A patent claim to a computer program, either on its own or on a carrier, shall not be allowed.

2. A claim to a computer program, on its own, on a carrier or as a signal, shall be allowable only if such program would, when loaded or run on a computer, computer network or other programmable apparatus, implement a product or carry out a process patentable under Articles 4 and 4a.

[58] The new generation of digital video recorders no longer uses video tapes but records directly on hard disk; recorded programmes can only be viewed with a valid smart card.

Digital technology also allows for a vast increase in the number of available channels, and hard-disk recording technologies allow viewers to effectively construct their own viewing schedules.

43. Calls on Member States to develop innovative and comprehensive actions in the field of education for the new economy in pre-school, school, tertiary and higher education, and asks on the Commission to encourage complementarity in programmes - ensuring for instance that new educational programmes have an e Europe element - , to give special consideration to concepts of computer supported cooperative learning, the creation of educational information networks and databases, using information networks for intercultural learning and high quality standards for multimedia applications in education and training in its initiative on “Europe's ...[+++] youth into the digital age”;

As regards rental rights, authors of computer programs and producers of sound recordings may authorise or prohibit the commercial rental of their works to the public.