From ramon@jl1.quim.ucm.es  Fri Jan 26 13:20:32 2001
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 14:20:32 +0100
From: Ram'on Garc'ia Fern'andez ramon@jl1.quim.ucm.es
Subject: [Patents] A shareholders viewpoint

On Fri, Jan 26, 2001 at 12:34:22PM +0000, Nick F. wrote:
>     The thing is, there are a number of businesses which rely
> on patents to provide some sort of stability within industries.
>
> [...]
> 
> I notice that a lot of the software companies that are filing 
> patents seem to be listed on the stock exchange. This is because
> shareholders [...] tend to invest in companies that have a 
> strong, preferably long term position within an industry [...]

Of course, but that is not a reason to support software patents.  It
is a very strong reason to be against software patents. Of course, if
one owns a company he prefers to have a "stable" position, that is,
even if his company is mismanaged and uncompetitive he cannot be
pushed out by better managed companies who can offer better prices.
The monopoly is great for the investor exactly for the same reason
it is harmful for the rest of the society, including the rest of
companies.

Ramon





