[FYI] The Patent Busting Project

["Axel H Horns" <axel.h.horns@gmx.net>]

<http://www.eff.org/Patent/20040419_eff_pr_patent.php>

The Patent Busting Project

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Monday, April 19, 2004

Contact:

Jason Schultz
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
jason@eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x112

Wendy Seltzer
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
wendy@eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x125 (office), +1 914 374-0613 (cell)

Electronic Frontier Foundation Announces New Patent Busting Campaign

Will Challenge Patents Affecting Non-Profits, Free Speech

San Francisco, CA - In light of growing concerns about illegitimate 
software and Internet patents, the Electronic Frontier Foundation 
(EFF) today announced a new initiative to combat the chilling effects 
bad patents have on public and consumer interests.

"Patents traditionally only targeted large commercial companies," 
said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "Now bad patents are 
threatening non-profits, small businesses, and even individuals who 
use software and Internet technology." These threats target non-
commercial personal use, such as building a hobbyist website or 
streaming a wedding video to your friends.

The new EFF initiative seeks to document these threats and fight back 
against them. EFF has pledged to file "re-examination" requests with 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), asking the 
agency to revoke patents that are having negative effects on Internet 
innovation and free expression.

"More and more, people are using software and Internet technology to 
express themselves," said EFF Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer. "Patent 
owners who threaten this expression are creating a chilling effect on 
free speech."

The EFF announcement comes on the heels of two recent public 
criticisms of the patent system, one by the Federal Trade Commission 
and the other by the National Academy of Sciences.

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/Patent/20040419_eff_pr_patent.php

EFF Patent Busting Project White Paper and related materials:
http://www.eff.org/Patent/

Federal Trade Commission Patent Reform Report:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/10/cpreport.htm

National Academy of Sciences Patent Reform Report:
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309089107?OpenDocumen
t

About EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties 
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded 
in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and 
government to support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a 
member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to 
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/



-- 
To unsubscribe, e-mail: debate-unsubscribe@lists.fitug.de
For additional commands, e-mail: debate-help@lists.fitug.de