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IBM's Supreme Court Brief Says That Patents Drive Free Software

Posted by timothy on from the corellation-is-not-causation dept.

H4x0r Jim Duggan writes "For the Supreme Court's upcoming review of the Bilski decision, IBM has submitted an amicus brief claiming that software patents 'fueled the explosive growth of open source software development' (!) (p38 of linked PDF). EndSoftwarePatents, for its own amicus brief, is looking for help building a list of free software harmed by software patents, and a list of companies that distribute free software and are taxed by patent royalties."

1 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. IF by DaMattster · · Score: 1, Redundant

    IBM seriously expects me to believe the twisted logic that Software Patents help free software, then they need to hire another marketing team. The only way software patents could possibly help free software is if the Free Software Foundation and others like it patent software to ensure that it stays free. Guarranteed any patents sought by IBM are not altruistic. This is just one more example of greed, avarice, and lies from corporate America. IBM, Microsoft, Apple, and indeed any other corporations are friends to two things: money and investors. Anyone believing otherwise is naive and ignorant.