[Patents] Re: Pro Software Patents = Illegal

[phm@a2e.de (PILCH Hartmut)]

> "Wherever you cut a fork, you cut an inifinite number of new designs.
> Patenting software is therefore robbery, ..."

> This is incorrect.  A patent on a "new fork" does not include the
> multitude of unobvious improvements (leaves?) of the new fork.
> Whoever invents and patents the improvements, owns that technology,
> not the patent holder of the new fork.

Still he will need a license in order to use the "technology" that he
"owns".

I already explained to Roland before that I don't think his scheme of
forks vs leaves really helps to explain much.  Like in many fields,
novices think up great schemes and most of them have already been
falsified before.  But that does not justify your following flame:

> Honestly, I don't know why I even try to persuade people who are
> suspicious of "the establishment."  I think you are long-shot to be
> persuaded, in much the same way that the anti-free-traders are long
> shots, and the eco-terrorists.  They are some people that will always
> suspect that a sophisticated and developed legal and technology system
> will become the playground of those who can't participate, because of
> their lack of education.

I don't understand the last sentences, and as for the others, they can be
turned around against you.  While it is true that a sophisticated and
developed legal system deserves some respect (meaning that you can usually
not come up with a great new formula and expect it to solve the problems
of that system, because many people have thought about these things
before), it is also true that legal systems are a target of many forces of
corruption and deterioration and therefore need some critical
counter-forces from the outside if they are to have a future.  IMHO the
corruption of the patent system has become so bad and is coming from such
main-stream people that you'd better try thinking about it rather than
engaging in futile attempts at defamating these people.

> I think I should leave this list, it is just a list for anti-patent
> people now.

In fact the patent system has gone so far astray from its economic and
moral basis that what you say may soon become true.  At the moment we have
mainly anti-software-patent people.  People are trying to take the
doctrines of patent law seriously and help repair it so that it can
function.  But the more people like you refuse cooperating, the more you
force the critics to become more fundamental in their approach.  Once
public anger has reached a certain critical point, nobody can control it
anymore, and respect for "sophisticated and long-developped legal
institutions" will no longer be available.  People will become disinterest
in the doctrines of a system which they perceive to be abusive as a whole.

And indeed, if you look around a little, you may find that the
legitimation basis of the whole system is indeed rather thin.  Read
Machlup's report to the US congress, if you don't believe it.  The list of
economists who have negated the value of the patent system reads like a
who is who of economics.  Moreover, the establishment that you have built
and are so proud of shows all the signs of institutional decay, stagnation
and incapability of self-regeneration.  Here your basis is also very thin.
And your attempt at portraying your possible dialogue partners as
"anti-free-trade" ... "eco-terrorists" ... etc really shows how thin it
is.

Maybe my time would be lost in trying to persuade you and all those on
this list who are making their living from software/algorithm/logics
patents.  But there are other people who are engaging in an honest trade
and have a good reason to resent being pulled into the mud by a few greedy
colleagues.  You should help us reform the institutions in which they are
working and put them back on track.  One first step in helping is to
sign our petition.  It is a petition on behalf of a sane patent system.

--
Hartmut Pilch
Federation for a Free Information Infrastructure        http://www.ffii.org/
For a software patent free Europe PLEASE SIGN http://petition.eurolinux.org/