Fergal Daly writes:
http://quote.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates "If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today's ideas were invented, and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today."
Source: "Challenges and Strategy" memo dated May 16, 1991.
I'd like to include it, but citing a leaked memo seems a bit, I don't know, amateur/unreliable/unprovable/something. IFSO only gets to send one letter (per month anyway), so I wouldn't like to give them any cause to discredit this one.
Also, Harney is probably an MS fan since they provide 300(?) jobs in Ireland. Rather than pointing out the evil of BillyG, we have to point out the negative affect that swpats would have on small/medium biz, new job creation, technological progress, and competition.
I wouldn't mind citing the memo if I could point to another credible source that cites it (like the FTC report), but it's probably no coincidence that politically credible stuff doesn't cite leaked memos. (I don't know, I'm an amateur really, just trying to guess pitfalls and being careful since it's not my home terrain.)
I'm thinking of including some pages from the FTC report in the envelope with the letter, and will highlight a few good bits. FTC URL: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2003/10/innovationrpt.pdf
I'll try to post a draft of the letter on Friday.