[Patents] Re: french views

[Gregory Aharonian srctran@world.std.com]

Stefane writes that Oracle is against software patents.  That is
false.  Oracle was anti-software patents in the early 1990s, but
now has become a regular acquirer of software patents, engaging
in the same patenting practices of everyone else.

And in the United States, many if not most Internet startups might
not like the presense of patents, but they are all filing them
every day.  Indeed, in many cases it is the only protection from
having their software ideas stolen by larger and established
companies.

These arguments against software patents (and for the record, I am
not against software patents, but against bad software patents and
inept patent examination institutions) are two major problems.
First, I question their logic, especially this non-scientific
distinction between "physical" and "logical".  Alan Turing must be
rolling over in his grave every time that is argued.  Second, 
your campaign will never succeed in the United States (nor should
it), so even if you make some progress with European governments,
you still have a cross-Atlantic problem to deal with, and I would
bet my money that you would lose.

Greg Aharonian