Summary: Another very ugly aspect of government-enforced monopolies on computer algorithms

A COUPLE of stories caught our attention in recent days. One of them says that an "Anti-Piracy Patent Stops Students From Sharing Textbooks". To quote:

A new patent granted this week aims to stop students from sharing textbooks, both off and online. The patent awarded to economics professor Joseph Henry Vogel hopes to embed the publishing world even further into academia. Under his proposal, students can only participate in courses when they buy an online access code which allows them to use the course book. No access code means a lower grade, all in the best interests of science.

A piece titled "[a] heartbreaking look at software patents" is widely cited by bloggers right now and it's saying that:

My friend and former colleague from SFLC, Dan Ravicher, wrote to me about this little girl who relies on an app to speak. The app is under threat for patent infringement and Apple has already removed it from the itunes store.

When will the government take notice of people's plea for the end of software patents? Everyone in society suffers from them, not just developers, let alone FOSS developers. ⬆