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

Patents

Author:David Golding
Posted:9/21/2000; 9:13:09 PM
Topic:Patents
Msg #:21620
Prev/Next:21619 / 21621

John Carmack, at the end of part 3 of an interview at Voodoo Extreme:

I just don't know what to do about software patents. There probably isn't another issue that can make me feel so helplessly frustrated.

Patents are supposed to help promote invention and allow benefits to accrue to inventors. By most definitions, I would be considered an "inventor" of sorts, and patents sure as hell aren't helping me out.

The idea that I can be presented with a problem, set out to logically solve it with the tools at hand, and wind up with a program that could not be legally used because someone else followed the same logical steps some years ago and filed for a patent on it is horrifying.

To laymen, all of programming is alchemy, and trying to convince them that any given software patent is "obvious" or "clearly follows from the problem" is really tough.

The only way to fight it is with legal and political means, and I don't have the skills or tools to even formulate a plan of attack. I give money to causes that try to fight those battles.

The only scenario that I can see would be to have enough truly, blatantly stupid patents prosecuted that someone could make a stand in congress and show the public in an understandable way just how wrong it is.

On a personal level, I refuse to patent anything that I am involved in. Anyone that has ever gotten an idea based on any of my work and done something better with it - good for you.



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