Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Lobbyists Are Still Duping EU Politicians for Software Patents to be Legalised

ACT logo



Summary: Microsoft and its front group ACT are still trying to break a long-established tradition of denying software patents in Europe, at least on paper

EARLIER today we wrote about VirnetX trying to expand its abusive patents to Europe (having made a mess in the United States with a US patent). Here is another company which wants its patent monopoly to be granted in Europe. As the president of the FFII put it:



ChatRoulette is patentable? The technology, which is patent pending in the US and the EU http://ur1.ca/2g60j


Microsoft too would love to legitimise software patents in Europe before/if it declares patent war on Linux. In case Microsoft decides to sue massively, it needs to prepare the ground, i.e. change the law overseas (in Germany, for example, Microsoft got its FAT patent endorsed quite recently). It's not easy to distort the law without some front groups which pretend to represent the interests of Europe and the interests of small businesses. That's what ACT is for and right now we find it lobbying harder to please its paymaster, Microsoft. Morgan Reed, the current Executive Director of ACT, posts some propaganda in the Huff&Puff (which accepts many pieces of fraud/quacks/junk). In it, ACT talks about TiVo, which is a patent aggressor [1, 2, 3, 4]. ACT is trying to promote software patents while giving sob stories, pretending that these come from SMBs. It is a lie. ACT arranges AstroTurf campaigns and another new example of it comes from Vincent van Quickenborne [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], the gullible politician who is serving the interests of American multinationals while pretending to serve Belgium. Here he is showing his lack of understanding by citing Mr. Sax from ACT [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]:

Minister@VincentVQ mentioned in the US Senate. Read the story of Belgian entrepreneur MikeSax http://www.scribd.com/doc/44590348 (p.3) #cool


The president of the FFII (also from Belgium) already tells Vincent that he is being bamboozled by Microsoft lobbyists:

Mike Sax is on the payroll of Microsoft and ACT. They are promoting software patents wherever they can.


Later comes this remarks:

Mike Sax for software patents in the name of "small companies", ACT is a Microsoft proxy, swpats are "Protectionism 2.0" http://ur1.ca/2hsog


For those who do not know or cannot remember, Vincent has been a key cheerleader of what would possibly become an open door to software patents in Europe. Either he does not understand what he is doing (deceived by lobbyists) or he is knowingly being malicious by harming European software developers.

Watch Microsoft's propaganda site (MSBBC) as it advertises this abominable push for a patent system which would likely accept software patents in due course:

A group of EU countries plans to strike a deal soon on a simplified and cheaper European patent system - a goal that has eluded the EU for a decade.

The European Commission has thrown its weight behind the move, admitting that there is no unanimity on the issue among the 27 member states.


MSBBC is not news. It's like the Fox 'news' of Microsoft and other corporations like GE. On the face of it, Google too joins this party by offering translations that bridge and thus facilitate USPTO invasion into Europe. "Google signs deal with European Patent Office to translate patents" says this article, but Google really ought to stop helping the broken US patent system, which it seems to be exploiting for ad revenue and other selfish interests, including an accumulation of software monopolies (patents).

Looking at the UK, Out-law.com has this curious article titled "Inventor only entitled to share of employer's actual patent earnings" and other publications reveal a misguided move in the UK. Glyn Moody writes about it:

Orborne introduces "patent box" - http://bit.ly/fFeFqm hmm, I'd prefer a "patent coffin"... #patents #uk


Is the UK-IPO wilfully borrowing the mistakes of the USPTO? "Patent tax break could drive technology innovation" says another headline from the British press. Is UK-IPO trying to become even worse than it already is? It sure seems like the USPTO stands a chance of repairing some parts of it. As the former president of the FFII, Pieter Hintjens, put it the other day: "Gotta love it. MSFT bankrolls pro-swpat lobbyists for years in Europe, now goes to SCOTUS cause a patent is aimed at Word." We wrote about this earlier.

Then there is the RAND lobby (largely Microsoft driven and funded [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]), which appears to have already messed about with Neelie Kroes' head. As the current president of the FFII put it:

Kroes against FLOSS: "can be implemented by all 3rd parties under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions" http://ur1.ca/2hrmw


Needless to say, Kroes was lobbied heavily by Microsoft and its front group ACT. And that's the unfortunate outcome.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Nat Friedman Had Left Microsoft GitHub Exactly One Week Before Matthew Garrett Sent His First SLAPP (Which Was an Empty Threat, He Was Abusing the Legal System of Another Continent to Terrorise Critics Who Had Just Unearthed Major Microsoft Scandals)
And it was likely talked about by his lawyers around the exact same time Nat Friedman was packing up
 
Extortion is a Crime, Even If You're Based in Another Continent and Work for Microsoft
reported to British authorities
We're in 6/6 Now, Almost Halfway in 2025
2025 was probably the best year for us
South Americans Are Saying Goodbye to Microsoft
We're hardly even "Cherry-Picking" or conveniently singling out one South American nation
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part III: Data Protection Failures, Just Like at the European Patent Office (EPO)
Just less than a decade ago we showed that the EPO had illegally shared staff data with third parties
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 05, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 05, 2025
Pushing Microsoft's Proprietary Trash/Trap as "Open" and "Linux" (Windows is 'Linux' Now?)
Maybe it's time to just stop saying "FOSS". The people who use that term are promoting Microsoft.
Slopwatch: Comparing Linux to Vermin, Attacking BSD With LLM Slop, and Helping Microsoft Demonise Linux/OpenBSD/SSH Over Weak User Passwords
Microsoft must be laughing its arse off, seeing how a bunch of Serial Sloppers (no skills, no comprehension, no integrity, no creativity) and slopfarms use Microsoft LLM to flood the Web with anti-Linux FUD
Links 05/06/2025: US Poised for Another $2.4 Trillion to Debt, Cops Want GAFAM Kill Switches
Links for the day
Links 05/06/2025: First US Spacewalk 60 Years Ago, GNU Octave 10.2.0 is Out
Links for the day
Scandinavia Saying Goodbye to Microsoft
The Danes have had enough of Microsoft
GNU/Linux Measured at 6% in Bangladesh, According to statCounter
Windows isn't growing, it's going away
Gemini Links 05/06/2025: Loop Earplugs Review and ANS Forth
Links for the day
Armenian Adoption of GNU/Linux
Russian influence in Armenian must be worrying to Microsoft
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part II: Turning a Once-Respected Patent Office Into a Circus and Laughing Stock
It's not legal, but administrators who don't care about the law and don't fear the law would just go ahead and turn things to junk
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 04, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 04, 2025
Slopwatch: Mindless Slop Pieces, Fake Images and Text, Linux FUD on the Cheap
spewed out by Microsoft-controlled LLMs
Links 04/06/2025: Workers' Strikes, Sudan Exodus
Links for the day
Links 04/06/2025: Linux Foundation PR Spam and Lee Jae-myung Wins Election
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/06/2025: Future Leaders of the World and Platforming Jordan Peterson
Links for the day
Links 04/06/2025: WSL Backfiring on Microsoft and "Disney, Microsoft Announce Massive Layoffs"
Links for the day
Our Case is a Very Easy Win, the SLAPPs From Microsofters Were a Grave Error, and Censoring Information Won't Work (It'll Only Ever Backfire)
Censoring is what people do when they lose the argument
Say the Truth, the Rest Will Follow
There's no guarantee that writing the truth will result in an audience (or readership), but over time - in the long run - people generally gravitate towards what they know or feel to be crude truth, not just what's comforting (albeit false or self-deluding, usually groupthink dictated from above)
How to Expose High-Level Corruption Without Getting in (Too Much) Trouble
Democracy depends on free press and freedom of the press depends on being able to safely publish (and keep available) material that bad people don't want to be known to anybody
In-Depth EPO Coverage at Techrights Turns Eleven
11 years is a very long time
Windows Measured Below 10% in Afghanistan, GNU/Linux Gaining a Lot
about 80% are Android (Linux) users, compared to only about 10% for Windows
Poland's Political Predicament and Social Control Media
Democracy and fake "tech" don't mix well; the latter tends to interfere with the former and that's why we get more "Putins" out there
EPO: Taking Away From the Staff to Give More to the Rich
The Central Staff Committee (CSC) wrote to EPO staff earlier this week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 03, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 03, 2025
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part I: It's a Lot Like the EPO
we can commence a series soon
Gemini Links 04/06/2025: Inescapable Questions and Quitting All "Oligarch Tech"
Links for the day