[Fsf-friends] A Dismal Report in the Hindu

[Ramanraj K]

The  Hindu dated  March 26,  2005, Chennai  edition, has  published an
article  titled  "Patents  Bill:  a  setback  to  innovative  software
developers" written by Shanthi Kannan.

The report has totally missed the fact that under Article 10(1) of the
TRIPS Treaty,  "Computer programs, whether  in source or  object code,
shall be protected as literary works under the Berne Convention
(1971)", which  India has complied with  even by 2000,  by bringing in
amendments to the Copyright  Act, 1957.  The mis-application of patent
law to cover computer programs  would have been a serious violation of
our  international obligations  and  India could  have been  arraigned
before  the WTO  for breach.   The illegitimate  practice  of granting
patents for  computer programs is notably  present in US,  Japan and a
few European countries.  India should complain to the WTO and obtain a
ruling  asking these  countries to  comply with  the TRIPS  treaty and
update their laws.

The only good about the report  is that it carries the opinions of the
"Chennai based cyber expert and  trademark attorney A. Mohan", who has
largely spoken on  the lines of the representations  made by FSF India
against  the  introduction  of  patentability for  embedded  software.
Nasscom  is  reported  to   be  saying  that  embeded  software  needs
"protection"  as though  it  would have  helped  innovative small  and
medium companies in the IT  sector.  Nothing could be further from the
truth:  it is the  mega transanational  corporations that  have abused
patent law  in countries like  the US and  obtained a large  number of
"software patents" to extract  "royalties" from small and medium sized
companies, and indulge in all  kinds of "cross licensing" that neither
promote innovation,  nor help  the software field  apart from  being a
drain on revenue.

The  Hindu,  has  revealed  a  shameful fact  about  India's  software
industry:  "India has  a very  few  software products  - the  industry
supplies  "bodies"  (body shopping)  to  develop  software for  global
giants".   It is  clear that  those thirsting  for  "innovation" would
hardly be engaged  in such a trade, that is  as despicable as slavery,
and  its practitioners  could  possibly have  no  interest other  than
making  profits.

The Free Software Foundation  of India campaigned strongly against the
change, and  not surprisingly,  the most innovative  contributions are
made by free software developers.  The article completely glosses over
the  fact  that  GNU/Linux  is  extensively used  to  write  "embedded
software", and there  is no cause to imagine that  the dropping of the
amendment is a "setback  to innovative software developers".  The most
innovative developers, including the FSF, OSI, Oracle corporation, and
many  others  have  publicly   condemned  the  practice  of  "software
patents".   The truth  is that  the  timely intervention  of the  Left
Parties  has saved and  protected the  software industry  from falling
into a disastrous pit of doubt, darkness and doom.

I    have   sent   my    comments   to    the   Editor,    Hindu,   at
letters@thehindu.co.in Please share your opinion too :)