The Open Source Consortium has welcomed the compromise position the European Parliament has agreed on the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA).

OSC CEO Iain Roberts said "The EPLA was another attempt to smuggle software patents into European law; stifling innovation and making life very difficult for many IT companies.  The vote on 12th October goes a long way towards defeating it."

Software Patents allow larger companies to stifle competition and maintain their market position, not through technical superiority but by having deeper pockets to pay for lawyers.  Few small companies could afford to defend even an entirely baseless legal challenge.  We are pleased to see more and more MEPs coming down on the side of innovation and competition.  The OSC thanks the FFII and nosoftwarepatents campaign for their continuing and remarkably successful work in opposing software patents.