Whatever text we adopted will need to be approved, anyhow, but do you want to add anything to the effect that the Apache Software Foundation develops software based upon Open Standards and promotes inter-operability, both of which would be threatened by software patents, and therefore the ASF is taking its position based upon the firm belief that Internet technology must remain open and unencumbered?
I sure would like to see such statements but, given the lack of time, I thought that it would have been less questionable and debatable to have a more neutral text. But addition, if possible, would be most welcome.
The irony is that the patent system was put into place to protect small inventors from powerful players, and to ensure that they would receive a fair economic reward. Instead it as evolved into a system where the largest players develop huge patent portfolios to use as leverage against their peers, and the smaller players are kept out of the system by the economics involved in the patent process.
We see enough of that already here in the USA.
And this is exactly why we're trying to keep that away from Europe. :-)
BTW, thanks for your corrections: they have been applied.
Ciao,
-- Gianugo Rabellino Pro-netics s.r.l. - http://www.pro-netics.com Orixo, the XML business alliance - http://www.orixo.com (Now blogging at: http://blogs.cocoondev.org/gianugo/)
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