Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Something positive people can do

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:2/28/2000; 5:04:14 AM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 2/27/00
Msg #:15304 (In response to 15301)
Prev/Next:15303 / 15305

Also, something positive people can do. Create an intellectual property database like IBM's that documents unpatented prior art, so that lawyers defending against patent suits will be as well-armed as those on the other side.

Jakob, one of the reasons I wanted to get the outliners out there was so that we could safely move back into outlining without fear from patent lawsuits. As long as we stick to unpatented functionality in ThinkTank, Ready and MORE, we are safe. The prior art dates back to before the USPTO was granting software patents.

Same with "MacBird" which we released in open source at the beginning of the year. It also predates the USPTO policy change. It would be great to see some of the Linux companies with their huge stockpiles of cash to make an investment in documenting prior art. This is something the Web can do better than any other previous medium. We have search engines and hierarchy managing software, epinions and google, two companies you influence.

Let's do something good for the Net here. Let's love the Net. What do you think of the Ask Not slogan?

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