It was interesting that there seemed to be at least broad
agreement that
something needs to be done about the problem
of patent trolls. Even Google took
a strong stand on that.
Personally, I was disappointed in Google's
stand, because
patent trolls are not the only problem, but rather, the
problem
is patents on software.
It just occurred to me now that patent trolls
have made
themselves a sufficient nuisance to Big Business that there
seems to
be a broad consensus growing that patent trolls
need to be discouraged. At the
same time, many of these same
companies don't seem to have any problem with
software
patents. Companies like Microsoft and Apple are still
willing to bet
that holding software patents is a plus for
them in the long run, even though
they do lose the
occasional fight.
For me, as a software developer,
patents held by Big
Business are just as much a problem as the patents held by
patent trolls, so I am not impressed when Google takes a
stand against patent
trolls and not against software patents
in general. When Big Business becomes
finally convinced that
owning software patents is a negative asset we will
finally
see the end of software patents, and not until then.
Rather
than fight software patents in general, Big
Business will put bandaids on the
problems that benefit
mainly the incumbents, or a least solutions that allow
them
to remain on top and keep the up starts and start ups down.
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