For what it's worth, almost all technology patents read like this. I check out patents on http://www.freepatentsonline.com http://www.freepatentsonline.com some

For what it's worth, almost all technology patents read like this. I check out patents on http://www.freepatentsonline.com http://www.freepatentsonline.com sometimes just because it's interesting to see people try to describe incredibly complex processes using the most general terms possible. Most of them seem to describe very common technologies on the web. I don't know how any of them get enforced. I guarantee there is some kind of patent out now for "an interface (possibly a website) that allows users to post messages (possibly comments or urls) to a group and use a signal (possibly voting) to indicate preference (possibly up or down)."