Linux Online - Mr. Torvalds Goes To Brussels

Mr. Torvalds Goes To Brussels


Publication:	Linux Pipeline	Date:	Dec 02 2004
Reporter:	Matt McKenzie

Last week, a group of Open Source pioneers joined a running battle over the future of software patents in the European Union. Over the next several weeks, Europe may adopt the same legal framework that has allowed a bunch of con artists to wreak havoc on the U.S. software industry. Yet it's also possible Europe will take the first step towards dumping software patents once and for all--and force the United States to decide whether it wants to pay more than lip service to the idea of innovation.

For Linus Torvalds, along with MySQL creator Michael Widenius and PHP developer Rasmus Lerdorf, the time was right to get involved. European law is currently unclear on the legality of software patents; more than 30,000 are on the books, but few are enforced. Pending legislation, however, would legalize software patents, unleashing a flood of litigation and setting off a mad rush to secure new patents. Torvalds and his colleagues know this process could quickly doom open-source software projects, few of which have the resources to compete in a legal land-grab or to defend themselves against licensing demands and infringement claims.