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I have a PG question for PG: what problem does this solve? I see 2 problems currently. 1. Microsoft suing Android makers, and other similar examples, where la

by samgro 15y ago

I have a PG question for PG: what problem does this solve? I see 2 problems currently. 1. Microsoft suing Android makers, and other similar examples, where large companies burn billions of dollars of our economy over something pointless. 2. Patent trolls like Intellectual Ventures and their shell companies suing startups. How does this solve either of these problems? Who really needs this?

crenshaw 15y ago
Yeah, I'm not really afraid of Microsoft -- especially if I don't ship a product based on Linux or Android. And patent trolls aren't going to agree to this pledge. Patent trolls worry me the most. I'd like to see a pledge around having the tech community pool together against patent trolls. Not sure how you'd do it, but I'd like to see that.
- beagle3 15y ago
  you should be worried about Microsoft: see the chilling effect case of virtualdub, a Windows-only software.
  - crenshaw 15y ago
    That doesn't scare me much. They were trying to reverse-engineer a MS file format. If I'm doing things like trying to reverse engineer Silverlight DRM or get around PatchGuard, or find a way to circumvent some limitation in a Windows SKU (like installing Media Center on Starter Edition) sure I'd be worried. But if I'm just building product that infringes a patent they have, I'm not worried.
veyron 15y ago
There was a case of a startup shoe sales site with a really elegant interface for selecting the exact type of shoe you wanted. Basically, it allowed you to see many very similar styles on one page to be able to compare similar offerings from different labels. I wish I could remember the name, but a recently VC-funded startup used a patent to go after the first startup, and they ended up closing shop.
tlb 15y ago
It solves the chilling effect of patents on startups. Many startups have avoided entire domains because of patents. Large enough companies can negotiate reasonable license terms or fight patents in court, but small startups cannot afford the risk of a dispute.
- tzs 15y ago
  > It solves the chilling effect of patents on startups How?

by samgro 15y ago

crenshaw 15y ago

Yeah, I'm not really afraid of Microsoft -- especially if I don't ship a product based on Linux or Android. And patent trolls aren't going to agree to this pledge. Patent trolls worry me the most. I'd like to see a pledge around having the tech community pool together against patent trolls. Not sure how you'd do it, but I'd like to see that.

beagle3 15y ago
you should be worried about Microsoft: see the chilling effect case of virtualdub, a Windows-only software.
- crenshaw 15y ago
  That doesn't scare me much. They were trying to reverse-engineer a MS file format. If I'm doing things like trying to reverse engineer Silverlight DRM or get around PatchGuard, or find a way to circumvent some limitation in a Windows SKU (like installing Media Center on Starter Edition) sure I'd be worried. But if I'm just building product that infringes a patent they have, I'm not worried.

veyron 15y ago

There was a case of a startup shoe sales site with a really elegant interface for selecting the exact type of shoe you wanted. Basically, it allowed you to see many very similar styles on one page to be able to compare similar offerings from different labels. I wish I could remember the name, but a recently VC-funded startup used a patent to go after the first startup, and they ended up closing shop.

tlb 15y ago

It solves the chilling effect of patents on startups. Many startups have avoided entire domains because of patents. Large enough companies can negotiate reasonable license terms or fight patents in court, but small startups cannot afford the risk of a dispute.

tzs 15y ago
> It solves the chilling effect of patents on startups How?