The "best lawyer" (just like any other prostitute) is ALWAYS for sale
Yes, it's called having a profession, you monumental twat.
And a lawyer who knows which side of the bread to butter knows he does not advocate any change in law (precedent) which will diminish his bread or butter.
There is very little that Facebook or Zynga are doing which is original. Social networking harks back to BBSs and arpaNET. Video games go back to Pong, at the very least.
Let's say that I also spent years of my life creating something awesome, only to discover that you independently had the same idea and managed to get a patent on it before I did. You then sue me for patent infringement, despite the fact that I was completely unaware of your work. In fact, it is possible that you never even produced a product based on your patent.
This is by far the more common case than what you describe.
Which commonly happens, though if you can show you did arrive at the same result without a very technical means, the patent may be discarded and the idea deemed "obvious"
Which effectively meant, it a competitor saw our system at work, copied it and patented it we'd probably be willing to pay them a license fee just to get off our backs
Prior art, surely?
You still have to hire a legal defense to plead Prior Art. Meanwhile, the plaintiff's attorney has already done enough research to tell them how much to hit you for licensing, if they don't want to outright kill you (with an injunction) but are happy to just bleed you to death, while they take the proceeds and fund more IP research to see whomever else they can bully - thus limiting competition - so they don't have to perform better service or offer a superior product. Quite contrary to the spirit of the patent clause in the Constitution, I assure you.
So how exactly does making everything free spur innovation??
Well, without the fetters of funding a ton of legal research to see if anything you are innovating is someone else's intellectual property, you're free to dedicate 100% of your resources to development. That's a pretty good start, right there.
i.e. You don't have to have a legal firm on retainer in the event someone sues you for the code you've written which detects proximity, velocity and direction of a non-contact finger swipe.
I create software on a daily basis, for a variety of purposes. I've done work on some systems which have turned out to be very revolutionary and the concept of patenting them seldom came up - one employer, when I posed the question of IP, replied, "We're not an intellectual property company." Which effectively meant, it a competitor saw our system at work, copied it and patented it we'd probably be willing to pay them a license fee just to get off our backs - shocking, but probably the case.
As for Microsoft and Zynga, they're both standing on the shoulders of giants. If various methods of performing tasks within an operating system or performing collision detection and tallying scores existed, neither company would be around today - having been soundly thumped by Sperry, IBM, DEC, CDC, Activision, EA, etc.
Actually, I thought everything in our court system boiled down to "who has the best lawyer".
To a certain degree, yes. Perhaps a more relevant term would be "competent". In incompetent lawyer can doom you no matter how strong your arguments, research findings and other evidence.
At the SCOTUS level not every law firm is capable of pleading a case. If you haven't done your homework your case can be thrown back in your face with instructions to clarify your argument or how Constitutional Law relates to your cause.
The US Constitution is great reading. Fortunately, there's not a copyright on it so you can read and copy it as you see fit.
This was back when trolleys, buses, etc., were private. Now, the buses are usually publicly owned, and the bus owners own the bus stops as property, and can restrict who stops at them. (seattle Metro vs Community Transit, for example). Also, some cities have restricted some taxi businesses (STITA, at Sea-Tac airport, replaced all the private taxi cos. ), because of too much dickery by the taxis operating from there.
So cities are constraining certain businesses for a variety of semi-reasonable reasons. poor John Galts...
Further, once the public entity has a vested interest in driving out competition for fees, taxes or actual direct income, you can see this interference coming - unreasonable level of paper work just to form a vanpool or such.
I thought he was from somewhere along Lucas Valley Road in Marin County, California.
A few years ago I went hiking in the hills above the ranch. Had my telephoto lens and everything, ready to take some really awesome pictures.
Such a let down. No Death Star, no storm troupers, not even a stinkin' Ewok. I was nearly traumatized, but for finding a Lesser Nighthawk hiding at the base of a boulder my afternoon was salvaged.
Honestly, anyone in any position who remains there long enough, starts working the system to their advantage. It's pretty much theft by feat.
Does something need to be done about it? Absolutely!
Will anything be done about it? Yes, furious sweeping of fact beneath the carpet and a complete astroturfing by those who have a vested interest in the status quo.
We'll look into it, Congress. There's nothing to see here. Move along.
which got me thinking, I guess Darth is a title but Vader isn't, so it would be analogous to say, "the King James", which makes sense only in reference to the King James Version of the bible. Does this mean there is a Darth Vader version of badly translated Sith teachings? If so, why am I reading this shittily written article summary instead of that?
I once worked where there was an employee with the surname Vader, I'm sure her life was just a little bit difficult due to this and morons running up to her all the time and asking how Darth is.
I ran a computer consulting company for years. I used to sell 5 - 10 new custom built computers a month. Now it seems the small device market (phones and tablets) have destroyed that. Perhaps I can get the government to make phones and tablets illegal, so I can go back to building computers and making profit...
I read an article regarding the demise of the Trolley in Saginaw, Michigan, back in the early 20th century. Seems strangely relevant to this, though it was market forces, not the hand of government that tipped the scales.
Trolleys require fixed rails to travel on, which limits their routes. Independent bus companies sprung up, employing the tactic of pulling up by the trolley stop, before the trolley arrived and charging less than the trolley operators. The trolley operators, which had more operational costs and required considerable capital investment to lay and expand tracks, complained bitterly how this competition would drive them out of business - the courts sided with the bus operators, as they were operating within the law - nothing guaranteed the trolley company exclusivity. The trolley company close up, unable to compete.
Ironically, as the buses had effectively set up their routes to follow the trolley lines, they had their own inflexibility, which was exploited by Jitney operators - cabs which were smaller than buses and would take people to their door, rather than leaving them at a stop to walk the remainder of their trip home. The bus operators complained about this competition, but again, the jitney operators (forerunners of today's taxi cabs) were operating within the law. The bus companies couldn't compete and followed the trolley into oblivion.
So now we have the government staying the hand of public enterprise in favor of the taxi. That's pretty rich. I think it could be contested.
Shouldn't Congress be doing some watching of its own?
The only things members of Congress monitor are polls, donations and any move by their opposition they think they can leverage. To expect congress to do anything other than score personal points seems naïve.
Slashdot Mirror
Perfect for trench warfare!
Without the risks of Trench Foot!
That's right! Maybe they're going to start offering phones with interchangeable bayonets.
"You haven't upgraded to the latest model in three product cycles, your blood will now be drawn."
as I still maintain immoral rights.
The "best lawyer" (just like any other prostitute) is ALWAYS for sale
Yes, it's called having a profession, you monumental twat.
And a lawyer who knows which side of the bread to butter knows he does not advocate any change in law (precedent) which will diminish his bread or butter.
Facebook and Zynga will steal it anyway.
There is very little that Facebook or Zynga are doing which is original. Social networking harks back to BBSs and arpaNET. Video games go back to Pong, at the very least.
Let's say that I also spent years of my life creating something awesome, only to discover that you independently had the same idea and managed to get a patent on it before I did. You then sue me for patent infringement, despite the fact that I was completely unaware of your work. In fact, it is possible that you never even produced a product based on your patent.
This is by far the more common case than what you describe.
Which commonly happens, though if you can show you did arrive at the same result without a very technical means, the patent may be discarded and the idea deemed "obvious"
Nope.
Sometimes it helps to have the best lobbyist so you can get a law that is stacked in your favor.
Lobbyists generally advocate loopholes. The less law, the better!
It says "must try not to contaminate the water table." Well, we tried not to, but did anyway, so we've done our due diligence!
The US Constitution is great reading. Fortunately, there's not a copyright on it so you can read and copy it as you see fit.
But the Founding Fathers put all that work into it!! How would you feel if some other country just copied it for their own use?
If only they would.
Though even if some countries do, it's like a holy work which seems open to different interpretation, depending upon who you talk to.
Which effectively meant, it a competitor saw our system at work, copied it and patented it we'd probably be willing to pay them a license fee just to get off our backs
Prior art, surely?
You still have to hire a legal defense to plead Prior Art. Meanwhile, the plaintiff's attorney has already done enough research to tell them how much to hit you for licensing, if they don't want to outright kill you (with an injunction) but are happy to just bleed you to death, while they take the proceeds and fund more IP research to see whomever else they can bully - thus limiting competition - so they don't have to perform better service or offer a superior product. Quite contrary to the spirit of the patent clause in the Constitution, I assure you.
So how exactly does making everything free spur innovation??
Well, without the fetters of funding a ton of legal research to see if anything you are innovating is someone else's intellectual property, you're free to dedicate 100% of your resources to development. That's a pretty good start, right there.
i.e. You don't have to have a legal firm on retainer in the event someone sues you for the code you've written which detects proximity, velocity and direction of a non-contact finger swipe.
I beg to differ. I create things all of the time and have realized that, even with a patent, I'm not rich enough to litigate it.
And that is litigate it to seek redress or to defend yourself, either way is costly and a bigger dog would simply drive you out of your line of work.
Stop that. We have a patent on pulling weeds, too.
I create software on a daily basis, for a variety of purposes. I've done work on some systems which have turned out to be very revolutionary and the concept of patenting them seldom came up - one employer, when I posed the question of IP, replied, "We're not an intellectual property company." Which effectively meant, it a competitor saw our system at work, copied it and patented it we'd probably be willing to pay them a license fee just to get off our backs - shocking, but probably the case.
As for Microsoft and Zynga, they're both standing on the shoulders of giants. If various methods of performing tasks within an operating system or performing collision detection and tallying scores existed, neither company would be around today - having been soundly thumped by Sperry, IBM, DEC, CDC, Activision, EA, etc.
Actually, I thought everything in our court system boiled down to "who has the best lawyer".
To a certain degree, yes. Perhaps a more relevant term would be "competent". In incompetent lawyer can doom you no matter how strong your arguments, research findings and other evidence.
At the SCOTUS level not every law firm is capable of pleading a case. If you haven't done your homework your case can be thrown back in your face with instructions to clarify your argument or how Constitutional Law relates to your cause.
The US Constitution is great reading. Fortunately, there's not a copyright on it so you can read and copy it as you see fit.
COULD move from price and quality to 'who has the best patent lawyer'?
What COULD? How about we accept the reality it's already happened?
It's only happened to a small extent - if patent trolls are protected you can write off the USA as a source for innovation, period.
That would spur innovation and business far more than upholding them could.
I doubt the authors of the constitution ever foresaw the risk of patent trolling.
This was back when trolleys, buses, etc., were private. Now, the buses are usually publicly owned, and the bus owners own the bus stops as property, and can restrict who stops at them. (seattle Metro vs Community Transit, for example). Also, some cities have restricted some taxi businesses (STITA, at Sea-Tac airport, replaced all the private taxi cos. ), because of too much dickery by the taxis operating from there.
So cities are constraining certain businesses for a variety of semi-reasonable reasons. poor John Galts...
Further, once the public entity has a vested interest in driving out competition for fees, taxes or actual direct income, you can see this interference coming - unreasonable level of paper work just to form a vanpool or such.
Will there be poniez?
Not only will there be poniez, there will be big fluffy unicorns. shudder Count on it!
Official day of typos / bad grammar
No, that will be tomorrow. And it will be brutal as it always is.
...Romanian? Oh, that's the good Count!
So Darth is from Ukraine? Who'd have thunk it?
I thought he was from somewhere along Lucas Valley Road in Marin County, California.
A few years ago I went hiking in the hills above the ranch. Had my telephoto lens and everything, ready to take some really awesome pictures.
Such a let down. No Death Star, no storm troupers, not even a stinkin' Ewok. I was nearly traumatized, but for finding a Lesser Nighthawk hiding at the base of a boulder my afternoon was salvaged.
Honestly, anyone in any position who remains there long enough, starts working the system to their advantage. It's pretty much theft by feat.
Does something need to be done about it? Absolutely!
Will anything be done about it? Yes, furious sweeping of fact beneath the carpet and a complete astroturfing by those who have a vested interest in the status quo.
We'll look into it, Congress. There's nothing to see here. Move along.
which got me thinking, I guess Darth is a title but Vader isn't, so it would be analogous to say, "the King James", which makes sense only in reference to the King James Version of the bible. Does this mean there is a Darth Vader version of badly translated Sith teachings? If so, why am I reading this shittily written article summary instead of that?
I once worked where there was an employee with the surname Vader, I'm sure her life was just a little bit difficult due to this and morons running up to her all the time and asking how Darth is.
But now, who will run Google?
Disney, of course, haven't you kept up with the buy-out of the Evil Empire by the Eviler Empire?
It's un-Ukrainian! Lord Vader should remain the enforcing power of the throne - not the occupant!
Not only that, the power which most resembles the Empire at this moment in time is Russia.
In Soviet Russia the Force is against YOU!
I ran a computer consulting company for years. I used to sell 5 - 10 new custom built computers a month. Now it seems the small device market (phones and tablets) have destroyed that. Perhaps I can get the government to make phones and tablets illegal, so I can go back to building computers and making profit...
I read an article regarding the demise of the Trolley in Saginaw, Michigan, back in the early 20th century. Seems strangely relevant to this, though it was market forces, not the hand of government that tipped the scales.
Trolleys require fixed rails to travel on, which limits their routes. Independent bus companies sprung up, employing the tactic of pulling up by the trolley stop, before the trolley arrived and charging less than the trolley operators. The trolley operators, which had more operational costs and required considerable capital investment to lay and expand tracks, complained bitterly how this competition would drive them out of business - the courts sided with the bus operators, as they were operating within the law - nothing guaranteed the trolley company exclusivity. The trolley company close up, unable to compete.
Ironically, as the buses had effectively set up their routes to follow the trolley lines, they had their own inflexibility, which was exploited by Jitney operators - cabs which were smaller than buses and would take people to their door, rather than leaving them at a stop to walk the remainder of their trip home. The bus operators complained about this competition, but again, the jitney operators (forerunners of today's taxi cabs) were operating within the law. The bus companies couldn't compete and followed the trolley into oblivion.
So now we have the government staying the hand of public enterprise in favor of the taxi. That's pretty rich. I think it could be contested.
Shouldn't Congress be doing some watching of its own?
The only things members of Congress monitor are polls, donations and any move by their opposition they think they can leverage. To expect congress to do anything other than score personal points seems naïve.