Social Capital (ie influence, power) Human Capital (ie people) Information Capital (ie knowledge, etc) Imaginary Capital (ie stocks, banknotes) Real Capital (ie buildings, gold)
There are a couple areas of industry that really need the protection that patents give. These are industries such as pharmeceuticals, where the amount of time and money put into developing a new drug is so enormous that the patent serves as a way to earn back those expenses before your competitor can manufacture it and sell it for less. Pharmeceuticals are also the reason why patents currently last so long. Since the patent is usually applied for before testing begins, by the time lab testing, animal testing, limited human trials, larger clinical studies, and full FDA approval are granted, there may only be a couple of years left on the patent. And, up to this point, the drug company has invested millions of dollars with no income.
Yes, I feel so sorry for the huge drug companies that are using their patents to gouge consumers charging ridiculous prices for drugs when they could easily charge less and still turn a profit. As for the investments they make, american drug companies are highly subsidized by the United States government, sometimes paying millions of dollars in development costs while the drug company reaps all the benefits. Furthermore, the drug companies have effectively used patents and WTO procedures to block companies in third world nations from making cheap versions of their drugs that could be used to save thousands of lives. Instead, they must rely on expensive drugs made by american companies which of course they cannot afford and thousands die.
I have no doubt that a corporation will be able to protect their rights without the use of a patent simply by keeping that information unavailable to the public. Then, if somebody happens to come up with the same process independently, then so be it. The profit motive and innovation existed long before patents, and there is no reason to suspect they wouldn't exist without patents. Corporations have merely managed to convince people that without patents there would be no reason to innovate. This is ludicrous! The corporations merely want to restrict innovation by monopolizing a process and make holding onto so called "intellectual property rights" just that much easier for them and to keep competitors at a safe distance.
Obviously the fee structure for patents would have to change. What I have proposed is not in any detailed form right now, it's just an idea. It's just a radical idea that I expect to be criticized.
All patent laws should be abolished and redrawn so that only individuals not representing any corporation can patent something for a maximum of 3 years.
I wouldn't trust buying them online. I just saw on 60 minutes a segment about the British auction houses that were selling fakes and passing them off as genuine. On the internet, that would be even easier to do since there's no way to inspect the painting before you buy it.
"Just think of how many people play as "females" in cybersex chats."
Or how many females play males on slashdot.
Open source becoming too commercial
on
Giving Back
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· Score: 2
One thing i have always admired about the open source movement is it's anarchic, socialistic aspects and as it becomes more focused on the almighty dollar, I suspect that all the things that make it great will no longer exist.
the NT machine I have has to rebooted at least twice a day. the one that crashed only 68 times must not have been doing much if it stayed up that long.
i really doubt they can prevent people from talking about it, now matter how much they try. People have a habit of doing things they're told not to, with extra enthusiasm.
This is not the good faith of Ford that it initially may appear to be.
Ford has discovered a way to get their employees to work for them, even when they are not working. As provider of the computers, Ford may lay claim on any intellectual property that is developed on the computers, as is the case with company/university owned computers that reside at the actual company/university. In essence, Ford is laying out a few million bucks in exchange for the intellectual property rights of whatever the employees happen to create using the computers.
I guess you just have to ask yourself if getting a free computer is worth having the ideas that you create as a result of that computer be owned by the company.
its scary that a corporation thinks they can go around violating your rights just because you work for them. It's not like these computers are company property or anything. Also, I can't see why anybody would choose to work for a corporation that tries to control their life away from work, but I see it happening more and more often. Company's claim that they can do all this and restrict your free speech because they are not a government entity, but they own the government and all the politicians so I don't really see the difference.
I know a lot of people who have had the same thing happen to them. It has happened to me. I don't know if it's just a coincidence or not but it makes you wonder.
it looks like it's fixed now, but yesterday the whois record showed slashdot's dns servers as 'ns1.hypermart.net' and 'ns2.hypermart.net' and the contact email was in hotmail.com. i guess that's why they decided to post this story, eh?
Slashdot Mirror
We get the idea. Micro$oft sux. Pretty amusing comparison though.
Social Capital (ie influence, power)
Human Capital (ie people)
Information Capital (ie knowledge, etc)
Imaginary Capital (ie stocks, banknotes)
Real Capital (ie buildings, gold)
There are a couple areas of industry that really need the protection that patents give. These are industries such as pharmeceuticals, where the amount of time and money put into developing a new drug is so enormous that the patent serves as a way to earn back those expenses before your competitor can manufacture it and sell it for less. Pharmeceuticals are also the reason why patents currently last so long. Since the patent is usually applied for before testing begins, by the time lab testing, animal testing, limited human trials, larger clinical studies, and full FDA approval are granted, there may only be a couple of years left on the patent. And, up to this point, the drug company has invested millions of dollars with no income.
Yes, I feel so sorry for the huge drug companies that are using their patents to gouge consumers charging ridiculous prices for drugs when they could easily charge less and still turn a profit. As for the investments they make, american drug companies are highly subsidized by the United States government, sometimes paying millions of dollars in development costs while the drug company reaps all the benefits. Furthermore, the drug companies have effectively used patents and WTO procedures to block companies in third world nations from making cheap versions of their drugs that could be used to save thousands of lives. Instead, they must rely on expensive drugs made by american companies which of course they cannot afford and thousands die.
Thank you and good day.
I have no doubt that a corporation will be able to protect their rights without the use of a patent simply by keeping that information unavailable to the public. Then, if somebody happens to come up with the same process independently, then so be it. The profit motive and innovation existed long before patents, and there is no reason to suspect they wouldn't exist without patents. Corporations have merely managed to convince people that without patents there would be no reason to innovate. This is ludicrous! The corporations merely want to restrict innovation by monopolizing a process and make holding onto so called "intellectual property rights" just that much easier for them and to keep competitors at a safe distance.
Abolish patents today.
Obviously the fee structure for patents would have to change. What I have proposed is not in any detailed form right now, it's just an idea. It's just a radical idea that I expect to be criticized.
Maybe The State should get all patents right?
Umm.. no. Did you even read what I wrote? Patents should be given only to individuals not representing a corporation.
All patent laws should be abolished and redrawn so that only individuals not representing any corporation can patent something for a maximum of 3 years.
since washington is 0wn3d by those media corporations, they will have their way of course.
need i say more
I wouldn't trust buying them online. I just saw on 60 minutes a segment about the British auction houses that were selling fakes and passing them off as genuine. On the internet, that would be even easier to do since there's no way to inspect the painting before you buy it.
considering the nature of current corporate interrelations, they probably already own each other or are owned by some other corporation.
Or how many females play males on slashdot.
One thing i have always admired about the open source movement is it's anarchic, socialistic aspects and as it becomes more focused on the almighty dollar, I suspect that all the things that make it great will no longer exist.
unless you happen to be a female or are of the homosexual persuasion, then having more women in CS is a good thing.
the NT machine I have has to rebooted at least twice a day. the one that crashed only 68 times must not have been doing much if it stayed up that long.
i agree. bsd rocks
i really doubt they can prevent people from talking about it, now matter how much they try. People have a habit of doing things they're told not to, with extra enthusiasm.
there are 10 more you don't. just like cockroaches.
This is not the good faith of Ford that it initially may appear to be.
Ford has discovered a way to get their employees to work for them, even when they are not working. As provider of the computers, Ford may lay claim on any intellectual property that is developed on the computers, as is the case with company/university owned computers that reside at the actual company/university. In essence, Ford is laying out a few million bucks in exchange for the intellectual property rights of whatever the employees happen to create using the computers.
I guess you just have to ask yourself if getting a free computer is worth having the ideas that you create as a result of that computer be owned by the company.
its scary that a corporation thinks they can go around violating your rights just because you work for them. It's not like these computers are company property or anything. Also, I can't see why anybody would choose to work for a corporation that tries to control their life away from work, but I see it happening more and more often. Company's claim that they can do all this and restrict your free speech because they are not a government entity, but they own the government and all the politicians so I don't really see the difference.
I know a lot of people who have had the same thing happen to them. It has happened to me. I don't know if it's just a coincidence or not but it makes you wonder.
it looks like it's fixed now, but yesterday the whois record showed slashdot's dns servers as 'ns1.hypermart.net' and 'ns2.hypermart.net' and the contact email was in hotmail.com. i guess that's why they decided to post this story, eh?