Software Patents

[drascus]

There is a campaign in 2008 to change the state of Software Patents in the USA. This is important for our community as a study done of the linux Kernel found that it may be infringing on hundreds of Patents. Not only can companies be sued for software patents but each individual user can be sued as well. This not only effects the FOSS community but any user of any software might be using patented software and not even know they are in violation. All the experts pretty much agree that the state of Software patents is pretty pathetic in the USA though they might disagree as to the degree of the problem. here are some resources to help in the fight for Patent reform.

First a video by Richard Stallman explaining the problem in more detail and with more expertise than I ever could.

Here is the audio of the speech:
http://audio-video.gnu.org/audio/rms-speech-patents-calgary-20050518-audio.ogg

Here is the Video:
http://audio-video.gnu.org/video/rms-speech-patents-calgary-20050518-320x240.ogg

OK so if you are in agreement and would like to help please check out this site for more information and details how to get involved..
https://endsoftpatents.org/home-page

[SunnyRabbiera]

well once again its not the concept that is bad, its how its executed that makes it funky.
Microsoft has a ton of ridiculous patent claims and it would be about time its claims were questioned.
But there should be some way to protect your investment though, software does cost a lot of time to develop...

[drascus]

I agree I think that copyright makes a lot more sense as means to protect the work that has been done. Maybe a modified version of Patent law. I think that writing software is much more like the the writing of a book and should be protected as such. Not to mention any program is really an expression of a mathematical algorithm or many such algorithms. I don't think that math should be patentable. That is no the only issue and I am no expert that is why I default to the experts on this issue. From what I read and have seen I tend to agree with Patent Reform. especially as a person who one day wishes to do software Development.

[Het Irv]

Personally, I think that software patents should go the same way medical patents have gone. Let the creator have exclusive rights for a while, to make back the cost of devlopment. After a time period, the patent should expire with no option to renew.

[Vitamin-Carrot]

dont worry heroes like that New zealander who brought down the patent that sun microsystems had on the one click ecommerce technology that they leased to apple for their itunes stuff will sort it out.

:P

[Biochem]

Let the creator have exclusive rights for a while, to make back the cost of devlopment. After a time period, the patent should expire with no option to renew.

Actually, that statment is true fro all patents not just the medial ones. I think the protection is 20 years

Copyrights hold for a much longuer period, I think it's 50 years after the artist death (don't be foolish enought to cite me on that number).

[gsmanners]

Software patents are a bad idea. It isn't just because you impose some arbitrary enslavement of an idea on the rest of the country, but also because you are limiting the growth of the industry it relates to.

Basically, any country that enforces software patents is destroying software business, and any other country will see that business flourish. Ergo, you will also see those businesses not affected by stupid patents become the dominant players in software in the future.

[k2t0f12d]

Personally, I think that software patents should go the same way medical patents have gone. Let the creator have exclusive rights for a while, to make back the cost of devlopment. After a time period, the patent should expire with no option to renew.

That might make sense if software patents were in anyway meaningful. One can discover in a very short period of time exactly how nonsensical most software patents are by trying to read any. They cover trivial ideas which can appear by the thousands in any non-trivial program. A software patent does absolutely nothing to protect any creator's work from competitors with more patents then themselves, and can easily be used to prevent anyone from creating anything. Abolishing software patents entirely would create tremendous amounts of leverage for developers to create across the board with no downsides. Doing so would take all the bullets out of all the guns of all the people in the world who have any reason to prevent innovation in software who might use them.

[kinematic]

You're all forgetting one thing, the US is (as far as I know) the only country in the world with messed up software patent laws. If a large number of companies decide to sue distro's those distro's could relocate their base of operation to Europe for example as a last resort.

[TBOL3]

Actually, that statment is true fro all patents not just the medial ones. I think the protection is 20 years

Copyrights hold for a much longuer period, I think it's 50 years after the artist death (don't be foolish enought to cite me on that number).

actually it's 70 years after the author's death. But there are many exceptions.

[Het Irv]

@ everyone who quoted me:

Point taken. My thing is, I don't mind paying people for their work, thats why I bought a bunch of Ubuntu Merchandise and I will be donating some in the future. But, I also like the idea of Open Source and being able to build on other people's Ideas.