A business model based on patents and open source.

[David Picon Alvarez]

Hi,

There's an article on groklaw about a business model based on sw patents and
open source. Besides the patents being, from my understanding, purely data
processing stuff which shouldn't get patented in the first place, the scheme
is rather insidious, since it enforces through the patent licence that
internal modifications for one's own use of the software must be distributed
to the public. While distributing improvements to the public is generally a
good thing, it seems to me that this is an excessive requirement that
renders the scheme non-free. You can get more info at URL below:
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2006091118502284

I believe free software advocacy organizations should oppose this use of
patent law, even if it is more permissive towards free software than the
norm. Otherwise pro-swpat people will start saying that "even those free
software radical lunatics think patents are OK sometimes".

--David.