> Is there any meaningful way to engage in activism or civil disobedience related to software patents? I support the FSF and EFF with donations, but I want to d

> Is there any meaningful way to engage in activism or civil disobedience related to software patents? I support the FSF and EFF with donations, but I want to do more. You can boycott companies that abuse the patent system the most. Patent trolls don't have anything to boycott of course, but Microsoft definitely does. I refuse to use Windows, XBOX, Windows Phone, etc., and I do my best to influence my non-techie friends and family to do the same. If enough people that understand the dangers of software patents do that, it will have an impact on Microsoft's bottom line, and potentially make it change its ways. For those that say "Microsoft is just playing the game, we need to get lawmakers to change the rules," the fact is that software patents exist because major companies like Microsoft support them. If Microsoft, Apple, IBM and Google went to Washington DC tomorrow and opposed software patents, they would be undone.