Fsf-friends December 2005

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45 discussions

No patents for mathematical or business methods or computer programs per se or algorithms in India
by Ramanraj K 06 Dec '05

06 Dec '05

Rebentisch <arebenti(a)web.de> wrote to <in-help(a)ffii.org> pointing to the following article: http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_36364 India: Patentability of Softwares in India 30 November 2005 Article by Manisha Singh Nair ,----[Manisha Singh Nair wrote:] | The Patents Act refers to computer programs in Section 3, which deals | with inventions that cannot be patented. According to S. 3(k), a | computer program per se is not patentable. This makes us think about | what the term ?per se? stands for in this context. | | According to the Webster?s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary, the | term ?per se? refers to "by, of, for, or in itself; intrinsically". If | we are to use this definition we can well assume that the software as | such cannot be patented. But don?t the same words of the provision | tell us something more- that if the claimed invention is some thing | more than?mere? software, it is patentable? `---- The Patents Act declares in Section 3, among other things, that "a mathematical or business method or a computer program per se or algorithms;" are not inventions within the meaning of the Act. Under Section 7, every application for a patent shall be for one invention only. It is fairly obvious that an invention that relates to a mathematical or business method or a computer program in itself or algorithms are not patentable in India. We only need to investigate the situation when an invention incidentally includes a computer program or even mathematical methods as part of a single invention. The Copyright Act defines "computer programme" and "computer" as follows: "computer programme" means a set of instructions expressed in words, codes, schemes or in any other form, including a machine readable medium, capable of causing a computer to perform a particular task or achieve a particular result; "computer" includes any electronic or similar device having information processing capabilities. The "computer" then refers to devices having information processing capabilities, that may be [1] electronic: Without doubt, laptop computers, desktop computers, mainframes and other electronic devices with "information processing capabilities" fall within the meaning of "computer". The general scheme of a generic computer could be as follows: +-------+---------------+--------+ | | | | |Input>==> Information >==>Output| | | Processing | | | +----^v----^v---+ | | | Storage | | +-------+---------------+--------+ Fig 1: An electronic computer [2] The definition also includes "similar devices" within the meaning of "computer". That brings within the purview of the definition of "computer", mechanical devices like abacus, slide-rules, the Analytical Engine of Charles Babbage and any other device that could do information processing. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | o o o o o o o o o o o o o | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | o o o o o o o o o o o o o | | o o o o o o o o o o o o o | | o o o o o o o o o o o o o | | o o o o o o o o o o o o o | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Fig 2: Abacus - a mechanical computer Now, consider the following: A set of instructions to operate an abacus. A novel method to operate an abacus. A set of instructions to operate an Analytical Engine. Emulators that mimic an abacus or Analytical Engine. Programs to operate electronic computers. In all the above cases, the instructions are instructions in themselves to enable computation on computers and there could be no confusion whatsoever that they are "computer programs per se" and not inventions withing the meaning of the Patents Act. It is true that computers are universal machines, and we could express many inventions as computer programs in the form of a list of instructions. Many manufacturing processes could be expressed as an abstract series of steps, that at first sight, would appear as though the invention could be fully implemented as a computer program. Closer analysis will reveal that "computer programs per se" are clearly distinguishable from other inventions dealing with industrial processes. According to Patrick Henry Winston, "Artificial Intelligence" is study of the computations that make it possible to [1]perceive, [2]reason and [3]act." The dictionary meaning of "Intelligence" is "the ability to gain and apply knowledge and skills". Only those inventions that exhibit intelligence are patentable as Section 3(a) excludes "an invention which is frivolous or which claims anything obviously contrary to well established natural laws". Intelligence is a natural attribute found exhibited in life forms, and specifically required in an invention, to be patentable. ("AI" is plainly, artificial "man made" intelligence, where the measure of intelligence is only incidental). Intelligence exhibited by inventions may be analysed as follows: =================+===============+===============+==================== Intelligence/ |[1]Perception |[2]Reasoning |[3]Action Invention |(input) |(logical steps)|(output) =================+===============+===============+==================== Computer |input devices |information |output devices | |processing | -----------------+---------------+---------------+-------------------- Abacus |push beads with|instructions |read/feel position |fingers | |of beads -----------------+---------------+---------------+-------------------- Bread Making |flour,water, |step by step |bread |salt,heat |mnf process | -----------------+---------------+---------------+-------------------- Semifab Unit |silicon,gold, |VHDL & process |Microprocessor |topography,etc | | -----------------+---------------+---------------+-------------------- Humans |ears,nose,eyes,|brain, |arms,legs,speech, |tongue,skin |nervous system |getital & excretory -----------------+---------------+---------------+-------------------- Robots |vision,hearing,|software |move with wheels, |IR,.. | |speakers, monitor .. -----------------+---------------+---------------+-------------------- Fig 3: Analysis of Inventions based on Intelligence exhibited With a computer, that by definition means only devices capable of information processing, it is neither possible to input flour, water or salt nor get bread as output. The manufacture of bread may involve the following: Step 1: Take one measure of flour Step 2: Add two measures of water Step 3: Mix flour with water and add 1/100th measure of salt & yeast Step 4: Bake in oven for 25 minutes at 200 F The above involves "mathematical methods" at each step, and the invention could never be described without use of mathematical methods. Under Section 10 of the Patents Act, the patent may be supplemented with models and samples which however are not deemed as part of the specification. Every invention could use other inventions, mathematics, laws of physics, computer programs, and other aids to describe the invention coherently, but they would never be deemed as part of the claim. If the claim relates to just mathematical methods or computer programs per se, then they would simply be rejected as not being inventions within the meaning of the Act. It is very clear that "Software patents" are illegal and unlawful not authorised by law in India. Literary works upon patents are one of the chief benefits of the patent system. For example, let us take Posilac 1 Step (US patent no: 4,985,404). This is used to "increase" milk yield of dairy cows. The patent expires on Jan, 15, 2008 and until then, others cannot use Posilac without permission from the patentee. However, nothing prevents physicians or scientists from researching the patent to publish articles or make other decisions about the effects of Posilac on cows and humans. Research scholars could write simulator programs to explain the invention or analyse its effects, without in any way infringing upon the patent. A final note: The line between hardware and software is vanishing. Using a language like VHDL, it is possible to describe very complex hardware as program constructs, and also implement a solution that may defy the distinction maintained between "computer" and "computer program". We may not be very far away from the day when engineers come with a machine and say: "you never have to change hardware. If a better design becomes available, just change the software, and the atoms will rearrange themselves, and presto you would have a new 'hardware' in place". In such a situation, the computer program itself could transform the computer, and this is certainly the next logical step in electronic design automation. A large chunk of hardware may then stand excluded from patenability, but then, it would be a case of damnum sine injuria for hardware manufacturers. __

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[Fw: Patents:]
by Anurag 06 Dec '05

06 Dec '05

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Attn: Legal specialists -- License of Splunk server
by Manilal K M 06 Dec '05

06 Dec '05

Hi all, I just saw a promotion link in SF.NET regarding a *open source project* called splunk server(https://splunkforge.org/). But when I looked at the License(http://www.splunk.com/index.php/articles/news/66) of the product it looks weird. In the first part they uses the term *FREE SOFTWARE* and in the License part they says some restrictions for use <quote> Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Splunk grants to You a non-exclusive, worldwide, fully-paid up copyright license to use, copy, and distribute the Free Splunk Software in binary form only and only subject to the following conditions: (i) to index no more than 500MB of peak daily volume of uncompressed data (the "Maximum Peak Daily Volume�?). </quote> My doubt is that, does this come under the definition of Free Software? If it doesn't it will be misleading to use the term *Free Software*. regards Manilal K M.

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FOSS.IN/2005 - A report
by kanti jadia 05 Dec '05

05 Dec '05

FOSS.IN/2005 - Report http://www.thejadias.org/blog/ The event formally known as LB or LinuxBangalore got a new name and a new venue this year. What could be more appropriate than the historical Bangalore Palace to hold the conference. We ( me and Praveen A ) had planned to put a stall for FSF-India at FOSS.IN. I was never keen on putting a demo as i believe that the whole of FOSS.INdemoed Free Software a lot.A lot of it infact as this was FOSS.IN. We reached the venue on 29th Morning around 8:15. Praveen had registered for a lot of volunteering and also helped some in the conference as well. He got in touch with Tejas and got right inside the registration counter to help out. ( http://people.redhat.com/jmorris/images/fossinmisc2.jpg ). Praveen wearing the "Freedom Matters" T-Shirt.Would upload the images in some time. The format of the FOSS expo area was known to us and the idea of a stall was a bit off. I got myself registered as a delegate and headed straight to the FOSS Expo area. The FOSS Expo area had nobody in at that time so i headed to Intel hall ( 750 seater ). As i was moving towards the hall i met Gaurav Nawani. Gaurav mentioned that he would be putting up a demo of Blender in the FOSS Expo Area. He mentioned that he and his elder brother run a company (IronCode) and they make games. I enquired as to what kind of games they wrote and he mentioned casual games. The kind of games you enjoy playing in your liesure time. We both went inside the hall and sat there for the opening to be announced The conference was opened with the lighting up of a lamp ( having five sides ) , traditionally called a Samai ( Sa-Maa-eeee ), by representatives of various GLUGs across India ( 5 ). The conference theme was very well described by the following poem. Where The Mind is Without Fear From Rabindranath Tagore's Geetanjali ——————————————————– Where the mind is without fear And the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up Into fragments by narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake The first keynote was given by Alan Cox on the relevance of getting involved with Free Software. The red coloured cap (hat) worn by Alan was quite evident and only when he reached the end of the keynote did he remove it.The cap was visible for all four days of the event and you were sure to see Alan every once in a while. The most interesting part of the talk for me was the part where he mentioned that you can just get involved with a web browser and an email account. Where do you find this small a need to get involved with any sort of project. The benefits of working with FOSS projects are immense. Apart from programming skills which you gain you get to know a lot of different people. You learn how to interact with people from various cultures. Once the keynote by Alan got through i walked in straight to the FOSS Expo Area. Karunakar was already there with 3 machines being put up for IndLinux project. Next to the IndLinux machines was a demo of LTSP put up by ILUG-DELHI guys. Gaurav was along with me as well looking where to put his Blender demo.Wegot 3 machines and got them unpacked. I went ahead and put the GNU & Penguin sticker on one of the machines from the ones i had. After a bit of groupalla ( get together ), we had the machines ready. I had a couple of posters with me which and brouchers for FSF-India and SPACE. A small lesson , do not expect to find gum/sticking/pins etc near the venue. Saw Kartik Mistry putting the Debian poster and so ran out to get some cellotape/pins from him. A lot of people were around including Karunakar,Jaldhar , Mahesh Pai, Gora Mohanty, Pramode , Arjun etc. At around afternoon i saw Alan coming inside the FOSS Expo Area, and in a few mins he was not to be seen. After some time Atul appeared and requested that the FOSS Expo area would also move to the Conference Expo area. We thought we would all move the out in the morning and than in a flash we were all out that area. By this time Amol and Sameer came in too from Delhi. We got a dedicated stall for FSF-India and this meant we were back to where we started. We got the machines in place and then got a few posters put as well. Anush was very keen on getting those posters as he felt they were very impressive( Indeed they are ). All along the four days we were kind of doing a round robin on the FSF-India stall. Sometimes it was me , sometimes Amol, another time Sameer and offcourse Praveen. Praveen was sharing with me some details on the talks going on in the Ballroom as he was the hall marshal there. In all i attended around six/seven talks/bofs. The food was good with you paying in paper coupens(with options of South/North Indian and Pizzas ). The T-Shirt also was is good and i hope it hangs around upto next year. Am surprised at the low amount of information people have about FSF. People do not even know where gcc came from. I was kind of letting people know about FSF in India and its activities. FSF-India would be soon launching a fellowship programme and details about the same ( http://www.fsf.org.in/new/fellowship ) are there on the website. It was not too difficult to let people know about the GNU project.A lot of people were curious as to what we were doing on the stall.We gladly told that we had put it up as volunteers to FSF-India. Apart from working on the stall we had one more bonus,very good internet connectivity. Got sarge working on both the machines on the stall and then i set out a small task for myself. All three days except the first day i was hacking on GCJ and trying to get it working with SWT/GTK I had to compile it from source as the linking was not done with gcj 4.0. Once i got SWT working i moved ahead to java-gnome. Getting java-gnome to work was not that tough either. So now i had a small image viewer working with java-gnome compiled into native binary(linked to libgcj offcourse). A complete free java application.( No not yet ) We had only one Cat5 LAN cable in the stall so only one machine from the stall could be on the network at any time. Eclipse has made immense progress in combination with GCJ. You can get native applications from GCJ fairly quick. Got Java skills , go ahead , try out GCJ. The very next stall to FSF-India was of the Phoenix project ( http://www.nsc.res.in/~elab/phoenix/) Pramode ( http://www.livejournal.com/users/pramode_ce/ ) was the person behind this project being presented at FOSS.IN. The project showed how to perform simple experiments using locally available hardware and a few programs in python.The project has a lot of interest and it would be very good for a lot of LABs (Schools, Coleges etc.) to implement it.Prof. Vasant Barve ( now retired ) was there too as a delegate.He mentioned about his programs written in TC. We asked him if he had named his project and whether he was interested in porting them to GNU/Linux. He is indeed very much interested.Pramod took this oppurtunity of introducing SPACE to Prof. Barve. Prof.Barve used to teach at College of Engineering in Pune and some other colleges from 1967 onwards. The College of engineering in Pune has its own long heritage. A lot of CDAC engineers knew/know Prof.Barve very well. It would be really nice to have the programs/experiments available on GNU/Linux. Physics/Mechanics teachers and students both would benefit a lot from these programs. The software is not yet named , Prof. Barve calls it Virtual Laboratory, lets see what name it takes here on. The closing of the conference was also very interesting in a number of ways. Volker's talk on Creative Commons was really informative. He explained the various forms of commons.The social structure etc. etc. Than he went on to tell about the effect of copyleft (GNU GPL) and the GNU Project on the various other forms of media.The formation of the creative commons and content available under the creative commons. Incidently the FOSS.IN DVD has music available under the Creative Commons Free Software has changed the way a lot of things are done in this world. Next Atul took onto the stage to announce the closure with a couple of interesting details. He introduced the entire team which was responsible for FOSS.IN and they lined up near the stage. Than came the list of the speakers , a whopping one at that. The speakers when lined up showed that it was not he/him or her that were making the difference. The difference was made by us all.We the people. Copyright (c) 2005 Kanti Jadia Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are permitted worldwide without royalty in any medium provided this notice is preserved

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The SALIS ( Software And Licensing Information System)
by kanti jadia 02 Dec '05

02 Dec '05

Hi All, Just attended the talk of SALIS SALIS is a information repository built by funding of IPR Cell in Delhi. The database is publicly available. http://salis.iisc.ernet.in/ Would request you to please go through and put the comments back. The term Intellectual Property seems misleading , i feel we should clearly mark copyrights, trademarks and patents (oops , news Software Patents are not valid in India ) Anybody having details Regards Kanti

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Fsf-friends December 2005