(I lean on the *BSD side of anarchistic, DWTFYL.) Patents + OSS is a huge, under-served point that unfortunately Lessig is no longer working on. I and others

(I lean on the *BSD side of anarchistic, DWTFYL.) Patents + OSS is a huge, under-served point that unfortunately Lessig is no longer working on. I and others that open source tons of code will be the first to wave the FOSS banner all day long, but it's not going change the reality of the present landscape. As such, open source projects and startup founders repeatedly fail to anticipate the consequences of nonparticipating in the patent scheme. If the other side (a company) holds a (shitty) patent, and a project doesn't... they can still squish them like the cockroaches they are should the project become significant. So there's options: either play the game, fight city hall or get fucked by pretending it doesn't exist. Not choosing an action is still a choice. Perhaps one of the larger OSS orgs would show leadership on this to help projects manage this tricky minefield.