“In a recent conversation with eWeek.com senior editor Steven J.
Vaughan-Nichols, we decided we both spent too much time writing
about legal matters and not enough time writing about technology.
‘Why are we writing more about patents now instead of technology?
The money’s the same, but I’m happier talking to techies than
lawyers,’ Steven said. I agree. Even though some of my best friends
are lawyers, I prefer writing about technology to writing about
law. But law seems to have a greater effect on technology every
year.“It’s sad, watching all the patent and trademark squabbles that
now surround software development, especially in the free and open
source world. The reason open source software gets picked on so
much is that it’s an easy target. Anyone can look at the source
and, if they are so inclined, say, ‘Hey! That looks an awful lot
like my code. I think I’ll sue…'”