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legalities
Apr. 20th, 2005 01:03 amOne of my readers (hi ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mopti!) will be delighted to know I’m currently poring over documents relating to software patents and related issues in the EU. Said reader has been providing huge assistance to my attempts to put together a coherent letter to the undecided MEPs in my area in order to persuade them not to legislate me out of a job, and probably is a little peeved that I’m taking so long between drafts. In my defence I’ll point out that the guinness in my local is very tasty, and sometimes I get distracted by bright shiny objects. Plus, mopti‘s got MAD WRITING SKILLZ and I keep writing chunks of text and then deleting them in the realisation that he’s going to tell me I’ve lost the plot AGAIN. Anyway. I just stumbled across something that I will have to dig further at, but which relates to my recent reverse-engineering efforts; it is something of which I was aware, almost talisman-like, but which I had never bothered looking up. But here it is: Directive 91/250/EEC Articles 5 and 6 specifically authorise me to reverse-engineer software for interoperability. Now, I’m going to have to go read some more to find out what exactly is meant by interoperability, but right now my eyes are starting to glaze with all this bloody legalese. Oh, one other note: the justification for one of EP’s proposed amendments to the CIID is, "It is bad draftsmanship to couch recitals as normative provisions." Take that, Directive Drafters!
mopti!) will be delighted to know I’m currently poring over documents relating to software patents and related issues in the EU. Said reader has been providing huge assistance to my attempts to put together a coherent letter to the undecided MEPs in my area in order to persuade them not to legislate me out of a job, and probably is a little peeved that I’m taking so long between drafts. In my defence I’ll point out that the guinness in my local is very tasty, and sometimes I get distracted by bright shiny objects. Plus, mopti‘s got MAD WRITING SKILLZ and I keep writing chunks of text and then deleting them in the realisation that he’s going to tell me I’ve lost the plot AGAIN. Anyway. I just stumbled across something that I will have to dig further at, but which relates to my recent reverse-engineering efforts; it is something of which I was aware, almost talisman-like, but which I had never bothered looking up. But here it is: Directive 91/250/EEC Articles 5 and 6 specifically authorise me to reverse-engineer software for interoperability. Now, I’m going to have to go read some more to find out what exactly is meant by interoperability, but right now my eyes are starting to glaze with all this bloody legalese. Oh, one other note: the justification for one of EP’s proposed amendments to the CIID is, "It is bad draftsmanship to couch recitals as normative provisions." Take that, Directive Drafters!
