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EFF Launching 'Patent Fail' Campaign
netbuzz writes "The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has long been at the forefront of fighting software patent abuse with its Patent Busting Project, is launching a new initiative called 'Patent Fail: In Defense of Innovation.' EFF staff attorney Julie Samuels tells Network World: 'The project has three components: educating individuals about the problems with the current patent system, providing individuals with resources to deal with patent issues, and then exploring what the system should be in the long-term.'"
It's a fine initiative.
Of course, it will be completely ignored by anyone that matters, but very fine nonetheless...
Of course .. dear old Microsoft and dear old Google were collecting software patents "defensively" and now we see what a mess even that turns into, in the right hands and with the right motivation.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Oh and I suppose you're also against replacing "what do I do" with "wat do".
Language evolves gramps, and sometimes the new way is just more succinct and expressive than the old phrases it replaces.
I'd like to thank the countries which have hamstrung themselves by allowing software patents, for the mass publication of ideas which would otherwise be trade secrets.
Argument 1: we need software patents, because otherwise the day after we publish our program, someone else will already have reverse engineered our super duper mega technique and use it in their own programs
Argument 2: you need software patents, because otherwise we will keep our super duper mega technique as a trade secret and nobody will ever be able to figure out how it works
Homework: find the cognitive dissonance.
If you want to sift through tons of useless verbose crap to find the rare nugget.
Table-ized A.I.
If all the EFF did was raise awareness, they're worth every penny they get.
By the way, if you like the Internet, and would like to see it not become cable television, you really need to drop $10 or a double-sawbuck on them. They use every nickel they get to do good work, and I promise it will make you feel really good. Make a sandwich at home instead of going to Carl Jr a few times and it will more than cover it. And your digestive tract will thank you.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Is Intellectual Property Good or Bad? Lots of people on this thread seem to come down pretty hard on one side or another (mostly the latter). But I think when pressed most would agree that sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad. For a good introduction on fleshing out the good and the bad of intellectual property, I highly recommend Fisher's "Theories of Intellectual Property," available for free online here: http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/tfisher/iptheory.html
It goes through the justifications for intellectual property and can help you think clearly about when it is bad. It can help you justify the feeling that most people have that a patent troll is "bad" but a lone inventor that patents his invention is "good." Even if you don't think the lone inventor should get the patent, I think the article can help you explain why.
Fast Federal Court and I.T.C. updates