"Fair Trolls" To Fight Patents With Patents

FlorianMueller writes "Can a patent troll ever be fair? Yes. The primary concern over the upcoming Defensive Patent License — a GPL-like non-aggression pact for patents — is that it might be too defensive to have the desired impact. But actually the DPL could grow very big if one or more 'Fair Trolls' are brought to life and enforce patents against companies that don't support the DPL. The 'Fair Trolls' would commit to the DPL's terms, so they would have to leave other DPL backers alone. In exchange for this, the community would gladly feed them with patentable ideas (financial rewards for contributors included). Over time, staying outside the DPL alliance would become a costly choice for companies whose products might infringe patents. The bigger the DPL pool gets, the more valuable it becomes to its members. The more aggressive the Fair Trolls are, the better for the cause."

Comments

Re:No such thing as a fair gun

[spun]

You seem to approach software patents as if they were a violation of some imagined laws of nature, rather than just a bad idea. Patents are a social construct, and as such, defined how society sees fit. There are no natural patents.

Trying to show that they are an illusion is silly and will only lose you the attention of intelligent people. You need to put your arguments in practical terms to win people. What will fighting patents, no holds barred and no compromise, actually achieve for real people? All arguments about rights must be put in practical terms. Rights derive from agreements between individuals, no place else, and so you must get people to agree to honor and uphold those rights. Hopefully by logical, rather than emotional appeal.

So why are software patents so bad? Besides being unnatural abominations against God and Man, you know, give us something concrete and real.