# LANGUAGE translation of https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/patent-reform-is-not-enough.html # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc. # This file is distributed under the same license as the original article. # FIRST AUTHOR <EMAIL@ADDRESS>, YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: patent-reform-is-not-enough.html\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2024-01-01 05:26+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Content of: <title> msgid "Patent Reform Is Not Enough - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "Patent Reform Is Not Enough" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "When people first learn about the problem of software patents, their " "attention is often drawn to the egregious examples: patents that cover " "techniques already widely known. These techniques include sorting a " "collection of formulae so that no variable is used before it is calculated " "(called “natural order recalculation” in spreadsheets), and the " "use of exclusive-or to modify the contents of a bit-map display." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Focusing on these examples can lead some people to ignore the rest of the " "problem. They are attracted to the position that the patent system is " "basically correct and needs only “reforms” to carry out its own " "rules properly." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "But would correct implementation really solve the problem of software " "patents? Let's consider an example." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In the early 90s we desperately needed a new free program for compression, " "because the old de-facto standard “compress” program had been " "taken away from us by patents. In April 1991, software developer Ross " "Williams began publishing a series of data compression programs using new " "algorithms of his own devising. Their superior speed and compression " "quality soon attracted users." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "That September, when the FSF was about a week away from releasing one of " "them as the new choice for compressing our distribution files, use of these " "programs in the United States was halted by a newly issued patent, number " "5,049,881." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Under the patent system's rules, whether the public is allowed to use these " "programs (i.e., whether the patent is invalid) depends on whether there is " "“prior art”: whether the basic idea was published before the " "patent application, which was on June 18, 1990. Williams' publication in " "April 1991 came after that date, so it does not count." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "A student described a similar algorithm in 1988-1989 in a class paper at the " "University of San Francisco, but the paper was not published. So it does " "not count as prior art under the current rules." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Reforms to make the patent system work “properly” would not have " "prevented this problem. Under the rules of the patent system, this patent " "seems valid. There was no prior art for it. It is not close to obvious, as " "the patent system interprets the term. (Like most patents, it is neither " "worldshaking nor trivial, but somewhere in between.) The fault is in the " "rules themselves, not their execution." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In the US legal system, patents are intended as a bargain between society " "and individuals; society is supposed to gain through the disclosure of " "techniques that would otherwise never be available. It is clear that " "society has gained nothing by issuing patent number 5,049,881. This " "technique was going to be available anyway. It was easy enough to find that " "several people did so at around the same time." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Under current rules, our ability to use Williams's programs depends on " "whether anyone happened to publish the same idea before June 18, 1990. That " "is to say, it depends on luck. This system is good for promoting the " "practice of law, but not progress in software." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Teaching the Patent Office to look at more of the existing prior art might " "prevent some outrageous mistakes. It will not cure the greater problem, " "which is the patenting of every <em>new</em> wrinkle in the use of " "computers, like the one that Williams and others independently developed." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This will turn software into a quagmire. Even an innovative program " "typically uses dozens of not-quite-new techniques and features, each of " "which might have been patented. Our ability to use each wrinkle will depend " "on luck, and if we are unlucky half the time, few programs will escape " "infringing a large number of patents. Navigating the maze of patents will " "be harder than writing software. As <cite>The Economist</cite> says, " "software patents are simply bad for business." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "What you can do to help" msgstr "" #. [Dead as of 2019-03-23] support <a href="http://stopsoftwarepatents.eu/"> #. this #. petition</a> for a Europe free of software patents, and #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "There is a massive effort in Europe to stop software patents. Please see <a " "href=\"https://ffii.org/\"> the FFII web site</a> for full details of how " "you can help." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a " "href=\"/contact/\">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and " "other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a " "href=\"mailto:webmasters@gnu.org\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, #. replace it with the translation of these two: # #. We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality #. translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. #. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard #. to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Copyright © 1996-1998, 2001, 2023, 2024 Free Software Foundation, Inc." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This page is licensed under a <a rel=\"license\" " "href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons " "Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""