[Patents] patent pools enforcing per-copy-licensing mode of software development

[Xavier Drudis Ferran xdrudis@tinet.org]

Gregory Aharonian va escriure el Mon, 1 Jan 2001 17:21:44 -0500 (EST)  :

>That is nonsense patent law.  Once you file your patent, you can 

Yours is non-sense free software. Once you have a patent, you pretend 
to control (prevent, for instance) and/or be paid for uses of your 
technology at some time, else I can't understand what use is your patent 
to you, it would only be an expense. If you pretend that, 
and publish your software, then you cannot publish it in a way that lets 
anyone 
use it in any way (or just prohibit ways that would make it non-free). 

For instance there is some software called DjVu:
http://lizardtech.com/products/djvu/referencelibrary/DjVuRefLib_3.0.html

They publish a library with a GPL license, and they grant a license of use 
of any of their patents on their software as long as you don't modify their 
source code. You can modify it, but then you either remove their patented 
things, modify just unpatented things or pay them for a license for their 
software patents. I guess that's legal in the US, but I don't call it free 
software. The patents void the GPL of most of its effect. And I expect it 
to be ignored by the community, so I don't see 
any advantage for them in doing this. Or maybe it is just a dodge to be able 
to incorporate (link in) free software in their product without effectively 
giving their code back (I'm not sure whether the GPL allows for that but maybe
it does, because the software would be under GPL, although in a useless 
manner). 
Or they're just looking for publicity, 
but I wonder if they can deceive the public so much.

Something is free software when anyone can modify it in any way and 
redistribute it under the same terms, passing the freedom to whoever gets 
the software. If you can only modify it by paying patent royalties it is 
not free. If you can't do something because of a software patent that you 
would if you were the patent holder, or there was no patent, then it is 
not free software any more. If you can do the same with the software patent
as you would without it, then the patent is worthless, and is just a waste 
of time and money for the patent holder.

I'm not talking philosophy. The GPL (when unhindered by software patents) 
adds substantial value to products, and people do pay money for that value. 
Ask for instance why MySQL had to adopt GPL in order to get partner companies 
to support their product. The freedom to modify and redistribute the 
source is the main factor that has allowed a fruitful explosion of useful,
realiable and interoperable software, that in the last years just got 
discovered by corporations and the media, but that has been working for our
society wellfare for some years. When you have information in digital form, 
that does not degrade no matter how many times is copied or transmitted, 
and moreover when that information is more than just information, because it 
can work for you when compiled and run, you need a legal framework that 
ensures that your rights to that 
information do not degrade when changing hands. That's why GPL is useful.
Software patents just kill this. And yes, 
they harm non-free software too, and harm consumers in more ways than 
killing free software, but also by killing free software.

About your other posts, Greg: I'm sick of your "software is not holy or 
special" stuff, and I think your idea of paying a little while you look for 
investement and then apply for a patent may be useful for some non-free 
development, but it is just one of many possible ways to finance a project if
there were no software patents. You can always use non disclosure agreements 
and industrial secrets to look for investment. You don't need patents for 
that.
By the way, have you read the testimonial of a start-up that wanted to 
file a patent to get rich with a great idea, and sadly discovered it just 
doesn't work like that?. 

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--
Xavier Drudis Ferran
xdrudis@tinet.org