THOSE who have read this site for while probably know that we do not endorse Peer to Patent. After some arguments over at Identi.ca [1, 2] it seemed reasonable to repeat an explanation that we gave here many times before, e.g. [1, 2, 3]. Glyn Moody explains that "it can't hurt if we squish a few software patents, can it?" He actually wrote a whole article in response to some of the latest developments in the UK-IPO. In it, Moody argues:
Anything that stops more bad patents being granted - particularly in the field of software - is to be welcomed. Once the site launches next week, you might want to take a look - and maybe even join in if you see something that deserves to be squelched. It's hard to say what impact this will have on the attempts to patent software, but it certainly can't hurt.
"To really abolish software patents, embrace the campaigns of the FFII, the FSF, ESP, and the FSFE."All the efforts to abolish software patents might in some sense be complementary, but we advise people to work 100% against software patents, not legitimise them with the OIN or with Peer to Patent (to whom the issue is the quality of patents, not software patents in general). Those latter two groups help the agenda of companies like IBM, but they do not do enough to help small companies and individuals without an employer boasting a warchest of around 50,000 patents. To really abolish software patents, embrace the campaigns of the FFII, the FSF, ESP, and the FSFE. Being a conformist does not help much. ⬆
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." --George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists"