11.28.12
Alex Tabarrok on Ending Software Patents
Alex Tabarrok’s video about software patents
If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.
Pages that cross-reference this one
A Single Comment
What Else is New
Today's General News: Extraordinary Power and Extraordinary Surveillance
Links for the day
Ubuntu News: Wallpapers, Beta, Phones, Chromium...
Some of the past week's news about Ubuntu, the most hyped up distribution of GNU/Linux
IBM Turns Into More of a Patent Troll Amid Layoffs, Gradual Demise of Real Products
IBM turns out to be using software patents in order to make money at the expense of much smaller companies; the threat of software patents resurfaces in India
Censorship Watch: Default Filtering in the UK, Censorship Using Copyrights, Links as Crime
The latest flavours of censorship around the world, including the Western world where even links to sites are now treated like offenses
Copyright News: EU Copyright Consultation Not Serious, Google 'Gets' It on Copyrights
Realisation that data can and will be copied, and the building of copyright law to accommodate this new reality
News Roundup: Public Services in Europe Rush to Free Software
Recent reports from around Europe, providing evidence of Free software adoption by governments
DroNSA: Targeted Assassinations, Surveillance on Torture Reporters/Researchers, and Snowden's Latest Speeches
Links for the day
Education Freedom: Growth of FOSS and Sharing (e.g. Open Access) in Educational Institutes
Links for the day
LibreOffice Stories: Birthday, New Release (4.2), Web Site, TDF Board
Links for the day
OpenStack Advocacy and Promotion (Especially From Red Hat) and Other Stack Initiatives
Links for the day
Recent and Upcoming Events
Links for the day
Desktop Environments News: KDE, GNOME, XFCE...
Links for the day
News Roundup: Free Software/Open Source Software
Reverse-chronological news summary with headlines of interest about Free/Open Source software
Weekend News: Surveillance, Drones, CIA, and Ukraine
More weekend news (plus early Monday news) about issues scarcely covered in the wider media/press
Richard Stallman on Storing Files Online
Dr. Richard Stallman, the Free Software Foundation's founder, talks about storage in so-called "clouds"
Weekend News: Surveillance, Drones, Torture, and More
News about power and abuse thereof, including -- for the most part -- surveillance
Links 8/3/2014: Distros
Links for the day
Links 8/3/2014: Games
Links for the day
Links 8/3/2014: Instructionals
Links for the day
Political News That Matters
Links for the day
MDV News: OpenMandriva Lx 2014 on Its Way, Mageia Has Issue, PCLinuxOS Has New Magazine
Links for the day
Secret Deals -- Not GnuTLS -- a Threat to GNU/Linux Security
Shifted focus (diversion towards non-issues like the GnuTLS flaw) and what we really need to watch out for when it comes to surveillance on GNU/Linux users
Leaving Windows to Rot
Windows XP is almost officially dead now, so rather than cling onto it (as parts of China reportedly do) one needs to move to GNU/Linux
Red Hat Joins the Joke Which is Amazon's 'Secure' Federal 'Cloud'
Another Red Hat move which puts citizens' data in the hands of unaccountable spies and their corporate partners/accomplices
Fedora 21 Release Just 7 Months Away
Red Hat's Fedora 21 will come out in the middle of October, according to a newly-published schedule
Debian's Importance is Growing
Updates and news from the Debian camp, focusing on the silent or lesser-acknowledged role of this international project in computing
Arch Linux is Becoming More Mainstream
Arch (GNU/)Linux is used by a lot of people and inspiring big derivatives such as Manjaro, Chakra GNU/Linux, and more
IBM Not the Only 'Sugar Daddy' of GNU/Linux
As IBM declines it is worth remembering that GNU/Linux no longer rests on the shoulders of few giants
Privacy, Spying on Congress, Drones, Ukraine Intervention, and More
Links for the day
A Parade of (GNU/)Linux-powered Mobile Operating Systems
Links for the day
Content is available under CC-BY-SA
Michael said,
November 28, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Innovation cost and imitation costs are *not* the same in software. The fact that some software is open does not change this. The threat of litigation *should* stop those like Samsung from copying others as they do. There is no reason the Samsungs of the world cannot come up with their own innovative solutions (and in some areas Samsung does!)
Alex whines about the current system of protection but offers no other way for innovative companies to protect their investments… and such protected innovations benefit the whole tech industry.
With that said, the tech world moves fast. 20 years seems a long time. I think 10 would make sense. And no Disney-style IP protection extensions. Those are just idiotic. But, Alex, speak of solutions – do not just whine about how things are.