Bonum Certa Men Certa

Chronicles of the Defunct Patent Office/Legal System in Europe

We need EPO media coverage, not coverup

Paris
People who love Europe are concerned



Summary: The tragedy happening in the EPO, or the EU-centric UPC project, is a cause for concern among many who practice science rather than "law" (litigation); we need to compel media to better inform the public because it's completely failing to do journalism that's essential for justice

THOSE who have been following this site since the start (2006) and have been reading my blog posts since my teenage years will know that I'm no opponent of patents in general. I find myself arguing, both online and offline (in real life, friends of mine), that patents are not intrinsically, or in principle, evil. Even a friend of mine who has patents, including European Patents at the EPO, says that all patents need to go. As a university professor, the only reasons he has patents (a medical field) is because his job requires or demands it.

"As a university professor, the only reasons he has patents (a medical field) is because his job requires or demands it."Judging by comments seen here on Saturday, Team UPC carries on with this false narrative wherein UPC sceptics are some dangerous nationalists when in fact they're well-schooled people who understand the patent system and are accordingly concerned. Many scholars signed letters to that effect, even at the end of last year. Bristows et al was happy to flag AfD as a UPC opponent in order to paint with a broad brush people who stood in the way of the business objectives of Bristows et al. We covered this in past years. Thankfully the second comment in the above thread says: "Thank you for demonstrating once again the psychological and intellectual condition of some ‘Team UPC’ members."

We're glad to see that the term ‘Team UPC’ caught on after we had coined it. Over the years we coined all sorts of terms that caught on, mostly in the area of technology, e.g. "social control media" and "openwashing". We think they correctly explain what's really going on.

"We're glad to see that the term ‘Team UPC’ caught on after we had coined it."In our Daily Links we'll included (with commentary) all the latest spin from ‘Team UPC’. But we don't intend to write very much about it. UPC has become almost 'pure politics' already, so no wonder its proponents are not scientists but politicians like Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos, lobbying with or for a bunch of lawyers. What's at stake is very big and goes well beyond European software patents; but at the same time we think this sort of debate is somewhat of a distraction from profound EPO corruption. Notice how not a single publisher has said anything about the ILO-AT rulings on EPO, even though SUEPO announced these publicly. I will check again later today to see if I missed or overlooked something, but almost nobody covered the hearing from July 2nd (I saw only 3, one behind a sort of paywall) and there is zero coverage about ILO affairs. How come?

ParisIn my early twenties I devoted myself to Free software activism; in my mid twenties I started getting more and more involved in the fight against software patents, seeing them as the foremost risk to a lot of what we call software freedom (many people don't comprehend the underlying concepts because media goes out of its way to not explain that or -- yet worse -- explain that poorly). What happened at the EPO for over a decade now wasn't a surprise; we've covered the EPO crisis for nearly 14 years, culminating in Brimelow's abrupt departure. Then there was a quiet transition from bad to much worse. And we're fortunate to have earned the full trust of EPO staff, to whom we are eternally obliged. Over a week ago we mirrored everything in Gemini, including the wiki, and work is underway to take that mirror further (lots of coding going on in the background).

Here's a bit of a preview:

EPO in gemini://
EPO in gemini:// (mirror of HTTP/S). Work in progress, or testbed, an automatically-generated (and automatically-updated) wiki page.



Our number one commitment in Techrights has been for quite some time -- and remains -- EPO coverage. This is easy to see and probably surprises nobody. If we could choose just one topic to cover, EPO would be it. Not just because it's a unique subject but because it's conspicously suppressed and covered by almost nobody (or covered poorly; lost in a mist of paid-for IEA greenwashing, EIA fluff, and shameless self-marketing from litigation firms). Chronicles of these EPO affairs won't stop any time soon. As City fans say, "we fight till the end."

Recent Techrights' Posts

Approaching 10,000 Articles/Pages Since Going Static
Trying to silence or derail the site was always a dumb strategy
Microsoft is Shedding Off Loads of Staff and That Can be Dangerous Too
Working for Microsoft is a choice; nobody forces you to do it
Richard Stallman and the Unix Philosophy
When asked about systemd people must remember that RMS speaks as an active Board member of the FSF and also the founder of the FSF
Get Rid of Back Doors, Don't Obsess Over Bounties and Other Corporate PR Stunts (or Needless Reboot Rituals)
Security as a term has mostly lost its meaning due to repeated misuse for many years
Serial Sloppers Are Killing the Web (They Probably Don't Care, Either)
Slop is a disease on the Web
IBM's Debt Ballooned by 8.5 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months!
Hallmark of a company in a state of disarray, trying to spend its way out of trouble
Big Trouble in GNOME
even GNOME people admit the CoC went wrong
 
Links 25/04/2025: Slop Fatigue and Patent Judges Flocking to Fake, Unconstitutional and Illegal Kangaroo Court (UPC, Captured 'Justice')
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/04/2025: Night Manager and Devuan in Hosting
Links for the day
Windows Falls to New Lows in Nicaragua, Now Below a Quarter (It Used to be Almost 100%)
Another all-time low for Windows
The Cost (to Linux) of LLM Slop
Slop 'artists' like Fagioli are far from harmless
Links 25/04/2025: Ubisoft Spyware, Hegseth Fails at Tech on Every Level
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/04/2025: Food Forest Update and Facebook Destroying the Net
Links for the day
Streaming Apps Are “Investor Fraud” That Kills the Planet
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Things Get Increasingly Nasty at Microsoft Ahead of the Fake Results and May's Mass Layoffs Wave
They try to get people to 'resign' so that they won't count as layoffs and the company's 'wellbeing' will seem better
Slopping the Trough: Disney Plus Loses Billions and the Decline of Physical Media in America
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 24, 2025
Links 24/04/2025: GAFAM Problems and No Peace (or Ceasefire) in Sight
Links for the day
Slopfarms on the Web Almost Always Generate Anti-Linux FUD When They Produce "Linux" Output
Welcome to the dying Web
Richard Stallman's Oxford Talk Has Just Ended, Here Are Some Photos
he might hop over to another European country
Gemini Links 24/04/2025: Birthday and Good Work of Academia in Esotericism
Links for the day
Links 24/04/2025: EU fines Apple and Facebook, Another Microsoft GitHub Security Blunder
Links for the day
New Article Explains How the GPL Came About and WordPress Having Copyleft Obligations
Having been involved in the WordPress development community since almost the beginning, I know why it chose the GPL and how it restricts abuse by Automattic
IBM Gained Almost 6 Billion Dollars in "Goodwill" Value in Just 3 Months, According to IBM
Congrats to the management!
In Belarus, Yandex is Now Measured as 50 Times More 'Popular' (by Usage) Than Microsoft
Yandex continues to gain, whereas Bing cannot even register at 1%. Last month it was registered or measured at a measly 0.65%.
IBM Cannot Lie to Shareholders Anymore
"I would not be surprised if we see a layoff every quarter this year."
Dr Richard Stallman (RMS) Gives Talk in Oxford University in 4 Hours
If you live nearby, go there (it's free as in gratis)
Using a Law Firm's Licence to Exercise Politics Through Frivolous SLAPPs and Nastygrams (to Silence People, Remove Pages, Demand Fake or Forced 'Apologies')
Things must be getting really bad when lawyers act for raving antisemites
We're Working to Make Full-Site Search Available
This site has over 1,000 'wiki' pages, many thousands of documents, several thousands of videos, and about 50,000 blog posts or articles. We need to make them easier to find/navigate.
Links 24/04/2025: IBM Loses Many Contracts, Intel to Lay Off Over 20% (Not Counting Those Who Leave 'Voluntarily')
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Can Explain to Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society Why LLM Slop is Not Artificial Intelligence and Why It Hurts Society
another 'crop' of LLM slop that damages GNU/Linux and facts
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Promoting Microsoft and Proprietary Software Using Microsoft Operatives
Because nothing says "Open Source" like GPL violations facilitated by Microsoft
Another Site Bites the Dust: "Open Source For You" Becoming a Slopfarm (LLM Slop)
What a shame. Another dead site.
Links 23/04/2025: Crackdowns on Dissent, Palin Loses Libel Retrial Against New York Times
Links for the day
Links 23/04/2025: Hard Times and Digital Amnesia
Links for the day
The GNU/Linux Site Formerly Known as "linoxide.com" is Back... as an LLM Slopfarm!
Better for linoxide.com to go offline than to do this
Richard Stallman to Speak in Oxford University Exactly a Day From Now
outsourced to GAFAM
Links 23/04/2025: "Hiding Corruption" and "The Cost of Defunding Harvard"
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Studies' Again? Leon Musolff is Writing Papers With Microsoft.
Even if one can see/find a link to "the study" (in the Bezos-controlled publication), most people won't look any further and just take everything at face value.
Towards GNU World Domination
The FSF led by Geoffrey S. Knauth with his friend Richard Stallman in the FSF's Board [...] Let's encourage people to adopt GNU/Linux. There has never been a better time.
statCounter Helps Visualise Just How Deep in Trouble Microsoft is (Especially in Africa)
Microsoft sabotaged efforts to connect Africans and equip them with GNU/Linux laptops
The Register is Using Linux-Hostile Clickbait in Articles of Linux Proponents
Don't be a "whore" to advertisers, team El Reg
Microsoft Windows in Cyprus Lacking a Future
Most people access the Web there from mobile
Matrix Has a Severe Problem With Illegal Images
If Matrix cannot get the CP problem under control, many projects and people will dump Matrix
Never Try to Justify Strangulation of Women (Not in the US and Not in the UK)
Joint post by Mrs. Rianne Schestowitz and Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Links 23/04/2025: Tesla Profits Plunge 71%, Intel Ready to Lay Off 20% of Staff, Microsoft and IBM Layoffs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Most Profound Issue is That People Moved to 'Mobile' and "App Stores" (Microsoft's Presence There is Negligible)
Expect a wild ride for Microsoft this year
Google News is Amplifying FUD and Lies About Linux (and OpenSSH/SSH) by Promoting Slopfarms With Machine-Generated FUD and Slop Images
Google should know better
Gemini Links 23/04/2025: Librarians, Anubis, and Refactoring a Gemini Capsule
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 22, 2025