*BSD News Article 6430


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From: peter@ferranti.com (peter da silva)
Subject: Re: Patents:  What they are.  What they aren't.  Other factors.
Message-ID: <id.6S0U.TRE@ferranti.com>
Organization: Xenix Support, FICC
References: <1992Oct6.071314.16966@netcom.com> <11738.Oct1103.23.3892@virtualnews.nyu.edu> <1992Oct11.043358.5543@netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 17:25:27 GMT
Lines: 33

In article <1992Oct11.043358.5543@netcom.com> mcgregor@netcom.com (Scott Mcgregor) writes:
> I too have many many arguments. It is my opinion that the harms that
> the LPF claims are not at all clearly harmful to society even if they
> have harmed individuals.

They haven't just harmed individuals. For example, the Pike patent prevents
people from building a window system that uses backing store in a certain
way -- which happens to be the obvious and most effective way. This harms
everyone who uses a computer system running a window system, since it forces
them to use about twice as much RAM or a much faster CPU.

> Moreover, even conceding individual harms
> from individual patents against individual people, it is my opinion
> that there is little evidence that overall we aren't benefitted by
> patents,  and the LPF advocates eliminating all software patents even
> if only a few are demonstrably harmful and the mass might be
> beneficial.

The LPF advocates eliminating all software patents because they have found
a number of demonstrably harmful ones and no evidence whatsoever that the
mass might be beneficial. In fact, the best evidence is that there is no
observable benefit to patents on purely software systems.

> > You are unable to exhibit a single beneficial software patent.

> I've attempted to give plausable examples.

But you haven't given a single real example. The opposing side has given many.
-- 
Peter da Silva                                         `-_-'
Ferranti Intl. Ctls. Corp.                              'U` 
Sugar Land, TX  77487-5012           "Heeft u vandaag al uw wolf geknuffeld?"
+1 713 274 5180                       "Tjener, denne ret er stadig levende."