Software patents strike back

It looked as though the European Parliament’s rejection of software patents had put an end to the affair that had kept IT circles talking for several weeks that autumn
 and worried many developers. See my earlier posts Trouble comes from the EU — Software patents
 and The software patent debate continues.

Pressure from big software companies, mainly those based in the United States, had been apparent before the vote,
 through various lobby groups. Since the rejection those groups have launched a new initiative that seeks 
 an EU directive to open up areas to patenting that 
 Parliament’s decision had excluded. Dan Ohnesorg covered the situation 
 in his article Software patents, act two.
 What do you think about software patents?