Paris, France. Epitech, 24, rue Pasteur, 94270 Le Kremlin Bicetre (closest Metro stations: Place d'Italie and Kremlin-Bicetre). Richard Stallman will explain how software patents obstruct software development. Software patents are patents that cover software ideas. They restrict the development of software, so that every design decision brings a risk of getting sued. Patents in other fields restrict factories, but software patents restrict every computer user. Economic research shows that they even retard progress.