Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gervase Markham Outlines the Case Against Software Patents

Gervase Markham
By Didyktile, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.



Summary: "Innovation in software proceeds at a rapid pace, and does not need the “encouragement” of patents," explains Markham

The former Governator at the Mozilla Corporation, Gervase Markham (the programmer, not the poet), has something to say about software patents. "In 2006," according to Wikipedia, "he won a Google-O'Reilly Open Source Award as "Best Community Activist" [...] and has been undergoing treatment for metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma."

"As we have stressed so many times before, almost every software developer is against software patents."We were very saddened to learn some months ago that his time alive might be very limited. His words about software patents are therefore more critical/important to preserve.

Spotted via the blog (in Planet Mozilla) of the developer, Gervase Markham, was this piece titled "A Case for the Total Abolition of Software Patents" (later mentioned in Soylent News as well). "A little while back," it says, "I wrote a piece outlining the case for the total abolition (or non-introduction) of software patents, as seen through the lens of “promoting innovation”. Few of the arguments are new, but the “Narrow Road to Patent Goodness” presentation of the information is quite novel as far as I know, and may form a good basis for anyone trying to explain all the possible problems with software (or other) patents."

From the introduction:

Very few software patents make it down the road to patent goodness. The vast majority cost the company money to file and then lie gathering dust, acting only to provide a vague chilling effect on innovation in that area for those brave enough to do a patent search. A few become famous and tie up an enormous amount of industry and lawyer time and money. And almost none achieve that fabled goal of protecting the small inventor from the large rapacious company which wants to “steal his idea” and leave him penniless. If you add to that poor hit-rate the negative systemic effects from having a software patent system, it seems to me that the conclusion becomes obvious. Innovation in software proceeds at a rapid pace, and does not need the “encouragement” of patents. Software patents are a problem for the industry now, and will only be a bigger one in the future. We should work to end them.


We are going to keep this archived in case the domain expires in the future. As we have stressed so many times before, almost every software developer is against software patents. Patent law firms don't like to talk about it.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Who really owns Debian: Ubuntu or Google?
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
 
[Meme] Reserving Scorn for Those Who Expose the Misconduct
they like to frame truth-tellers as 'harassers'
Why the Articles From Daniel Pocock (FSFE, Fedora, Debian Etc. Insider) Still Matter a Lot
Revisionism will try to suggest that "it's not true" or "not true anymore" or "it's old anyway"...
Links 03/05/2024: Canada Euthanising Its Poor and Disabled, Call for Julian Assange's Freedom
Links for the day
Dashamir Hoxha & Debian harassment
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Maria Glukhova, Dmitry Bogatov & Debian Russia, Google, debian-private leaks
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Keeping Computers at the Hands of Their Owners
There's a reason why this site's name (or introduction) does not obsess over trademarks and such
In May 2024 (So Far) statCounter's Measure of Linux 'Market Share' is Back at 7% (ChromeOS Included)
for several months in a row ChromeOS (that would be Chromebooks) is growing
Links 03/05/2024: Microsoft Shutting Down Xbox 360 Store and the 360 Marketplace
Links for the day
Evidence: Ireland, European Parliament 2024 election interference, fake news, Wikipedia, Google, WIPO, FSFE & Debian
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Enforcing the Debian Social Contract with Uncensored.Deb.Ian.Community
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 03/05/2024: Antenna Needs Your Gemlog, a Look at Gemini Get
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 02, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, May 02, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Jonathan Carter & Debian: fascism hiding in broad daylight
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Gunnar Wolf & Debian: fascism, anti-semitism and crucifixion
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Links 01/05/2024: Take-Two Interactive Layoffs and Post Office (Horizon System, Proprietary) Scandal Not Over
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 01, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 01, 2024
Embrace, Extend, Replace the Original (Or Just Hijack the Word 'Sudo')
First comment? A Microsoft employee
Gemini Links 02/05/2024: Firewall Rules Etiquette and Self Host All The Things
Links for the day
Red Hat/IBM Crybullies, GNOME Foundation Bankruptcy, and Microsoft Moles (Operatives) Inside Debian
reminder of the dangers of Microsoft moles inside Debian
PsyOps 007: Paul Tagliamonte wanted Debian Press Team to have license to kill
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
IBM Culling Workers or Pushing Them Out (So That It's Not Framed as Layoffs), Red Hat Mentioned Repeatedly Only Hours Ago
We all know what "reorg" means in the C-suite
IBM Raleigh Layoffs (Home of Red Hat)
The former CEO left the company exactly a month ago
Paul R. Tagliamonte, the Pentagon and backstabbing Jacob Appelbaum, part B
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Links 01/05/2024: Surveillance and Hadopi, Russia Clones Wikipedia
Links for the day
Links 01/05/2024: FCC Takes on Illegal Data Sharing, Google Layoffs Expand
Links for the day
Links 01/05/2024: Calendaring, Spring Idleness, and Ads
Links for the day
Paul Tagliamonte & Debian: White House, Pentagon, USDS and anti-RMS mob ringleader
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Jacob Appelbaum character assassination was pushed from the White House
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Why We Revisit the Jacob Appelbaum Story (Demonised and Punished Behind the Scenes by Pentagon Contractor Inside Debian)
If people who got raped are reporting to Twitter instead of reporting to cops, then there's something deeply flawed
Free Software Foundation Subpoenaed by Serial GPL Infringers
These attacks on software freedom are subsidised by serial GPL infringers
Red Hat's Official Web Site is Promoting Microsoft
we're seeing similar things at Canonical's Ubuntu.com
Enrico Zini & Debian: falsified harassment claims
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
European Parliament Elections 2024: Daniel Pocock Running as an Independent Candidate
I became aware that Daniel Pocock had decided to enter politics
Publicly Posting in Social Control Media About Oneself Makes It Public Information
sheer hypocrisy on privacy is evident in the Debian mailing lists
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 30, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 30, 2024