European parliament committee set to debate software patents

A proposal to extend patent protection in Europe couldthreaten the existence of open-source software unless theEuropean Parliament amends it, say advocates of freelydistributed programs such as Linux. However, companies suchas Microsoft and Apple Computer argue that they need broaderpatent protection to prevent open-source companies, whichgive away their software and make money through service,from effectively expropriating their development costs.A European Parliament committee will debate the issue thisweek and vote on it next month.