3 ms·

It is not possible to write any software without infringing one or more software patents. This is getting truly absurd.

• vaksel 15y ago
  yeah it's ridiculous. i.e. you just used the term "software" on the internet, if we applied the patent law for software to that, you'd be found guilty of infringing. what I'd like to see is a community effort by programmers to create an arbitration process that bypasses the court system. Software disputes should be judged by those who actually know the topic, instead of some judge who has to rely on "expert" testimony that get paid by the patent trolls
• ltamake 15y ago
  Couldn't agree more. Patents are so incredibly flawed -- they need to be scrapped in the digital age.
• sehugg 15y ago
  Not only that, but it's ironically in your best interest not to even read others' patents lest you be subject to treble damages. So the original purpose of the patent system (trading temporarily monopoly for disclosure) seems almost moot.
• jlouis 15y ago
  Well, BitTorrent as a system still needs to infringe on the patent claims. Nobody says it does yet. In principle, I could make a patent for producing yellow rubber ducks efficiently, and then claim that the BitTorrent code infringes. While the patent is probably less far off than my yellow-rubber-duck one, the hint of truth is in there: it is highly likely that the protocol is not infringing at all on the patent.