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- Patents *might* be a good thing - but not for software
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"The reality is that Microsoft cannot afford to pursue legal recourse on their patents."
I agree. Suing your own customer or your customer's suppliers is not very wise.
"Although software copyrighting used to protect the software developer, the changes in copyright law have made that ineffective for providing protection"
So the solution is to fix the broken Copyright system, not to break the patent system.
"...to obtain a copyright you would have to register a copy of the body of work. With a registered copy of the work, the body of the core algorithms were exposed"
There are simpler ways. In Europe and the UK you obtain copyright as you produce the work. If you want to prove copyright at a point in time then you package the sources/CDs/etc and give them to a lawyer and have them notarised and securely stored. You do not need to expose the algorithms unless you are involved in a lawsuit.
"However, without the patent system in place, it is unlikely that Microsoft would EVER reveal any details about its "trade secrets"..."
Even with a patent system, Microsoft is revealing very little. Why do you think they are appealing multi-million dollar fines? The EU's chief gripe is that Microsoft is calling its implementation of existing standards "trade secrets".
Even the US patent examiners agree that the system is now so broad and so open that it has become essentially worthless and that most patents aren't worth the paper they are written on.
http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-7877/the-examiners-are-revolting - Posted by: bportlock Posted on: 05/23/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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