(FINALLY!) - After Linus Torvald's diatribe against software patents, a UK law firm comes out in support of software patents and accuses Torvald of fear-mongering. Specifically, John Collins, a partner at UK firm Marks and Clerk said: "Torvalds and his supporters lack a fundamental understanding of intellectual property rights as they seem to be unaware that copyright can only protect software code and not software".

He claims that open source developers and the Polish government are misinforming the IT industry and "serving only to endanger genuine inventions".

He said: “Linus Torvalds (creator of Linux) has recently made a statement claiming that the Directive would broaden the area in which patents would be granted. This is simply a false assumption. The original proposal was solely designed to clarify and unify existing practice in the EU. However the current version – as a result of amendments made by the European Parliament – will result in patent holders in certain areas losing a significant element of protection meaning that some existing patents will become worthless.”

- While I agree with Mr. Collins, I think there should be more people in the EU speaking out against the anti-software crowd. When you read some of the garbage they write about software patents, you wonder what planet they are living on . . .