/2025: Loon Lake, Farming, and Forth
Links for the day
Links 10/06/2025: Jaws at 50 and US Democracy Crushed Very Rapidly (Martial Law Seems Imminent)
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VII: Washing Their Hands After Corruption and Abuse
"Tragedy or comedy?"
Culling Bad RSS Feeds of Bad Sites
Not throwing out the baby with the bathwater
If 'Microsoft v Techrights' is Dealt With by a 'Microsoft Court' (or a Court Outsourced to Microsoft)
More on that later
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 09, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 09, 2025
Gemini Protocol Turns Six in 10 Days From Now
If you haven't tried it yet, then give it a go today
Live as You Preach
technology is fast becoming dysphoric
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Addition Addiction and Nitride
Links for the day
Links 09/06/2025: Science, Hardware Projects, and Democracy Receding
Links for the day
Computers Got Smaller, So GNU/Linux Got Bigger
Many people here recognise the lack of urgency (or need) to get expensive new laptops
BetaNews is a Plagiarism and LLM Slop Hub, the Chief Editor Isn't Addressing This Problem Anymore
SS Fagioli is basically a parasite leeching off or exploiting other people's work
Links 09/06/2025: Chaos in Los Angeles and Hurricane Season
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Grows at Windows' Expense and Microsoft Trolls Infest and Maliciously Target Articles About It
Microsoft is - and has long been - organised crime
They Say I'm Mr. Bombastic
They didn't take good lawyers
Links 09/06/2025: Windows TCO and Many Data Breaches
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VI: Political Stunts by Former President Edyta Demby-Siwek and the Connection to Profound Corruption at EUIPO
it's like a money-laundering operation where one politician rewards another at taxpayers' expense
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Pipelines and Splitgate
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 08, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 08, 2025