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<div id="Article"><div class="YouAreHere"><a href="/">The Register</a> » <a href="/software/">Software</a> » </div><div class="IconsTop"><a href="http://forms.theregister.co.uk/mail_friend/?story_url=/2005/07/06/eu_bins_swpat/"><img src="/Design/graphics/icons/mail.png" alt="[Mail]" title="Email this story to a friend" width="24" height="25" /></a><a href="print.html"><img src="/Design/graphics/icons/pf.png" alt="[Print]" title="Printer-friendly version" width="25" height="25" /></a><a href="http://go.theregister.com/k/mobregicon"><img src="/Design/graphics/icons/regmob.png" alt="[Mobile]" title="Read The Reg on your mobile phone" width="16" height="21" /></a><a href="http://go.theregister.com/k/newsalerts_icon"><img src="/Design/graphics/icons/alerts.png" alt="[NewsAlerts]" title="DeskTop News Alerts" width="12" height="25" /></a></div><h2>EU Parliament bins software patent bill</h2><div class="Byline">By <a href="http://forms.theregister.co.uk/mail_author/?story_url=/2005/07/06/eu_bins_swpat/">Lucy Sherriff</a></div><div class="Date"><small>Published Wednesday 6th July 2005 11:04 GMT</small></div>
<div id="Body"><p><strong class="Label">In brief</strong> The European Parliament has voted by a massive majority to reject the software patents directive, formally known as the Directive on the Patentability of Computer Implemented Inventions. The vote to scrap the bill was passed by a margin of 648 votes to 14, with 18 abstentions.</p>
<p>The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) says the rejection is a logical response to the Commission and Council's refusal to take parliament's will into consideration.</p>
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<p>Anti-software patent campaigner Florian Muller argues that today's vote was prompted by events back in February, when the parliament's committee of legal affairs, JURI, voted <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/03/software_patent_restart/">for a restart</a> of the legislative process. That vote was flatly ignored by the European Commission, which decided instead to <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/01/ec_rebuffs_parliament/">move on to a second reading</a>.</p>
<p>"A nightmare is over," Muller says. "Next time around, let's honestly discuss the pros and cons of pure software patents, and then we can get a great directive that won't die a dishonourable death like this."</p>
<p>According to Muller, MEPs are divided about what should happen next. The Conservative group has called for a news proposal from the Commission, while the Greens would like the parliamentary vote to be interpreted as a final rejection of the bill.</p>
<p>"Before any next step, we need a period of reflection, and a proper economic policy debate. It is not like we've accomplished everything here. Ideally, we want a good directive, but at this stage no directive was the best directive we could hope for," he told us.®</p>
<h3>Related stories</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/05/patent_directive/">Vendors warn Euro patents bill won't add up</a>
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<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/21/eu_scraps_amendments/">EU jettisons software patent amendments</a>
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<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/18/patents_rocard_draft/">EU takes axe to software patents directive</a>
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