[Fsfe-ie] Paul Graham's essay on software patents

[Shane M. Coughlan]

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Fergal Daly wrote:
> I thought it was odd how he declared patent trolls to be irredeemably
> evil without any argument. If you fundamentally disagree with sw
> patents then of course they are evil but they are just a rather
> unpleasant symptom of the underlying disease. If you agree with sw
> patents then they are just a result of the transfer rights that come
> with "property" - without the right to transfer your property freely
> you cannot have a market (in fact your property may lose it's value
> altogether unless you are free to sell it to whomever you ike).
> So basically I don't see how you can condemn patent trolls but not
> condemn patents,

Agreed.  He's a good writer, and makes some good points, but he does not
deal with the problem in a clear and coherent manner.  Ultimately he
says "the patent system is bad, patents are good, patent trolls are bad,
we need to buy patents to compete."  That's not really helpful.  If the
current system is indeed bad, contributing to patent creation without
reform is aggravating the problem, and opening up companies to
additional liability from the 'evil' patent trolls.

Shane

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