Bonum Certa Men Certa

Commissioner Barnier: Enemy of European Development

Michel Barnier



Summary: Naming the leading culprit among European politicians that let Europe be contaminated by foreign monopolies

TECHRIGHT wrote quite a lot about Commissioner Barnier because he took a leading role in the push for unitary patent, which ushers in software patents. Currently, Barnier is the main politician threatening to indirectly bring software patents to Europe. He is an enemy of science and technology, but then again, he is neither a scientist nor a technologist. Almost no politician is really aware of those disciplines. Watch Michel Barnier saying: "A few more days needed to cross the finishing line. 22nd December: I am confident we'll be able to sign final agreement then."



What a clown. This is the 'gift' he wishes to give people for Christmas? The loss of their sovereignty? The patent lawyers love him and quote him: "#Barnier: Spain and Italy still don't support #unitarypatent"

Utter nonsense. We wrote about this before. He says what he wants to be true, not what is true.

The president of the FFII says:

a central patent court means EU software patents. Patent judges will do the job, as they did in the UK and DE.


Later he wrote that the "Unitary Patent gives a free ride to the patent microcosm, it will die on its own once it will be tested in front of the ECJ"

"EU Patent policy is cursed. Always the same stupid mistakes," writes the FFII and the "European Patent Court - Disaster before Christmas" is one suitable headline. The president of the FFII rants that:

When it comes to patents, the EU finds itself a way not to respect the Fundamental Rights written in the Lisbon Treaty


Here is what lawyers are saying and what ceptics are saying: "FICPI Says "Go Slowly" on Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court"

"Software patents are not even for the "one percent"; those benefiting from them are far fewer than one percent of the population."Sooner or later we might see some US-based patent trolls coming to Europe, assuming we cannot hold back the tide of corporate power. People who help companies gain patents do not seem to care if they end up abused even by patent trolls/lawyers. As Masnick puts it: "There was a recent post on the Patent Examiner blog about yet another patent troll who's been suing a ton of companies with a variety of patents. Among recent lawsuits there was one against General Motors, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, BMW of North America, Rolls-Royce, Hyundai, KIA and ATX Group for using GPS systems to track cars, and two more against AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, MetroPCS, T-Mobile and others over patents 7,852,995 and 7,860,225, titled “Method and apparatus for selectively providing messages in telecommunications systems."

At stake when it comes to the unitary patents are not just software patents but also patent trolls. There is absolutely no reason for European citizens to support this thing, unless they are patent lawyers or CEOs at one of the multinationals. Software patents are not even for the "one percent"; those benefiting from them are far fewer than one percent of the population.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Passage of Wealth Upwards, Blaming the Victims
Tim Sweeney's net worth is 5.1 billion USD according to Forbes
EPO Strike Begins Today and It's the Longest One Yet (Can Last a Year)
Where's the media?
People Discuss Rumours of Mass Layoffs at IBM Becoming Public in 1-2 Weeks
IBM is killing its brand or its "goodwill"
The Old Days
In the early days of this site (2006) it was mostly just a couple of people, plus comments
 
When the Cost (or Time) of Maintenance Exceeds the Value
In recent years it seems like more people learn to remove things from their lives, not add more things
More Media Needs to Tell the Public Slop is a Giant Bubble, It Should Stop Taking "Sponsorship" Money to Inflate This Bubble
If enough of (what's left of) the media changes its tune and quits being a parrot of GAFAM, then we can debate slop like grown-ups
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 29, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, March 29, 2026
Trying to Hide One's Abuses by Imposing Silence on Critics ("My Profile Was Private")
With enough daylight, sooner or later everyone knows you are a vampire
Fedora Badges System Shows the Demise of Fedora Under IBM
IBM isn't good at keeping what it buys
IBM is Sunsetting Red Hat, It Only Uses the Brand and the Shell
IBM buys or spins off companies as containers for "toxic assets" and debt
Cisco Systems is a Still Weak Spot With Bug Doors
nothing to offer except storytelling
Gemini Links 30/03/2026: Approaching April and Arvelie Calendar
Links for the day
No Daylight Saved
Is there still any practical reason for this ritual?
Microsoft Azure Does Not Have "Hiring Freezes", It Has Had Mass Layoffs Every Year Since 2020
Things are always a lot worse than Microsoft formally or publicly acknowledges
SLAPP Censorship - Part 27 Out of 200: Using the Tor Network to Hide From Consequences
Only 1-2 weeks after the countersuit the Canadian attempted to deplatform several Web sites
The Limits of Inclusion
Inclusion with caution isn't "opinionated"; it's a defence mechanism, sometimes a survival instinct
Almost 20 Years After Microsoft/Novell
The mission has not changed, but the priorities evolve all the time
LLM Slop Kills Sites, as Sites That Adopt Slop Are Doomed
People won't subscribe to such sites and visit them if they recognise it's just slop
Links 29/03/2026: Indonesia Cracks Down on Social Control Media Addiction, China Becomes World’s Scientific Superpower
Links for the day
Fedora at the Mercy of Microsoft Because of Back-Doored Kick-Switch Boot
We'll soon revisit the defamation attacks on Torvalds
Links 29/03/2026: Water Shortages and No Kings Rallies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/03/2026: Return to Gopherspace, "Zen of Marking Playing Cards"
Links for the day
The Real XBox is Dead, So Microsoft is Calling Everything "XBox" Now
It even wanted to run a campaign to convince everybody that XBox is not actually a console
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 28, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, March 28, 2026
Open Web Destroyed by Centibillionaires, Says Anil Dash of Blogging Fame
Blogging was going through its 'prime years' about 20 years ago
"Linux" Slop Going Away, Microsoft et al Pay 'Linux' Foundation to Promote Slop
It's a timely reminder that the Linux Foundation exists to promote whoever pays the Linux Foundation, even pedophiles and companies that attack the GPL
Links 28/03/2026: Microsoft's LinkedIn a National Security Risk, Microsoft's Slop "Ambitions Face Investor Scrutiny Amid Soaring Costs"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/03/2026: "Finding My Base Tone", "Astrobotany", and BugoutBack/OFFLFIRSOCH
Links for the day
Links 28/03/2026: More Worldwide Bans on Social Control Media (Harms to Adolescents), Protests in US Against Dictatorship
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 26 Out of 200: Asking for Documents and Information You Already Have, Even Letters and E-mails That You Yourself Sent!
barristers are expensive
Gemini Links 28/03/2026: Echo Delay and 0x0.st
Links for the day
Rumours of More IBM Mass Layoffs at Beginning of April
IBM is not doing well
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 27, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, March 27, 2026