EU commissioner outlines software patent plans
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European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy set out his plan for a single approach to patents across the European Union on Thursday, ahead of an Oct. 12 vote on the matter in the European Parliament, winning plaudits from some erstwhile opponents.
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A group of open-source software pioneers, led by Linux developer Linus Torvalds, has issued an appeal to the EU Council to block the legalization of software patents.
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The European Union's 27 national telecom authorities must submit plans to regulate the single European market by Feb. 16Â or face ceding those powers to the European Commission, Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding has warned.
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The European Commissioner in charge of the single market, Charlie McCreevy, said Thursday he is restarting a consultation with industry with the aim of simplifying the European Union&#39;s approach to copyright levies.The move comes 14 months after the Commission abandoned a similar effort, following pressure from France and from lobbying by the music and film industries.Levies are slapped on a wide range of machines, ranging from photocopiers and re-writeable CDs and DVDs to mobile phones and MP3 players, in varying degrees in the 27 different countries. Their aim is to compensate rights holders when their copyright-protected material is copied.Levies on MP3 players, for example range from nothing to &#8364;15 ($21) depending on the rules in different E.U. countries. McCreevy said the current system is &quot;incoherent&quot; but he played down hopes of a total overhaul of the status quo.&quot;What is the right level? There are no easy answers,&quot; he said, during a press conference as he announced a consultation that will run until April 18. After hearing back from industry and from consumer groups the Commission will hold a conference in June &quot;to see if there is common ground&quot; to streamline the current system. &quot;Last time I suspended the initiative because there was no hope then. Now it should be possible,&quot; he said.Gadget makers welcomed the move. &quot;As an industry, we fully support fair and proper compensation for artists, creators and other rightholders. Industry is not advocating for private copy levies to be abolished, but has repeatedly demonstrated that the current system of &#39;rough justice&#39; is opaque, unfair to consumers and industry, and does not fulfill the stated purpose of fairly remunerating right holders,&quot; said Mark MacGann, director General of EICTA, the organization that represents the information and communications technology and consumer electronics industries in Europe.According to EICTA, levies collection has more than tripled since 2001, when the E.U. passed a copyright law designed to suit the digital age. The law permitted copying of copyrighted works such as music for personal use, but allowed individual member states to set levels of levies to help compensate artists.McCreevy said he had no plans to overhaul this law. &quot;The directive allows member states to set levies. There are no plans to do away with this. We just want to get some realism.&quot; He added: &quot;Hopefully people will come [to the conference in June] with an open mind.&quot;Meanwhile, McCreevy announced a parallel initiative to extend the period of copyright protection for performing artists from 50 years to 90 years. Stars that performed other people&#39;s songs in the 1950s, as well as the session musicians of that time, are at risk of being completely cut off from airplay and recording royalties just as they reach retirement age, McCreevy said.Extending the copyright period by 40 years won&#39;t have any impact on the price of music, McCreevy said.Both copyright-related initiatives will require political approval from national E.U. governments.
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Revised docs handed in Microsoft has handed in revised interoperability information to the European Commission.â¦
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Amid reports that the European Commission is poised to approve Oracle&#39;s proposed takeover of PeopleSoft, a spokesperson for the European Union said Friday that the EU&#39;s competition commissioner, Mario Monti, would like to finish the case before he leaves
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An official spokesperson for the European Commission, in response to our questions regarding procedures for reviewing the proposed merger between Google and DoubleClick, told BetaNews this morning that under EU law, any two companies anywhere in the world whose projected post-merger annual revenue from European customers would exceed 250 million euros is subject to regulatory approval there.
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BRUSSELS, Dec 22 (IPS) - Campaigners have hailed the EU decision to postpone  the adoption of controversial new rules for patenting  computer-based inventions as a victory for âEuropean democracyâ.
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The European Commission has given the green light to the proposed Oracle acquisition of PeopleSoft, European Union Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said Tuesday.
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The three most famous European authors of open-source software today issued an appeal against software patents in Europe. Linux author Linus Torvalds, MySQL author Michael Windenius and
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Adobe Systems and Symantec are planning to ask European Union regulators to take action against Microsoft's forthcoming operating system, Vista, which the companies believe has features that undercut rivals.
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An EU commissioner hints of regulatory action if cooperative international roaming doesn't extend from voice to data.
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European antitrust regulators worry that Microsoft could dominate the burgeoning market for digital rights management software
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NEWSMAKER While a majority of European nations back a voluntary code of ethics that declares computer software as unworthy of patents, some still grant patents to software companies. Follow BetaNews' Scott Fulton as he untangles the European patent debate, with its lively characters and its strange twist on politics in which left-wing opponents are adopting right-wing tactics.
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Plans to provide umbrella from patent-infringement suits to outsiders using or developing the OS--a move to counter Linux.
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BRUSSELS, Oct 7 (IPS) - EU development commissioner designate Louis Michel  has promised to âsell the idea of developmentâ across Europe.
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A European Court judge pressed Microsoft on Thursday to explain why it would suffer irreparable harm if it followed EU orders to share technology with competitors.