[Patents] Some remarks on Vol 1 #284

[Luuk van Dijk Luuk.van.Dijk@xs4all.nl]

Yann DIETRICH wrote:
> 
> I am agree with you but these argument can be dangerous .... and what will
> you think if microsoft integrate your code lines in windows 2000 ( perhaps
> it will work better ) ? you will sue them on the basis of your IP rights ...

No.

If I release my code under a *copyright licence* (or a copyleft licence),
which I usually do, I could sue them when and if they violate the license.
That's not patents, but copyright, and it protects the intellectual 
process of formulating my solution to my problem well enough. 

I am automatically protected by this right without having to apply for it.

They are still free to formulate their own solutions to their own problems,
and I cannot forbid them to do obvious things they will think of themselves
anyways.  That is a good thing, because it means they cannot do the same
to me either.

> so, patent is just an another form of protection, I think more efficient.

Yes, it's so efficient that I can cause great harm to my collegue programmers.

> 
> In my mind, in computer field, there is a cultural problem about IP rights.
> ( I use my first cracked software at 13 years old and I am a great fan of
> napster .... and I am an IP/IT lawyer ) But, in a very monopolistic market
> such as software, only strong legal instruments such as patent allow small
> firms to earn market share, even if it is hard.

That is a very interesting point of view for a lawyer.  

Most people, and most programmers
I know (most of which are against patents) would call it theft if you 
use music or software without respecting the copyright.  

Actually, advocates of free software make free software by programming
something themselves, and then releasing it under a free licence.  

Using a cracked copy- protected program or using illegal copies of music
is NOT making it free, and I find it insulting to suggest that
people are against patents because it allows them to steal more cheaply.

You are confusing the people that want software to be Free (libre) with
the people that want software to be free (gratuit). 

___________________________________________________
Luuk van Dijk               Luuk.van.Dijk@xs4all.nl
Bleekveld 58                      9711 XV Groningen
The Netherlands                 tel +31 50 313 5647
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