On Tue, 18 May 2004 12:53:26 +0100, Colm MacCarthaigh <colm at stdlib.net>
wrote:
> On Tue, May 18, 2004 at 12:44:46PM +0100, Eamon O'Tuathail wrote:
>> Any comments on the draft below would be helpful.
> Also, generally when writing to the government about the
> constitutionality of proposed legislation it is normal to address it to
> the Attorney General (Currently Rory Brady), who advises on such
> matters.
Eamon,
With the greatest respect (because frankly I'm amazed at your passion
and the lengths you are willing to go to in order to win this argument),
still, I think that you are barking up the wrong tree trying to find a
free speech or constitutional argument to support your case.
Colm is making a lot of sense.
Attack software patents on other fronts.
Keep this in mind: if I wanted a complicated kernel module written,
I wouldn't let a barrister take care of that for me. If I wanted a
complicated intellectual property problem dealt with, that is
exactly who I would go to.
Pity in a way, that we didn't, as an informal group, invite some
opinions on this back when the initial patents proposals were being
made last year, because barristers can take quite some time to come
up with their masterplans, especially when they are not being paid.
It's sometimes possible to get a free opinion, if a barrister with
the right motivations, or strong interests in a particular area, can
be found.
I don't suggest you bug these people looking for free advice, but if
you were to cross-reference with the newspapers and find a legally
trained intellectual propery lawyer who shared your belief that
software patents are a bad idea, then you could do worse than to
make a phone call or send an e-mail and ask them how best to start
phrasing your letters.
http://www.lawlibrary.ie/searchbarrister/results.asp?sname=&languages=None&circuits=All+Circuits&pareas=All+Areas&sareas=Intellectual+Property+%26+Franchise+Law
It could be that they won't touch it with a barge-pole, but you
won't know until you ask.
Dermot.
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