The State of Software Patents in the US, Resistance in Europe

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2008-02-11 00:02:23 UTC
Modified: 2008-02-11 00:02:23 UTC

Wikimedia Commons has the following image in the public domain. It nicely illustrates the increasing complexity of software development, at least in the United States.

Software patent on rise

Regarding protests against software patents in Europe, Zoobab has added a video to YouTube. It is one which we did not include in the previous batch, so here it is. ⬆

Social Control Media Does Not Improve Reach, It Wastes a Lot of Time: many people still think that no presence in Social Control Media necessarily means invisibility
Links 02/06/2026: New York Times Debunks "Hey Hi (AI) Layoffs" (Excuse, False Narrative), Sheinbaum Publicly Bemoans US Meddling: Links for the day
What Efforts to Cancel Richard Stallman Ought to Teach Us About the Media, Including Very Large British Publishers: Richard Stallman is like a modern-age Alfred Dreyfus
Web Censorship Benefits the Corrupt and the Criminal: More so when corrupt politicians are in charge
Have a "Lifetime" Without Microsoft: The online rage over this is still ongoing
Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine Undoing Censorship of Corporate Wrongdoing: That won't go away anymore
"For Entertainment Purposes Only" But Everyone Must Adopt It for Work and Governance, Say Anti-Scientific Technocrats: "The present mentality around "AI" is like driving to the gym to use a treadmill - it's walking for people who hate fresh air and beautiful changing scenery."
Gemini Links 03/06/2026: Ian Murdock's Ex-wife Footprint in Debian and Alhena 5.6.1 Released: Links for the day
Irish Company statCounter Recognises It Overestimated Microsoft Windows' Market Share in Ireland: it seems like the Irish people are gradually moving away from Windows
Corporate Media Participates in the Lie That Mass Layoffs at GitLab and Loss of Geographic Footprint in More Than a Third of Countries is "AI" and Thus "Success Story": There's no way to spin this as positive news
Slop Prompting is Not a Coding Skill and Slop Deserves Shunning: Red Hat is hypocritically shunning the very same thing it keeps promoting
IBM colleagues "handed out a PIP and then right after the end date they are gone": Some go into early 'retirement' to save face
SLAPP Censorship - Part 96 Out of 200: When You Receive Death Threats From Anonymous Sockpuppets/Burner Accounts Connected to People Who Strangle Women and Tell Women to Kill Themselves: Women are not objects and my wife ought not be mentioned in "threats to kill" (how cops have described this)
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: A Tale of Two Antónios - Introducing the Other António: António Costa
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 02, 2026: IRC logs for Tuesday, June 02, 2026
Advertisements as Articles in The Register MS: Trust in media
Despite Mass Layoffs and Culls Dubbed "Buyouts" Google's Debt Doubled in a Year and It's Desperate for Money (to Pay Salaries and Bills): Google and GAFAM in general have mass layoffs because they have no clear route towards profitability
Gemini Links 02/06/2026: Arch Linux WriterDeck and Papyrix Reader: Links for the day
Bloggers Still Have Considerable Impact on This Planet: Nowadays, in academia almost anywhere in the world, there's growing expectation that lecturers will spend not much of the time doing research or even teaching
The Firing Line Against Techrights: Tomorrow we'll tell a story about campaigns to intimidate us with death threats
The Cyber Show on the Fight Against Technofascism: It's very long (all combined), but nevertheless refreshing
After Threats to Greenland Northern Europe Seems to be Moving Away From Microsoft Windows Even Faster: The facts on the ground are, more people/businesses/institutions "get the message"
Claim of 500+ IBM Red Hat Layoffs With Termination Next Month: IBM is doing great... at hiding internal affairs
Slop Did Not Rewire Democracy, It's a Giant Flop: we already see slop giants accepting they'll never make money
The Register MS Embeds in Articles "SPONSORED LINKS" That Link to "AI" Ponzi Scheme/Scam: The circular financing giants are allocating budget for the spam, as do the banks (lenders)
Many Countries Divest From Microsoft: new numbers at statCounter today
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: A Tale of Two Antónios - On the Campaign Trail in Brussels: Part 1
SEO is an Acronym That Stands for Slop Engine Orientation: The Web changed a lot when Web directories, portals, and then social control media gained popularity
IRC Network OFTC is Shedding Off Servers: Down to 17
Julian Assange's Counsel Jennifer Robinson Has Just Won an Award: Jennifer Robinson is relatively young
Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (Swiss Federal Railways) and Richard Stallman: It seems like RMS is receiving endorsement or at least belated recognition from very high-profile institutions
Almost 30 Years After Rob Malda Made Slashdot It Still Inspires New Implementations: Maybe the issue isn't Slash per se, just the complexity of it (which SoylentNews complained about in the past)
Links 02/06/2026: "The Infosec Phrasebook", 'Perfect Randomness' and "Leaving the Tech World Professionally": Links for the day
Faking Demand for Slop: Google's Search Prompt Becomes Slop Prompt (Bait, Switch, Fake Usage): If there is no consent, then it's unsustainable
When You Give People (or Companies) Money to Buy Your Own Products and Then Call It "Revenue": A lot of modern "economics" don't benefit ordinary people (all they get is high inflation rates); they're devaluing money by faking economic activity
IBM is Self-Detonating, the Cheeto-Infused Rally is Another Con by Don: pump and dump
"Quantum" as the "Next Big" Bubble: disappointing and delivering nothing
Links 02/06/2026: "$1.5 Trillion Defense Budget Benefits Billionaire Cheeto Mussolini Supporters", US "Plans to Criminalize Sleeping Outside": Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/06/2026: Organising Oneself and Killing Off Distracting "Notifications": Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 95 Out of 200: The Growing Risk of Tolerating Men Who Abuse and Physically Assault Women: FOSS should not be a "safe harbour" or "hideout" for criminals
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 01, 2026: IRC logs for Monday, June 01, 2026
Rust is a Disaster for Both GNU and Linux, But 'Linux' Foundation (GKH) Keeps Promoting It Despite the Problems: And non-GPL licences
IBM's CEO and his "pump and dump scheme" ("Arvind's lies about quantum"): Don't be misled by Wall Street
Gemini Links 01/06/2026: Xylophone Essay, Ham Radio, and Slop Contaminating USENET/Newsgroups: Links for the day
How to Tackle Corruption Effectively and Gradually: In my personal, humble experience
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: A Tale of Two Antónios: "Campaign for the Re-Appointment of the President"
Links 01/06/2026: Patent Applicant Disclosures Drop After the January 2025 IDS Surcharge, "China Exports Surveillance": Links for the day
Links 01/06/2026: Irreversible GAFAM Bans and "The Pirate Bay Remains Resilient": Links for the day
Running and Writing Sites for People, Not Bots (Including Search Engines): Had those sites spent more time focusing on RSS feeds (not social control media "games") and less on SEO (trying to game search engines), they wouldn't be sobbing now
SBB, the Swiss Railroads, Want to Hear Richard Stallman: Can Dr. Stallman persuade key decision makers to adopt not only "Linux" but also Software Freedom (not the same thing), as he did in South American before? Or like he did in Kerala?
Resumes and Vanity Pages: Wikipedia is fast becoming a glorified marketing company
Trusting Microsoft is Foolish: Mr. Rossmann says they "gaslight customers" in their Web site, but it goes a lot further than this
Techrights in a Nutshell, in Very Generic Terms: "for dummies"
SLAPP Censorship - Part 94 Out of 200: SLAPP by Garrett's Litigation Buddy Started 20 Months Ago, He Has Not Even Put in His Defence Yet!: This is what happens when one deals with incels and misogynists who promote slop and Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 31, 2026: IRC logs for Sunday, May 31, 2026
Gemini Links 01/06/2026: Buckingham Palace Garden Party, TUI Annoyances, Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology: Links for the day

The State of Software Patents in the US, Resistance in Europe

Recent Techrights' Posts