People's Democracy

UNION minister of commerce and industries, Kamal Nath has assured that the Indian government is committed to its stand of not allowing software patenting for the time being and that it would reiterate this stand in the forthcoming meeting of WTO ministerial at Hong Kong.

This was conveyed to a delegation of Free Software Foundation of India (FSF India), which met the minister on December 6 in New Delhi and discussed with him about the proposal for software patenting which came up early this year. It comprised M Arun, secretary and Y Kiran Chandra, secretary FSF AP Chapter. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and MP, Sitaram Yechury and CPI(M) central committee member and MP, P Madhu accompanied the delegation. A memorandum was also submitted to the minister on this issue.

In a statement released to the press, the FSF India representatives termed the discussion with the minister as fruitful. The minister informed the delegation about his opinion that copyright provides reasonable protection for the software industry. However, pointing out that there was a strong demand from sections of the Indian IT industry to allow the patenting of software in conjunction with hardware, the minister expressed the need to find a via media between arguments of different groups.

The FSF India stated that in the coming days it will interact with industries, particularly small and medium industries, to highlight the harmful effects of generic software patenting and also in order to understand the needs of the industry. "It would be working with the industry to find a via media which will protect the larger social interests and at the same time protecting economic interest of industries", the statement assured. (INN)