The European Union Council won't decide until 2005 whether to make software patentable, with several reports indicating "mounting political pressure" against such a ruling delaying a move possibly until March.
Published reports indicate several countries in the past six months were concerned about the proposal, with the Netherlands approving a change from government support to government abstention from the idea in July. Germany's political parties came together to oppose the idea in October, and Poland a month later changed its May abstention to a full withdrawal of support. And Austrian politicians were said to have advised that country's Minister of Commerce and Industry that software patents could mean lasting damage to small and medium information technology companies.
Belgium's parliament was told December 7 that the EU Council would postpone a decision until 2005, with minister Marc Verwilghen saying problems included the EU Council no longer having "a qualified majority" thanks to "a change in voting weights of EU members," meaning supporters no longer have a certain majority vote.
The U.S. may well be watching the progress or failure of the EU software patents proposal very closely, if a former senior policy analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is any indication.
Brian Kahin, now a professor at the University of Michigan, said in comments published on the anti-patent NoSoftwarePatents.com that the delay in the EU Council ruling gives Europe a chance to examine the issue "in real depth" instead of as a mere legal argument.
"Something needs to be done to relieve software developers, knowledge producers, and users in all sectors from the incalculable liabilities that are building up around software processesm," Kahin was quoted as saying. "By allowing SMEs the 'freedom of action' that only companies with the largest patent portfolios enjoy in the U.S., Europe may benefit from the kind of renewal and regeneration that has distinguished the U.S. economy – at least in this area where barriers to entry are inherently low."
