14 DAY TRIAL // Should the European Commission formalize the Computer Implemented Inventions Directive, it could seriously affect the development of open source software.
The European Commission (EC) has rejected requests to rewrite the Computer Implemented Inventions Directive (CIID), sparking a furious response from campaigners who accused the EC of acting undemocratically.
According to ZDnet, an EC spokesman confirmed on Monday that the Commission had declined requests from the European Parliament to go back to basics on the CIID, which opponents claim will allow the widespread patenting of software in Europe.
"We expect the European Council to formalize the common position. The Commission stands ready to review all aspects of the directive," said the EC spokesman, adding that this meant that changes could yet be made to the directive when it reaches the European Parliament.
The CIID has caused many months of argument, debate and confusion within Europe. It has yet to be formally adopted by the European Council, but if this does happen the directive will return to the Parliament. Earlier in February, the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) of the European Parliament demanded that the proposed software patent directive should be started from scratch.
Information technology lawyers are worried that patent laws could perhaps stop some of the development that is going on in Europe on open source. You may find that some people developing software will have to stop doing it because of the threat of being sued over patent violations.