First off apologies for the off topic post... but I think this is
important enough.

The New Zealand patent act is currently in the final stages of draft,
public submissions.

The new patent act is an overhaul of the original 1953 act. Currently
neither Australian nor NZ offer any exclusions in regards to software.
This is a highly topical issue, and one may only look to the amount of
disgust and protest in the EU to realise that software patents are
indeed a very bad economic, legal, and social consequence for a
society.

Being that NZ is currently in the middle of reviewing it's legislation
and that there is no specific exemption applying to software patents
currently. (I.e software patents do and can in the future be protected
in NZ, forcing any competing expressions of those idea's to either
licence, or die in a court battle), it is the right time to write to
take some action.

Any publicity generated, encouraging a debate over the inappropriateness
of applying Patent law and protections to software is welcomed.

Copyright and Trade secret law, should be more than enough initial
protection for software companies, allowing them to monopolise and
prohibit specific implementations and expressions of ideas, but not the
idea's themselves as that's like saying a poet says the 'river runs
cold' in prose, and that poet now has monopoly over the idea of rivers
being cold. Arguably any software which is sufficiently complicated to
the point where it is not drawing on obvious FACT's of language and
math, can be protected simply by trade secret law because of it's
complexity. The combination of copyright and trade secret law is what
software companies traditionally have used to protect investments, this
obviously has worked well.

There are a number of other strong arguments against software patents,
this is only one. I encourage you to write to MP's on this issue as it
effects all industry's not just developers as the scope of software
patents tends to be very broad.

Oh free software exists because the idea's which large portfolio holders
are now trying to pass, are free knowledge developed through time.
Effectively allowing software patents is like telling the bully he can
beat up all the other kids because he's the biggest in the schoolyard.

Here are the relevant links for everyone. Baldwins has a good
delegaleesse'd version of the draft.

http://www.baldwins.com/ELibrary/BSCArticleArchive/Patents+Big+Day
+Out.htm

Actual Draft:

http://www.med.govt.nz/buslt/int_prop/patentsreview/draftbill/index.html

IP law in NZ and AUS:

http://www.med.govt.nz/buslt/int_prop.html

Public submissions close march 11.

Kind regards and thanks for listening to my rant.

Joel W

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