Comments on: Software Patents: Our Industry’s Nuclear Weapon http://davybrion.com/blog/2009/12/software-patents-our-industrys-nuclear-weapon/ inquisitive: adjective. given to inquiry, research, or asking questions; eager for knowledge; intellectually curious Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:42:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Flashhttp://davybrion.com/blog/2009/12/software-patents-our-industrys-nuclear-weapon/comment-page-1/#comment-23349 Flash Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:26:10 +0000 http://davybrion.com/blog/?p=2136#comment-23349 Patents for software are a waste of time. Lets face it stealing other peoples ideas leads to competition which results in innovation. There is nothing worse than someone patenting an idea then never using it. Patents for software are a waste of time. Lets face it stealing other peoples ideas leads to competition which results in innovation. There is nothing worse than someone patenting an idea then never using it.

]]> By: Markhttp://davybrion.com/blog/2009/12/software-patents-our-industrys-nuclear-weapon/comment-page-1/#comment-23348 Mark Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:00:14 +0000 http://davybrion.com/blog/?p=2136#comment-23348 I agree. The worst thing about patents is parallel, independent invention. One person patents, the other does not. How can you patent an idea that two or more people most likely WILL discover/invent independently? It's madness.John Carmack has done some fantastic ranting on this subject. I can't find the "Carmack's Reverse" rant, but it's worth a read if you can find it. Basically: Creative (the sound card dudes) and Carmack independently developed a shadowing algorithm. Creative patented it and forced id to modify Doom 3 to incorporate their EAX technology. It's particularly galling because Carmack is a legend when it comes to knowledge sharing and generally being a decent guy. If the situation was the other way around, he would've been pleased to see someone else arriving at his own solution. I agree. The worst thing about patents is parallel, independent invention. One person patents, the other does not. How can you patent an idea that two or more people most likely WILL discover/invent independently? It’s madness.

John Carmack has done some fantastic ranting on this subject. I can’t find the “Carmack’s Reverse” rant, but it’s worth a read if you can find it. Basically: Creative (the sound card dudes) and Carmack independently developed a shadowing algorithm. Creative patented it and forced id to modify Doom 3 to incorporate their EAX technology. It’s particularly galling because Carmack is a legend when it comes to knowledge sharing and generally being a decent guy. If the situation was the other way around, he would’ve been pleased to see someone else arriving at his own solution.

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