[Fsfe-ie] Patent letter, new, long

[Ian Clarke]

On 23 Jan 2005, at 21:19, Ciaran O'Riordan wrote:
> Ian Clarke writes:
> I am a bit concerned that the explanation of the problems with software
>> patents misses the wood for the trees somewhat
>
>> I'm confused by this, I thought sections 1 A&B got to the core of the
> problem and showed the harm.

My feeling is that neither of these really conveys the fundamental  
problem sufficiently, namely that the monopoly granted by software  
patents greatly outweighs any effort required by the inventor.  I don't  
deny that this could be inferred from the letter, but there is a big  
difference between something being inferable, and something being  
stated clearly.  It is a question of emphasis, not factual content.

>> http://locut.us/~ian/blog/archives/39-What-is-wrong-with-software- 
>> patents.html
>
> I skimmed the article since the net cafe I'm in is threatening to  
> close, but
> I couldn't see how it relates to or highlights a problem in the letter.
> You'll have to spell it out for me.

My feeling is that the letter doesn't explain why software patents are  
fundamentally a bad thing, rather it describes several negative effects  
of software patents.  The article tries to explain why software patents  
are fundamentally bad, and the negative effect you describe would  
naturally follow from such an understanding.

If you don't see this distinction, I'm afraid I can't really thing of  
anything more I can say to further illuminate my point :-/

Ian.

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