http://www.gnu.org/software/for-windows.html
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http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/stop-software-patents-from-muscling-in-on-europe
Stop software patents from muscling in on Europe
Posted by Zak Rogoff at Sep 19, 2012
If the corrupt European Patent Office succeeds in imitating America's software patent system, it will be a disaster for software development. Join April, the FSF's French ally, in calling for strong legislation against software patents in Europe.
Originally, most countries did not consider software patentable. Over recent decades, however, corporations and the US Patent Office have gradually worked them into the American legal system by any means possible. Software patents have become a real problem for software developers, because they create land mines for anyone trying to write code, leaving small, creative organizations constantly in fear of litigation by the likes of Microsoft and Apple.
Software patents in Europe aren't as bad as here in the US, but there are people trying to change that. Despite a prohibition of software patents by the European Union's parliament, the European Patent Office (EPO) has gone rogue and started handing them out, collecting a hefty fee each time.
Apple's patent aggression harms us all.
Since Samsung was found liable for infringing some of Apple's mobile patents[PDF] on August 24th, 2012, there has been widespread anger directed at Apple. Many people rightly note that Apple's strong-arming of Samsung harms free software users everywhere and mobile users in particular.
Using software patents as a weapon, Apple is restricting mobile devices that eschew its escalating systems of digital restrictions management. Apple is also effectively trying to lock users into devices that cannot easily install free software, trapping them within its App Store which does not permit the distribution of GPL licensed works. This ruling will also help block replacements for Apple's iPad being distributed to students, a disastrous consequence for educators.