[Patents] the burden factor in soft vs hard

[Gregory Aharonian srctran@world.std.com]

>So you do admit that software companies assert their patents just
>as ruthlessly as any others?

Sure, I was asserting that years before you even paid attention to tis
issue.  SOME, and I repeat SOME, software companies are ruthless with
their patents, just as SOME companies are in other industries.  SOME
software companies aren't ruthless, just as SOME companies in other
industries. 

But in general, the patent acquisition and patent assertion practices
of software companies are for the most part no different than for
other industries.  You cannot distinguish against software patents based
on how software patent owners assert their patents.  So whatever 
Altavista is and will be doing, is not an argument for or against
software patents - their behavior is typical for any industry.  
People in the software world may notlike what they do, but then people
in other industries don't like what some of patent holders in those
industries do.

With regards to the use of "informational", for future reference, I
was being sarcastic.  "Informational" is a nice buzzword that has
little use in these discussions - it is either way too broad or way
too narrow - I just got tired of arguing the issue.  It is a word
that has no use in making the case that software is different.

Greg