Petition to Stop the Increasing Number of Software Patents in Europe

If you live in the European Union and have anything to do with software development, then this may be of interest to you. There are too many patents in the software industry - ordinary copyright provides enough protection, if you ask me. Or do you think we need more of this:

1. Webshop: Selling things over a network using a server, client and payment processor, or using a client and a server - EP803105, EP738446, EP1016014
2. Shopping cart: Electronic shopping cart - EP807891
3. Picture link: Preview window - EP537100
4. View film: Video streaming (segmented video on-demand) - EP633694
5. Credit card: Pay with credit card on the Internet - EP779587
6. Adapt pages: Generate different web page depending on detected device - EP1320972
7. Secure card payment: Secure online credit/debit card payment with PIN code - EP1218865
8. Send orders: Send orders in response to request - EP986016
9. Delivery: Ship items to the correct pick-up point of the used delivery service - EP1181655
10. Support system: Support system based on answers to questions - EP915422
11. Image: Reduce page loading time by automatically reducing image quality - EP992922
12. Related results: Show related results if customer likes the current ones - EP628919
13. Rebate code: Allow rebate codes to be entered by customers - EP929874

This is so ridiculous  and also a risk for your business, if you belong to the group outlined in the disclaimer above.

As you might know, the European Patent Office (EPO) is beyond democratic control. It has a financial interest in granting patents. They do not care about the side effects for small and medium companies that have to deal with software. Although the European Parliament rejected the last software patent directive, it has no rights for legislative initiatives.

To deal with this, a petition has been started up by the citizens to get an initiative going, against the increasing number of patents

You can sign the petition online as an individual, company, association or company alliance.