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Xref: sserve comp.org.eff.talk:9575 misc.int-property:645 comp.unix.bsd:7000 Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!psinntp!psinntp!lupine!pepper!mellon From: mellon@ncd.com (Ted Lemon) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk,misc.int-property,alt.suit.att-bsdi,comp.unix.bsd Subject: Re: Patents: What they are. What they aren't. Other factors. Message-ID: <mellon.719770434@pepper> Date: 22 Oct 92 16:13:54 GMT References: <1992Oct17.015308.29380@pegasus.com> <1992Oct18.085201.22747@fcom.cc.utah.edu> <id.X18U.D6J@ferranti.com> <1992Oct20.201929.3183@fcom.cc.utah.edu> Sender: news@NCD.COM Followup-To: comp.org.eff.talk Lines: 24 Nntp-Posting-Host: pepper terry@cs.weber.edu (A Wizard of Earth C) writes: >I think the argument against software patents is required to show deleterious >effects of patent law. You've been given specific examples of deleterious effects of software patents. No specific examples of positive effects of patents have been given. In a value-neutral setting, this would still seem to me to indicate that software patents are a bad thing. However, this is not a value-neutral setting. The Constitution gives Congress the power to grant patents _for_the_benefit_of_society_. It is a specific privilege, granted for a specific reason. Congress does not have the right to grant patents if they do not benefit society. So, the burden of proof is on those who wish to have software patents, not those who do not wish to have them. Could you give some specific examples of how software patents have stimulated innovation to the benefit of society? No hypothetical situations, please. _MelloN_ -- mellon@ncd.com uunet!lupine!mellon Member, League for Programming Freedom | To learn how software patents could cost you your right to program, contact the LPF - league@prep.ai.mit.edu