<font><font face="georgia,serif">I was wondering recently why software, which is pretty much universally agreed to be subject to copyright (hell, Copyleft depen<font>ds on it being so), is still allowed to be subject to patents - are those not contradictory stances? Patents protect things which cannot be copyrighted.</font><br>
</font></font><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all">Pete Hardie<br>--------<br>Better Living Through Bitmaps<br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Nov 25, 2012 at 6:07 PM, Edward Holcroft <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:eholcroft@mkainc.com" target="_blank">eholcroft@mkainc.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<font>Excellent piece.</font>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Nov 24, 2012 at 10:55 AM, arxaaron <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:arxaaron@gmail.com" target="_blank">arxaaron@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
A good friend shared a link to an ArsTechnica article on a recent<br>
conference addressing the destructive and obstructive injuries to<br>
innovation being perpetrated by the fallacious protectionism and<br>
greed driven insanity of U.S. software patents.<br>
<br>
Green Party advocate and firearms rights activist Richard Stallman<br>
was there, of course, and spoke truth to power by offering the only<br>
real and comprehensive solution, not to mention the simplest and<br>
most principled solution. Whatever you may feel about his ideas<br>
and ideals, or his passionate expression of them, it is hard not to<br>
respect this person as an unassailable and increasingly rare<br>
example of personal integrity in the world:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/11/your-criticisms-are-completely-wrong-stallman-on-software-patents/" target="_blank">http://arstechnica.com/tech-<u></u>policy/2012/11/your-<u></u>criticisms-are-completely-<u></u>wrong-stallman-on-software-<u></u>patents/</a><br>
<br>
In reading some of the comments I found one of the best, most<br>
direct analogies for explaining the detrimental nature of software<br>
patents that I have yet come across. Even one of the most notorious<br>
and unscrupulous corporapists in the industry would seem to agree<br>
with the the European Union that software patents are a heinous,<br>
dysfunctional blockade to innovation...<br>
<br>
====<br>
Last edited by ScifiGeek on Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:41 am<br>
---<br>
Copyright protects you from people [plagiarizing] your software projects.<br>
Just like it protects an author from people [plagiarizing] their novels, short<br>
stories, and poems.<br>
<br>
But patents on sentence structures, rhyming couplets and other techniques<br>
of writing would not offer any more real protection to authors, [and would]<br>
instead make the work of Authors more and more difficult, grinding it to a halt.<br>
<br>
It has long been recognized by those in the software industry:<br>
"If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of<br>
today’s ideas were invented, and had taken out patents, the industry<br>
would be at a complete standstill today". - Bill Gates (1991)<br>
====<br>
<br>
In keeping with the spirit of the weekend, I'm infinitely thankful to<br>
the universe that I exist within a slice of space time that is shared<br>
by Richard Stallman. :-)<br>
<br>
in peace<br>
aaron<br>
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</font></span></blockquote></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Edward Holcroft<br>Madsen Kneppers & Associates Inc.<br>3020 Holcomb Bridge Rd. NW<br>Norcross, GA<br>
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