Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on September 16, 2006 12:43 AM
Hi,
I'm currently attending to this meeting, and thought that I'd give *my* view of this project:
> Such a project cannot really protect programmers > from software patents,
correct
> it focuses only on absurd software patents -- > those that could be legally denied or > invalidated based on prior art.
also correct
> However, the greatest danger comes from > patents that are not absurd, those for which we > have no prior art.
absolutely right
> The project is not just incomplete -- it can > backfire, too. > [..] > If the worst thing about the project were its > inability to solve the whole problem, it would > still be better than nothing. But given that it > can also backfire, it can be worse than nothing.
Here I disagree: You should never hold back any information, just because it *could* be bad. Isn't that one of the basics of free software? If we would start to hide our projects, or wouldn't agree on a project whose only goal is to make software easier to find ( for everybody, including the USPTO), then we would be definitely on the wrong way!
> Some large companies are starting to recognize > the problem that software patents cause; but > since they have research labs and large patent > portfolios, they do not want to eliminate > software patents. They only want to get rid of > the absurd ones that are likely to cause trouble > for them.
jupp, that's right
> So they now call for measures to "improve patent > quality." The OSDL project responds to this > appeal, but it doesn't serve the needs of > software developers and users in general.
Well, I think it really does. But it's not a political project that tries to get rid of software patents general. If you wanna do this, please support the ffii (<a href="http://www.ffii.org/" title="ffii.org">http://www.ffii.org/</a ffii.org>) just as I do.
Jan Kechel
PS: As soon as someone really proofes that I'm wrong on this, I'll be happy to leave.
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Posted by: Anonymous Coward on September 16, 2006 12:43 AMI'm currently attending to this meeting, and thought that I'd give *my* view of this project:
> Such a project cannot really protect programmers
> from software patents,
correct
> it focuses only on absurd software patents --
> those that could be legally denied or
> invalidated based on prior art.
also correct
> However, the greatest danger comes from
> patents that are not absurd, those for which we
> have no prior art.
absolutely right
> The project is not just incomplete -- it can
> backfire, too.
> [..]
> If the worst thing about the project were its
> inability to solve the whole problem, it would
> still be better than nothing. But given that it
> can also backfire, it can be worse than nothing.
Here I disagree:
You should never hold back any information, just because it *could* be bad. Isn't that one of the basics of free software?
If we would start to hide our projects, or wouldn't agree on a project whose only goal is to make software easier to find ( for everybody, including the USPTO), then we would be definitely on the wrong way!
> Some large companies are starting to recognize
> the problem that software patents cause; but
> since they have research labs and large patent
> portfolios, they do not want to eliminate
> software patents. They only want to get rid of
> the absurd ones that are likely to cause trouble
> for them.
jupp, that's right
> So they now call for measures to "improve patent
> quality." The OSDL project responds to this
> appeal, but it doesn't serve the needs of
> software developers and users in general.
Well, I think it really does. But it's not a political project that tries to get rid of software patents general.
If you wanna do this, please support the ffii (<a href="http://www.ffii.org/" title="ffii.org">http://www.ffii.org/</a ffii.org>) just as I do.
Jan Kechel
PS: As soon as someone really proofes that I'm wrong on this, I'll be happy to leave.
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