“Patent protection for free software? The phrase is immediately
jarring; for fans of free software, patent law has long been
considered a kind of Great Satan. Free software is built on the
premise that sharing ideas is both morally and pragmatically
superior. But software patents are often employed by corporations
to build walls around ideas. How can the two concepts be
reconciled?”
“Some would argue, flatly, that they cannot. The past decade’s
mad grab for software- and Internet-related patents must be
opposed, they argue, because patents stymie innovation, hurt
consumers and, most of all, undermine software’s open roots, its
very nature. In a world where companies such as Amazon.com can
patent simple business methods like one-click shopping, says Tim
O’Reilly — the computer book publisher who started campaigning
against patents about a year ago — radical change is required.
“The best thing we can do is keep all patents away from the
software industry,” he says.”
“The chances of such change occurring at the level of patent law
seem remote — computer-related patent applications tripled between
1999 and 2000 alone. But there may be another way: The Foresight
Institute, a nonprofit nanotechnology think tank, will announce
later this month that it is forming an alliance with IP.com, a
Rochester, N.Y., start-up dedicated to protecting intellectual
property through the publication of new ideas. Together, as of May
1, the pair will give open-source programmers and projects the
chance to work within the patent system even as they strive to
overturn it.”