For once, declared adversaries are on the same side of an argument in the technology industry: They are urging European lawmakers to drop legislation that would impose prison time on patent violators, which they say would stifle innovation across Europe.
Heavyweights like Nokia and Microsoft on one hand, and the grass-roots Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure on the other, are making common cause against wide-ranging legislation proposed by the European Commission that would criminalize all intellectual property infringements, including patent violations. The law would provide blanket protection to all forms of intellectual property across the 25 countries of the Union.
Prison over patents? Proposed EU law unites foes – International Herald Tribune, 9 Dec