On Mon, 2009-04-13 at 11:15 +0530, Rahul Rai wrote: > As for their new stance on “digital standards” — that is, proprietary > claims on algorithms and software programmes — the BJP-led National > Democratic Alliance government, notably, was the first to amend the Patent > Act in March 1999 and in June 2002 as part of the WTO agreement under Trade > Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The seemingly innocuous phrase > “software per se,” which the NDA government introduced into section 3(K) of > the Indian Patents Act, was a loophole through which software could be > brought under a patenting regime from a copyright one. > > According to Dr. Purkayastha, the amendments had nothing to do with TRIPS > which does not even include software or computer programmes in its ambit. “A > 2004 ordinance provided for patenting of computer programmes used in > combination with hardware. Later, while in the opposition the BJP opposed > the bill — even though it was virtually drafted by their Commerce Minister > Arun Jaitley. It was presented without any changes,” he says. This was > revoked in 2005 by the United Progressive Alliance under pressure from the > Left.
See, this is the bit that bothers me. They've been pro-patent (including software) for so long, and now a complete U-turn? I do not trust them. Particularly since they oppose patents when out of power, and support them when in power. Frankly, I'd rather not be violating any patents every time I play some music. -- Regards, Roshan George <[email protected]> _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, email [email protected] with "unsubscribe <password> <address>" in the subject or body of the message. http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/mailman/listinfo/ilugc
