This isn't a subject that gets a lot of play in the political world, but it's definitely something that needs more attention if we care about America's ability to quickly innovate and reward talent in the future. IBM, one of the largest patent-holders in the U.S., has called for patent reform. Neither Republicans nor Democrats have made much noise about this subject, and in fact, those with more lobbying connections are probably on the wrong side of the issue.
Posted by tunesmith at April 11, 2005 12:02 PM
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Yeah, it is pretty sad how little attention is paid to this issue on the activist side of the blogosphere. The wonks don't mind talking about it, but try creating a diary on this or copyright/public domain issues over at dkos and everyone just sort of freezes and waits for it to disappear off the page.
Posted by: tunesmith at April 11, 2005 02:02 PM
I'm glad you addressed this issue.
Its insane what judges who are ignorant of technology are patenting these days.
One of the most inflammatory patents was Amazon's patenting of 'one click shopping'. Once they did that they turned around and started suing people who had already come up with that on their own.
As a result I wrote them a letter telling them that I would patent oxygen and once granted, I would charge them retroactively for breathing it.
This kind of crap is absolutely insane. And as a programmer, it makes you wonder whether the next 'if-then' statement you are writing is breaching copyright. *sigh* (Personally I don't like to care anymore, so if I break copyright they can &$*# sue me)
Posted by: TalkieToaster at April 11, 2005 01:33 PM