NOTE: The e-mail has now been sent: 1645h, 31/10/2004. NOTE: IFSO included in the contributions authorised for publication: ![[WWW]](/wiki-htdocs/modern/img/moin-www.png){kind=small}
EUROPA link
The European Commission currently have an open consultation on the review of EU legislation on copyright and related rights. It was agreed at the IFSO meeting on Tuesday, that IFSO will respond to the consultation on two specific issues which fall within the IFSO remit. The deadline is 31.10.2004.
Background: The Commission takes the copyright Directive as its benchmark, which is the most recent and also the most horizontal measure in the field of copyright, reviews four earlier Directives: Software Directive (1991); Rental Right Directive (1992); Term Directive (1993); Database Directive (1996) and compares these with the copyright Directive.
Read about the consultation at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/copyright/review/consultation_en.htm
AFFS draft response: http://www.affs.org.uk/~alex/CopyrightAndRelatedRightsResponse
DRAFT Response of the Irish Free Software Organisation to the European Commission consultation on the review of the "acquis communautaire", Commission Staff Working Paper 19.7.2004 SEC(2004) 995
1. The Irish Free Software Organisation is an independent organisation that promotes and defends free software in Ireland. More information on IFSO can be found at http://www.ifso.ie/
2. We would first like to state that we find the scope of the consultation process too narrow. The current legal framework for copyright in Europe has many problems that are not addressed by the European Commission Staff Working Paper. We feel that the legal framework for copyright would be best reconsidered from first principles.
3. With respect to the Commission Staff Working Paper, we would like to comment on two proposals which impact directly on the work of free software developers. They relate to the Software Directive (91/350/EEC).
4. Decompilation 2.2.1.3
IFSO agrees with the Commission that interoperability is of key importance for competition, innovation and market entry in the software market. Decompilation is essential to the development of interoperable software. For example Samba, which provides file serving facilities compatible with Microsoft Windows on other operating systems, is only possible because of decompilation and reverse engineering.
IFSO urges the Commission to actively review the validity of the decompilation provisions rather than just monitoring them in the light of technical developments. Why wait until DG Competition have to intervene with anti-trust actions when these may be avoided at an earlier stage with more robust decompilation provisions. The justification of lack of jurisprudence is valid up to a point only; the software industry is mainly comprised of SMEs who dont always have the resources of the global giants to contest cases in court.
5. Protection of technological measures 2.2.1.4
IFSO welcomes the Commission view that Article 7 should not be amended. The introduction of explicit protection against circumvention in this context would effectively negate the ability of software developers to decompile software. The potential for abuse to maximise lock-in and to create monopolies is serious and real.
The Commission also states that this might in practice inhibit or prevent the application of exceptions in the Software Directive, even if there was a mechanism to ensure the availibility of exceptions, similar to that established in Article 6(4) of the Information Society Directive. This raises the question of why the Commission supports the legal protection of technological measures in the Information Society Directive, where the ability of users and consumers to exercise their lawful exceptions in practice is severely constrained. We call on the Commission to review Article 6 the Information Society Directive in the light of its own submission that the term adequate protection used in Article 11 of the WCT provides sufficient flexibility.
6. IFSO welcomes this opportunity to comment and would be happy to discuss any of the issues further.