Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: abolishing software patents? (got IP game?)
Author: David McCusker Posted: 9/22/2000; 11:51:06 AM Topic: got IP game? Msg #: 21645 (In response to 21641) Prev/Next: 21644 / 21646
Jim Lyon: I too would like to see that world. However, I'm also a pragmatist, and don't believe it will really happen.I also don't believe it will happen in the sense that legislation will be passed to abolish software patents by fiat. But I'm looking for win-win trades with various parties on rules and values that end up with something much closer to the end goal in practical terms.
I want to see software artists free to create more stuff, and I want to see both small and large businesses like and profit by whatever rules are followed. I'm leery of pat answers, and I haven't thought of any myself. Right now I aim to get folks thinking about it, so more options are put up on the block for trade. In the meantime, everyone gets to rattle their sabers to show how tough they can be in a fight.
The one thing big business does not want to see is any organization happening in software developers as a community. If this appears to happen, or to start formative stages, folks with power will yield whatever concessions are necessary to keep it from going further. I'm not talking about formal organizations like unions per se. Instead I mean a consensus on acceptable standard mores, which might be backed by consistent choices in the community.
Jim Lyon: I do, however, have some suggestions about how to achieve the moral equivalent of that world, without needing to convince the politicians to do it: [charitable organization]
It's hard to invest power in an organization without the power being wielded in ways one can't predict. Also, getting into a struggle with lawyers according to their rules will let them win the majority of the battle. Like the buffalo in the Gary Larson cartoon says, "Don't play his game, Vince, just trample him."
Jim Lyon: The net result? Patents still exist in the legal sense, but they've been rendered moot in the practical sense.
Any approach that preserves entrenched fighting and strategic maneuvering will have a similar effect on squelching innovation, even if there is a good guy referee helping to stop the worst excesses. The bad guys can get most of their goals met by simply laying down cover fire that keeps folks busy enough to yield the desired effect -- force folks to negotiate in order to secure permission to proceed.
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