Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 2nd Oct 2009 17:33 UTC
Red Hat has filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court. In the brief, Red Hat explains the practical problems of software patents to software developers. The brief, filed in the Bilski case, asks the Supreme Court to adopt the lower court's machine-or-transformation test and to make clear that it excludes software from patentability.
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Member since:
2005-11-10
Patents and copyrights are counterproductive as far as I can tell. They restrict what a person can do with real property for no real reason. There are many assertions that the proponents of so-called intellectual "property" make, but is there actually any evidence that their arguments are true? Every study that I have ever seen with regards to the effectiveness of patents makes me wonder if they are at all useful. In fact several studies conclude that they are counter-productive to greater innovation and that they result in monopolies in various fields as one or a few players create a patent portfolio that blocks new comers from entering the field. There is also no evidence that copyrights help anyone but the largest players in the media and book writing.
Ideal systems that we can create in our mind don't matter. The fact is that any system run by a government is going to change to suit those who are best at lobbying, which are the larger and more powerful entities who change the rules to favor themselves at the expense of the poor and newcomers to the field. The state creates rules that create privilege where it would not otherwise exist.
I hope that software patents are struck down with this case or that this case opens up the doors to ending software patents.
http://www.againstmonopoly.org/