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On 17/01/06, David Johnson <dj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > <random thought for the day> > Wouldn't it be interesting if there was some central fund to pay for software > patents for innovations in Free Software (in the US obviously), with each > patent having a license stating that the technology concerned can be freely > used in Free Software, but not in proprietary software. It would certainly > stop the increasingly-common occurrence of ideas being taken from Free > Software and used in non-free software... > </random thought for the day> No - this would be bad for several reasons : 1) you can't threaten pure 'IP' companies (aka trolls) with a patent portfolio as they have no products or revenue - only blackmail, I mean, licensing and litigation 2) this would legitimise software patents - they aren't legitimate - there is no such thing as a good software patent 3) there isn't enough cash available to F/LOSS to battle microsoft or any of the big IT and telecoms companies in court, making the patent portfolio a paper tiger without the legal funds and bought politicians required to make them bite. 4) you can't see if proprietary technology has stolen your idea very easily - direct copying can be found via greping binaries, but mis-use of patents under the cover will be invisibile and naturally denied. sorry to be an eeyore, but with software patents there are only losers and no winners (except lawyers who don't count). A. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe. FAQ: www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html