Originally posted at the Ubuntu Forums
Original Post:
I think patent laws should really be revised, because currently, you can patent something even if you do not own the Intellectual Property in its entirety. People keep whining and complaining about it, but the thing is that the law will never be revised unless you become active and talk to your lawmakers about it. The patent issues have gotten ridiculous and with the recent patent lawsuit against Google, Microsoft, and Apple over image previews, things just seem like they will get worse.
The patent systems in all countries started out as ways for inventors to protect their rights, but unfortunately it seems that greed, recessions, and tanking stocks have corrupted to patent system and have destroyed the moral fiber and integrity that software companies once had.
This is why I am asking, nay, imploring, that everyone start petitions, write letters, just do something to revise the patent laws, or remove software patents all together! Developing countries depend on free software and due to most of the Free and open source software organizations living in “patent warzones”, these distributors will shut down and these countries will no longer have any way to obtain their Free and open source software.
So please, write to your local lawmakers and make petitions (real ones, not online ones as they hold little weight), to revise software patent laws so that we can keep our freedom. Software should truly be unpatentable. Currently there are 300 lobbyists for every lawmaker, and unless you get the word out to stop software patents, the lobbyists who are paid by the greedy companies trying to use patents as unlawful monopolistic practices will just keep winning. The Free Software Foundation cannot do it alone! The Free and open source software community has given so much to you, isn’t it time you gave some back?
Reply to nothing:
Wow, I am stunned. I posted this almost a day ago, and none but two voices of agreement? Is this the true Linux community? A group of cowards who leave trying to save their cherished operating system to a group of 100 people (The Free Software Foundation). Microsoft has hundreds, possibly around a thousand lobbyists being paid to pump information into lawmaker’s heads. Microsoft constantly claims that Linux infringes over 200+ of its patents, and you sit there and do nothing while they claim royalties from Linux distributors such as Novell and Xandros?! The least you could do would be to write a letter to your lawmakers that would take 20 minutes of your time. The Free Software Foundation is trying constantly to save Linux’s good name while you just sit there and reap the once-a-year successes!
Well you know what? I pity you. I pity you all, have you learned nothing from years of schooling? Did you not learn the fact that people who didn’t stand up for their rights were crushed and oppressed? The United States is a democracy, and so are the countries of the European Union! You can write letters, you can start petitions. The government of a market economy is much stronger than people think, if we got enough signatures on a real-life petition, we could get the government to make Microsoft reveal all of the patents that Microsoft is claiming Linux infringes. Why? Because what Microsoft is doing is putting heavy pressure on competitors, without giving ways to fix the problem. This is a form of monopolistic behavior and should be stopped. The hands of democratic government relies on the people! Without you, the corporations will keep getting stronger and this “Free” software you love so much will cease to exist!
If Microsoft revealed the patents infringed, then the Linux community would quickly replace them with Free alternatives, and Microsoft would have no more leverage.
If Microsoft sues a single Linux user, then Novell, IBM, Redhat, and Sun will sue Microsoft for all of the patents it may infringe. Novell and IBM have a particularly high amount of leverage here because of IBM patents Microsoft may have infringed during the DOS era, and Novell because of all of the networking patents it owns. This patent war would cause the companies to die picking at each other’s throats. Do you really want this to happen? The end of the IT industry? I love Microsoft, I am not afraid to say that. I love Free and Open Source software. Both have made good contributions to the software world, but one is being constantly tormented while the other sits still preparing for a future patent war. I don’t want the end of the IT industry, I want all IT companies to flourish with no monopolistic practices.
If this is what the Linux community has become, a bunch of spineless cowards not defending themselves, then I want no part of it.
So please, write to your lawmakers and politicians and write petitions about getting Microsoft to disclose this information, for if we can solve this problem, then Linux’s name will be cleared, along with other Free and Open Source projects.
Would some of the greatest men ever to live not agree?
“Take sides! Silence only encourages the tormentor!”
- Elie Wiesel
“Give me liberty or give me death!”
-Patrick Henry
The community has given so much to you, yet you just take it without giving back? The developers are smart, I believe that they could find new ways to implement things without infringing patents.
As you can see, I was pretty ****ed off at the fact that no one had replied in a course of ~19 hours. I just thought that was plain ridiculous that the Linux community as a whole could just let this happen, while the FSF struggles to fight for their rights. It just makes me plain sick.
I would like to ask that everyone write a letter to congress to get Microsoft to reveal the infringing patents or make them abolished all together, or atleast the silly ones, such as the IsNot operator.
/My two cents
