It seems to me that there is a good way for the industry as a whole to address the issue of patent trolls without waiting for legal reform by attacking the econ

It seems to me that there is a good way for the industry as a whole to address the issue of patent trolls without waiting for legal reform by attacking the economics of the business. Trolls make money by simply 1. Amassing patent portfolios (the only real fixed costs for this business) 2. Sending infringement letters to victims (sorry, targets) 3. Walking to the bank to cash the checks of companies who cannot afford a legal battle. Once a troll goes to court, the economics of the business start to fall apart as the legal fees add up and eat into profits. Also, they risk invalidating their patents which jeopardize future revenue streams. It should be possible to create an alliance of companies (Apple, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft are obvious candidates) that have an interest in a strong ecosystem of innovation to put together a fund that makes legal defense grants available to anyone in the mobile/web space who can demonstrate they have a plausible defense case. The amount needed would not be large (less than $20 million a year should be sufficient to cover the entire industry) since just the fact that every kid on the playground now has the ability to face up to the bullies will reduce the bad behavior considerably.