I can certainly sympathize with one argument of the anti-software patent movement: the astronomical cost for protecting an idea in Europe is a huge factor against software patents.
Here in the US, an average person with a good idea can get patent coverage across the whole US for $5,000-10,000. While this is a substantial sum, it pales in comparison to the $50,000 or more that similar coverage would cost to cover most of Europe. In the US, the average Joe who has an invention, no matter how well off he is, can pretty much always scrape together enough money to get a patent. In Europe, it is impossibly far out of his reach.
After prosecuting the application at the European Patent Office, each individual country requires fees and translations, often costing a couple thousand dollars for each country. And, after getting coverage in each country, that patent is subject to the individual laws of that country. So protection may vary from country to country.
As an independent inventor, I could not afford to write any patents on my ideas in Europe, but I can afford to do so in the US out of my own pocket. This disparity is enough to lead European inventors into thinking that only the big companies can get patents on their inventions. Of course, European inventors may still get patent coverage in the US, but they would also need to be thinking about starting a US business to make use of their inventions.
