It seems to me that a big part of the problem lies in the concept that an idea can be bought and sold as a commodity. Don't get me wrong, I think that an individual should have the right to prosper from a creative effort. Note, I said individual. Corporate entities do not have ideas, people do. A person, or persons, should have the right to hold their idea as property or lease it to a corporate entity, but that creative effort cannot be sold, it belongs to them, and them alone. When the owner dies (or sooner if they choose) that idea should pass in to the public domain, since its creator no longer exists.
The whole concept of owning an idea is rediculus. Owning an idea implies that someone else could be charged just for thinking it. A totally stupid concept.
Slashdot Mirror
It seems to me that a big part of the problem lies in the concept that an idea can be bought and sold as a commodity. Don't get me wrong, I think that an individual should have the right to prosper from a creative effort. Note, I said individual. Corporate entities do not have ideas, people do. A person, or persons, should have the right to hold their idea as property or lease it to a corporate entity, but that creative effort cannot be sold, it belongs to them, and them alone. When the owner dies (or sooner if they choose) that idea should pass in to the public domain, since its creator no longer exists.
The whole concept of owning an idea is rediculus. Owning an idea implies that someone else could be charged just for thinking it. A totally stupid concept.