If the idea of selling ringtones had been posted here on Slashdot, I am pretty sure we would hear the same arguments : "won't work, no one will pay money for something like this" Selling ringtones has turned into a multi-million dollar market.
The Internet as most of us have come to know it, is constantly changing (big news). So do our consuming habbits (really now?). After all, we are creatures subjected to evolution.
While the aeroplan was being invented, the common person had the same argumentation: who will want to fly? Or befor cable was introduced, many of the common folk suggested, it would be impossible to get consumers to pay for something, they are already getting for free.
I am not willing to subscribe to a site, though I would be willing to pay to view certain articles/content. Now not every article will be worth while to pay for, and this is the point where a business plan comes in. Enough said....
Haven't had a chance yet to look into those links, nor to start changing the page I had created in the wiki.
The site and project has just started, so you might be a little disappointed, as there is not too much to be found yet. Here are a few links:
- List of Disputed Patents: Disputed Patents
- Patent No.6,681,985 - Bank Branch Office Design Wiki Page - wouldn't really call it an article though!
Thank you for your offer on help. If you are interested in the subject, and would like to contribute a little, take a look at our site, and give us your input. ALL comments welcome!
The patent was posted "October 5, 2001", this would be more than 2 years back.
I am writing this issue into the wiki of Wikipatent.org. Therefore I need examples of prior art. Could you do me a favour, and supply me with more information (bank name, where in england, and other helpful info). I would really appreciate your help, as we want to create a database listing disputed patents, along with existing prior art.
Give the guy some credit. He was just trying to add a little suttle humor to his report (bread - atkins/going over allready covered and understood - reading this book). What is it doing here?
What are you doing HERE?
I like to compare the situation, with that of hammers and their use.
There are probably more hammers out there, than we have DB's on offer.
hammer==database
So, let's take the 'dead blow' hammer, you wouldn't use it to nail the wood structure of your house together. Well, you might, BUT it's gonna be a pain.
Now we can take MySQL and use it for developing an app, that is dependent on a strong relational database. Well, you can do it, BUT...see above!
What the parent poster should rather be asking for is: "Where is my PHP+PostgrSQL/PHP+firefox book?". Such a request makes a lot of sense, and is something that the market is really missing.
After all, it is a book about PHP, the database used, is just to illustrate PHP's capabilities. MySQL is just a far better choice for demonstration purposes, using a SQL syntacs.
hope there are no hard feelings, but honestly, if you want to have VC's invest in your company, your reputation will be of great importance. You need to give an impression of professionalism.
Private pages have the inherent design feature of allowing people pre-judgement. That is the whole idea behind online publishing: presenting oneself to the public.
You approaching slashdot was a great testrun, regarding what I have just said.
I think you got a lot of great feedback. The unsupportive being even of greater value. Now it is up to you.
taking your privat site down, was an excellent move. Try to improve it, than just giving up on it. Use what has been said in this thread.
Your personal site could be your door opener. Display that you are a highly acitve person, by showing what you have done. Pointing to your athletic achievements is not a bad idea, but try to turning it into a modest advertisment of your qualities (endurance, motivation, dedication, resiliance,......).
Just thought I should also utter something more productive. Though I stand to my previous post!
I have to fully agree with you!
CaseModding is a modern art form. I miss the days, when artist had to actually be able to produce their own creations. If you look at a lot of contemporary art, they go out and get someone else to produce their idea. Great! Any idiot can have a brilliant idea, transforming it from an idea into something that 'existing', is where the challenge and talent lays. And it doesn't take any skill to order something.
Back to the art form of case modding. Here we are able to find the finest skills put to work. We become witnesses to the transformation of technology, into an object of admiration. An esthetic achievement, celebrating beauty.
At least that is how I feel:D
would you be interested in posting your thoughts on Wikipatent.org?
We are trying to establish a database with (a) patents that have existing prior art, (b) patents that are disputed. Your comments seem to fit into category (b).
The Wikipatent.org community would appreciate your comments.
ThanX
this is due to the DNS server not being up yet. thats why i had posted the a seperate link in my previous post. guess i better change it until its up.
anyhow, I appreciate your notice;)
i like your comparison with the metric system! there does seem to be some form of equality.
is this again a case of humans not wanting to change?
but my guess is, that is has more to do, with what i would label 'surrounding technologies'!
people are just too used to a 2 dimensional computer world. all attempts to bring depth into the visual display have been rather laim (3D buttons, shadows, etc.).
call it 3D, spatial, or artificial environment. a new and revolutionary way of interfacing will come. this is just mearly an intermediate technology.
i believe, we are on the verge to something far bigger!
stop bashing inventive developers, rather stick with M$ bshing, if you have to stay at a primitive level!
any technology has the potential to be turned against you. What's your point?
this is just a nice way of data mining different map sources, and making the most out of it.
the technology doen't make the right decision/choice, this will still be in the hands of human commanders. though it will be a handy tool for strategists. imagine a strategy, where you actually Do Not choose the best/shortest/fastest root, but a rather non obvious, and possibly seen by the enemy as being too much of an disadvantage to persue.
i find it funny how only the notion of technology inspires a belief in superiority. if we hae learnt one thing from modern warfare, then it must be, that superior technology, does not perticularly mean success in battle!
i agree, this is a great place to start out. i just hope more people take notice of our thread.
i have been playing around with the thought of creating a personal blog, now for quite some time. what held me back, was the additional work load i would incur, and i have enough to do as it is. the cost-benefit calculation, just didn't seem satisfying.
this has now changed, due to this project.
hopefully i will have it up and running by tomorrow.
regarding hosting, i will contact you directly. give me a little time though, i first have to check back with my host (i wont be able to offer anything spectacular though!!!)
i would also suggest creating a task list. we need to fill the site, provide content. THIS IS A CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: dear shlashdoter, join this project! we need more people active, in fighting back the idiotic government actions.
my brief list:
collect list of patents currently publicly discusses, together with as much information as possible, regarding the case
send in request, what you would like to find at such a site/your expectations for the site
establish a list of prominent activists involved in the struggle
what books are their on the topic? compile a list
portal - categorized link collection, linking our site with all resources out on the net, regarding the subject; based on this, we can create specialized sections (e.g. cyber space activist sites - whats new news section; maybe a weekly emailelist, that has all updates listed)
world wide patent office registry - list of the institutions of every country, that deal with patents
compile list of evaluated sites dealing with patents
well, thats what i can come up with, from the top of my head. other suggestions are encouraged!
and as uni's have been notorious for low pay, i suppose they don't have such bright people on their IT team, as they have sitting in their classes.
besides, usually IT teams have been set up for IT support. last time i checked, there is a significant difference between administrative tasks and software development tasks. we are looking here at two completely different sets of procedure.
how can anyone then be supprised of their failure?
taking the 'conflict of interest' into account, this just seems like another example of insufficient corporate governance. especailly as the modern uni is nothing but a corportion.
good to see someone take immediate action!
now all of us BIG WORD SWINGING ADVOCATES OF FREEDOM need to step in, and give this man a helping hand. this is too much of an important project, not to make it the success it deserves to be.
how do you want get the project going?
i suggest using something like nuke (no preferences on my side) at the beginning. set up a quick site with a forum, and ask for peoples feedback. just to get started.
my 5 cents.....
i'll keep in touch!
that's a tough one!
what sort of people were you thinking about?
i guess the general public, as without them, we would be out in the rain. generaly speaking, what doesn't effect their daily lifes directly, dosen't interest them much. giving us a hint, that we have to demonstrate the issues effects on their every day activities.
now here it won't be enough to tell them, your software will get cheaper. first of all, the statement represents a hypothesis still to be proven. second of all cheaper software is not such an issue. though a calculation of cost reductions, as changes in patent right effect a wide range of products, might be a handy instrument.
i still have issues with the speculative element in such an argumentation line.
there is the scare tactik. now i'm not sure how to persue this one. and to be honest, this is a path i do not want to venture. but for others it will be an option.
what i again have to realize is, how complex issues are always hard to sell.
arguments like the "slippery slope", are for most to abstract. a threat to individual liberties, have to be immediate. and the general public usually does not have to deal with patents.
now this was all about arguments. i was hoping to find inspiration for more direct action........no answer!
the one (stupid) idea that comes to mind, so late at night (i'm sitting down under), would be to run around town in groups of two, dressed all in black (stereotype of an agent), approahing people and asking them for their handy. all along explaining, that you are of the 'patent enforcement control agency', doing random sample controls in urban areas, to ensure no patents have been infringed, in the products used. if so this might result in a liablity for the user. now i'm borowing here from a different issue, though in ways related, copyright. just a stupid idea of mine. could also cause legal trouble, wouldn't know, and differes from country to country even more than patent rights.
exactly. peer review! that is a term i should have used in my other reply.
i only managed to compare the patent granting process, with the scientific process of replicating experiments.
The idea of coordinating peer review of patents to grant, organised by an online community could prove to be quite revolutionary.
as many/.'ers might have to swallow first, befor excepting your last statement, i must agree.
patents + open peer review + short term licence == fair compromise
with a system like this in place, we could all live.
just let me state: in general, i do not believe in the concept of intellectual property. to me this is a joke. a bad one, but never the less a joke. i won't go into this though. why do i then state the above? we live in a democratic organised society. most of believe, that the every human being on thie planet should have the right to live under such cirumstances. the cosequenzes of this is, we need to find compomises - all the time.
democracy is about finding an agreement, that all can live with. of course this is crap to a radical mind. then again.....just take a look at the alternatives.
i have written all this to underline the importance of a change in the patenting system, and elude to the possibilety, that our democratic future might be connected, or at least a part of our societies actions, in how we decide to deal with intellectual property.
will we erode our individual rights and liberties, for the benefit of a few corporations?
i keep hearing an argument going along the lines "doing the job/work of the patent office". i am somehow irritated by this.
let me explain. whenever we participate in political affairs, for this example, without any financial compensation, aren't we doing someone jobs, which would be located in the government?
another example. what about the people active in the eco movement? now looking especially at all those involved in research, collecting data, publishing reports, etc.., aren't they also doing the governments job?
what i am trying to demonstrate is, part of democracy involves copies of existing processes. this is a safty procedure, to ensure the legitamecy of current affairs. this does not mean, doing someones elses job, but controling that other people have done their job correctly.
just look at sience. every experiment needs to be repeated multiple times, to become validated. why not also apply this concept to patents. to make this seems to make a lot of sense.
regarding the previous posters comment concerning the popularcy of the project. well this may be so at the beginning, taking the general public into consideration.
this i see as a benefit.
at the beginning of such a project, if it turns out as promissing as we hope, the reputation will spread quickly amongst those involved and interested with the matters subject. a community of professional people will form, that hopefully will be able to establish a fairly extensive resource library, and develop information sources specially created for the lai person. having established this ground work, the general puplic WILL tale notice. as what has been established will certainly cause references in the public media, which again will attrack the general public to the community.
enough written.......
i find your idea description too brief and difficult to understand, what exactly you are asking for.
if you had been thinking of this as an additional measure, combined in a packet along with other changes that need to be done to the 'system', then it may have some merit. though as a single meassure, trying to improve the current mess, it has no merit. the previous replyer has elaborated this nicely.
as mentioned above, i could see, how an email system, that professionals could sign up for, would be implemented. the system would direct patent prior art requests to people working in the field that the application falls into.
replies to these emails, will then be treated as public advice.
as an additional feature of the system, i believe this could be a great idea. especially as it creates public involvement and interest in the patenting process. something that is laking at the moment. maybe we have gotten ourselves into this muddled mess, because the public is not aware of the processes and systems involved, when it comes to patenting and ip.
if the people in general are more educated about the action of their government, they are more likely to make educated decisions, when voting.
darn, how naive of me! since when are politician, the decision makers, truly interested (not talking about the nice press phots, we are periodicly confronted with via divers media outlets)in our participation?
i like your idea. maybe you should submit it to the people from eef.
why not even go further and create a whole online community, that deals with patents and intellectual property, from a freedom and civil rights perspective.
this could be a site, with a wiki, as you mentioned, forums for people to discuss current issues, but also to organize teamwork to bust patents, search for previous art, etc.... the site could be financed by offering support to people who have run into trouble with patents.
also on offer would be an extensive resource collection, to assist researchers.
blogs, as 'groklaw' could be affiliated with the site. users could create their own blogs at the site, for patent/ip related matters.
Slashdot Mirror
If the idea of selling ringtones had been posted here on Slashdot, I am pretty sure we would hear the same arguments : "won't work, no one will pay money for something like this"
Selling ringtones has turned into a multi-million dollar market.
The Internet as most of us have come to know it, is constantly changing (big news). So do our consuming habbits (really now?). After all, we are creatures subjected to evolution.
While the aeroplan was being invented, the common person had the same argumentation: who will want to fly?
Or befor cable was introduced, many of the common folk suggested, it would be impossible to get consumers to pay for something, they are already getting for free.
I am not willing to subscribe to a site, though I would be willing to pay to view certain articles/content. Now not every article will be worth while to pay for, and this is the point where a business plan comes in. Enough said....
ThanX for your support. VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!!
Haven't had a chance yet to look into those links, nor to start changing the page I had created in the wiki.
The site and project has just started, so you might be a little disappointed, as there is not too much to be found yet. Here are a few links:
- List of Disputed Patents:
Disputed Patents
- Patent No.6,681,985 - Bank Branch Office Design
Wiki Page - wouldn't really call it an article though!
Thank you for your offer on help. If you are interested in the subject, and would like to contribute a little, take a look at our site, and give us your input. ALL comments welcome!
The patent was posted "October 5, 2001", this would be more than 2 years back.
I am writing this issue into the wiki of Wikipatent.org. Therefore I need examples of prior art. Could you do me a favour, and supply me with more information (bank name, where in england, and other helpful info). I would really appreciate your help, as we want to create a database listing disputed patents, along with existing prior art.
Give the guy some credit. He was just trying to add a little suttle humor to his report (bread - atkins/going over allready covered and understood - reading this book).
What is it doing here?
What are you doing HERE?
I like to compare the situation, with that of hammers and their use.
There are probably more hammers out there, than we have DB's on offer.
hammer==database
So, let's take the 'dead blow' hammer, you wouldn't use it to nail the wood structure of your house together. Well, you might, BUT it's gonna be a pain.
Now we can take MySQL and use it for developing an app, that is dependent on a strong relational database. Well, you can do it, BUT...see above!
What the parent poster should rather be asking for is: "Where is my PHP+PostgrSQL/PHP+firefox book?". Such a request makes a lot of sense, and is something that the market is really missing.
After all, it is a book about PHP, the database used, is just to illustrate PHP's capabilities. MySQL is just a far better choice for demonstration purposes, using a SQL syntacs.
Enough said?!
Could you verify your statement and post it to the appropriate section at Wikipatent.org
hope there are no hard feelings, but honestly, if you want to have VC's invest in your company, your reputation will be of great importance. You need to give an impression of professionalism.
Private pages have the inherent design feature of allowing people pre-judgement. That is the whole idea behind online publishing: presenting oneself to the public.
You approaching slashdot was a great testrun, regarding what I have just said.
I think you got a lot of great feedback. The unsupportive being even of greater value. Now it is up to you.
taking your privat site down, was an excellent move. Try to improve it, than just giving up on it. Use what has been said in this thread.
Your personal site could be your door opener. Display that you are a highly acitve person, by showing what you have done. Pointing to your athletic achievements is not a bad idea, but try to turning it into a modest advertisment of your qualities (endurance, motivation, dedication, resiliance,......).
Just thought I should also utter something more productive. Though I stand to my previous post!
I have to fully agree with you!
:D
CaseModding is a modern art form. I miss the days, when artist had to actually be able to produce their own creations. If you look at a lot of contemporary art, they go out and get someone else to produce their idea. Great! Any idiot can have a brilliant idea, transforming it from an idea into something that 'existing', is where the challenge and talent lays. And it doesn't take any skill to order something.
Back to the art form of case modding. Here we are able to find the finest skills put to work. We become witnesses to the transformation of technology, into an object of admiration. An esthetic achievement, celebrating beauty.
At least that is how I feel
Take a look, at the selfdescription of the poster! About Him
On the cyber-highway, a lonely surfer gets pulled over: "Sir, could we please see your licence and registration please?"
would you be interested in posting your thoughts on Wikipatent.org? We are trying to establish a database with (a) patents that have existing prior art, (b) patents that are disputed. Your comments seem to fit into category (b). The Wikipatent.org community would appreciate your comments.
ThanX
this is due to the DNS server not being up yet. thats why i had posted the a seperate link in my previous post. guess i better change it until its up.
anyhow, I appreciate your notice;)
ThanX for your supportive comments.
please feel free to join our efforts at Wikipatent.org
All help is greatly appreciated!!!
reminds me of t. leary.
he had suggested two put LSD into the public dinking water system.
if that's all it takes to get people to change....
i like your comparison with the metric system! there does seem to be some form of equality.
is this again a case of humans not wanting to change?
but my guess is, that is has more to do, with what i would label 'surrounding technologies'!
people are just too used to a 2 dimensional computer world. all attempts to bring depth into the visual display have been rather laim (3D buttons, shadows, etc.).
call it 3D, spatial, or artificial environment. a new and revolutionary way of interfacing will come. this is just mearly an intermediate technology.
i believe, we are on the verge to something far bigger!
stop bashing inventive developers, rather stick with M$ bshing, if you have to stay at a primitive level!
any technology has the potential to be turned against you. What's your point?
this is just a nice way of data mining different map sources, and making the most out of it.
the technology doen't make the right decision/choice, this will still be in the hands of human commanders. though it will be a handy tool for strategists. imagine a strategy, where you actually Do Not choose the best/shortest/fastest root, but a rather non obvious, and possibly seen by the enemy as being too much of an disadvantage to persue.
i find it funny how only the notion of technology inspires a belief in superiority. if we hae learnt one thing from modern warfare, then it must be, that superior technology, does not perticularly mean success in battle!
uuuhhh, a shift-key-fashist;)
i agree, this is a great place to start out. i just hope more people take notice of our thread.
i have been playing around with the thought of creating a personal blog, now for quite some time. what held me back, was the additional work load i would incur, and i have enough to do as it is. the cost-benefit calculation, just didn't seem satisfying.
this has now changed, due to this project.
hopefully i will have it up and running by tomorrow.
regarding hosting, i will contact you directly. give me a little time though, i first have to check back with my host (i wont be able to offer anything spectacular though!!!)
i would also suggest creating a task list. we need to fill the site, provide content.
THIS IS A CALL FOR PARTICIPATION:
dear shlashdoter, join this project! we need more people active, in fighting back the idiotic government actions.
my brief list:
- collect list of patents currently publicly discusses, together with as much information as possible, regarding the case
- send in request, what you would like to find at such a site/your expectations for the site
- establish a list of prominent activists involved in the struggle
- what books are their on the topic? compile a list
- portal - categorized link collection, linking our site with all resources out on the net, regarding the subject; based on this, we can create specialized sections (e.g. cyber space activist sites - whats new news section; maybe a weekly emailelist, that has all updates listed)
- world wide patent office registry - list of the institutions of every country, that deal with patents
- compile list of evaluated sites dealing with patents
well, thats what i can come up with, from the top of my head. other suggestions are encouraged!exactly!
and as uni's have been notorious for low pay, i suppose they don't have such bright people on their IT team, as they have sitting in their classes.
besides, usually IT teams have been set up for IT support. last time i checked, there is a significant difference between administrative tasks and software development tasks. we are looking here at two completely different sets of procedure.
how can anyone then be supprised of their failure?
taking the 'conflict of interest' into account, this just seems like another example of insufficient corporate governance. especailly as the modern uni is nothing but a corportion.
good to see someone take immediate action!
now all of us BIG WORD SWINGING ADVOCATES OF FREEDOM need to step in, and give this man a helping hand. this is too much of an important project, not to make it the success it deserves to be.
how do you want get the project going?
i suggest using something like nuke (no preferences on my side) at the beginning. set up a quick site with a forum, and ask for peoples feedback. just to get started.
my 5 cents.....
i'll keep in touch!
that's a tough one!
what sort of people were you thinking about?
i guess the general public, as without them, we would be out in the rain. generaly speaking, what doesn't effect their daily lifes directly, dosen't interest them much. giving us a hint, that we have to demonstrate the issues effects on their every day activities.
now here it won't be enough to tell them, your software will get cheaper. first of all, the statement represents a hypothesis still to be proven. second of all cheaper software is not such an issue. though a calculation of cost reductions, as changes in patent right effect a wide range of products, might be a handy instrument.
i still have issues with the speculative element in such an argumentation line.
there is the scare tactik. now i'm not sure how to persue this one. and to be honest, this is a path i do not want to venture. but for others it will be an option.
what i again have to realize is, how complex issues are always hard to sell.
arguments like the "slippery slope", are for most to abstract. a threat to individual liberties, have to be immediate. and the general public usually does not have to deal with patents.
now this was all about arguments. i was hoping to find inspiration for more direct action........no answer!
the one (stupid) idea that comes to mind, so late at night (i'm sitting down under), would be to run around town in groups of two, dressed all in black (stereotype of an agent), approahing people and asking them for their handy. all along explaining, that you are of the 'patent enforcement control agency', doing random sample controls in urban areas, to ensure no patents have been infringed, in the products used. if so this might result in a liablity for the user. now i'm borowing here from a different issue, though in ways related, copyright. just a stupid idea of mine. could also cause legal trouble, wouldn't know, and differes from country to country even more than patent rights.
what we need is a communications expert!
exactly. peer review! that is a term i should have used in my other reply. /.'ers might have to swallow first, befor excepting your last statement, i must agree.
i only managed to compare the patent granting process, with the scientific process of replicating experiments.
The idea of coordinating peer review of patents to grant, organised by an online community could prove to be quite revolutionary.
as many
patents + open peer review + short term licence == fair compromise
with a system like this in place, we could all live.
just let me state: in general, i do not believe in the concept of intellectual property. to me this is a joke. a bad one, but never the less a joke. i won't go into this though. why do i then state the above? we live in a democratic organised society. most of believe, that the every human being on thie planet should have the right to live under such cirumstances. the cosequenzes of this is, we need to find compomises - all the time.
democracy is about finding an agreement, that all can live with. of course this is crap to a radical mind. then again.....just take a look at the alternatives.
i have written all this to underline the importance of a change in the patenting system, and elude to the possibilety, that our democratic future might be connected, or at least a part of our societies actions, in how we decide to deal with intellectual property.
will we erode our individual rights and liberties, for the benefit of a few corporations?
i keep hearing an argument going along the lines "doing the job/work of the patent office". i am somehow irritated by this.
let me explain. whenever we participate in political affairs, for this example, without any financial compensation, aren't we doing someone jobs, which would be located in the government?
another example. what about the people active in the eco movement? now looking especially at all those involved in research, collecting data, publishing reports, etc.., aren't they also doing the governments job?
what i am trying to demonstrate is, part of democracy involves copies of existing processes. this is a safty procedure, to ensure the legitamecy of current affairs. this does not mean, doing someones elses job, but controling that other people have done their job correctly.
just look at sience. every experiment needs to be repeated multiple times, to become validated. why not also apply this concept to patents. to make this seems to make a lot of sense.
regarding the previous posters comment concerning the popularcy of the project. well this may be so at the beginning, taking the general public into consideration.
this i see as a benefit.
at the beginning of such a project, if it turns out as promissing as we hope, the reputation will spread quickly amongst those involved and interested with the matters subject. a community of professional people will form, that hopefully will be able to establish a fairly extensive resource library, and develop information sources specially created for the lai person. having established this ground work, the general puplic WILL tale notice. as what has been established will certainly cause references in the public media, which again will attrack the general public to the community.
enough written.......
i find your idea description too brief and difficult to understand, what exactly you are asking for.
if you had been thinking of this as an additional measure, combined in a packet along with other changes that need to be done to the 'system', then it may have some merit. though as a single meassure, trying to improve the current mess, it has no merit. the previous replyer has elaborated this nicely.
as mentioned above, i could see, how an email system, that professionals could sign up for, would be implemented. the system would direct patent prior art requests to people working in the field that the application falls into.
replies to these emails, will then be treated as public advice.
as an additional feature of the system, i believe this could be a great idea. especially as it creates public involvement and interest in the patenting process. something that is laking at the moment. maybe we have gotten ourselves into this muddled mess, because the public is not aware of the processes and systems involved, when it comes to patenting and ip.
if the people in general are more educated about the action of their government, they are more likely to make educated decisions, when voting.
darn, how naive of me! since when are politician, the decision makers, truly interested (not talking about the nice press phots, we are periodicly confronted with via divers media outlets)in our participation?
i like your idea. maybe you should submit it to the people from eef.
why not even go further and create a whole online community, that deals with patents and intellectual property, from a freedom and civil rights perspective.
this could be a site, with a wiki, as you mentioned, forums for people to discuss current issues, but also to organize teamwork to bust patents, search for previous art, etc.... the site could be financed by offering support to people who have run into trouble with patents.
also on offer would be an extensive resource collection, to assist researchers.
blogs, as 'groklaw' could be affiliated with the site. users could create their own blogs at the site, for patent/ip related matters.
slashdoters! any more ideas? comments?