Saturday, February 26, 2005
Why Software Patents Suck
1. Most software patents which have been granted are completely obvious to a first year computer programmer - e.g. 'one click shopping'
2. There have been thousands of these stupid software patents granted, and even though they haven't been enforced yet [the big players are in a sort of mexican standoff - they each have patents which can hurt the other big player, but that company will retaliate and hurt them in reply. Can you see the pattern - its a bit like the movie 'Wargames' where the computer realises that the only winning move is not to play. This is a bit like how the current patent crisis sits.]
3. BUT - should the 'big players' decide to *target* a small business or individual then that target will be completely crushed due to the overally general nature of the existing software patents. Mind you, this will cause a complete media storm (and rightly so) which would damage the big companies, but the problem still exists - the big boys can crush the newcomers quickly and legally at will.
2. There have been thousands of these stupid software patents granted, and even though they haven't been enforced yet [the big players are in a sort of mexican standoff - they each have patents which can hurt the other big player, but that company will retaliate and hurt them in reply. Can you see the pattern - its a bit like the movie 'Wargames' where the computer realises that the only winning move is not to play. This is a bit like how the current patent crisis sits.]
3. BUT - should the 'big players' decide to *target* a small business or individual then that target will be completely crushed due to the overally general nature of the existing software patents. Mind you, this will cause a complete media storm (and rightly so) which would damage the big companies, but the problem still exists - the big boys can crush the newcomers quickly and legally at will.
