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That’s a fair question. Quitting at the first mention of patents would be hard to justify to my wife and family, and in any event would not avoid the situation.

by aristus 12y ago

That’s a fair question. Quitting at the first mention of patents would be hard to justify to my wife and family, and in any event would not avoid the situation. IIRC John had left Facebook while this was in process and was still obliged to sign, per the terms of the employment contract he agreed to when he started. Whether an employee would actually be fired or sued for failure to cooperate is doubtful. But if you wish to avoid any possibility of taint, the only option would be to boycott all patent-holding entities. That would severely limit your employment options in this industry. That's RMS territory. I don't really have an opinion beyond that. Patents, like lawsuits and depositions, are a non-zero risk if you do programming for a living. But they are rare things day-to-day. Deus volent.

stevejohnson 12y ago
Fair enough. I do think there's a middle ground between "actively seeks to write new patents" and "full RMS." It's not typically realistic to avoid working at places that hold software patents, but in my (limited) experience you can at least avoid adding to the problem. Ideally, you could negotiate for the patent clause to be removed from the employment contract before you even begin the job. I understand that's not always possible. I used to work at a company that started out without any software patents, and at some point management decided to encourage the engineers to help generate some. I politely informed my manager that I wouldn't be participating, a few others did the same, and as far as I know none of us were penalized. Sometimes it's possible to just say "I'd really rather not" and have that be the end of it. I realize I'm speaking from a position of privilege, in that I have only myself to support and I live in an area full of employment opportunities. But I do think it's valid to encourage people to put some thought into the outcomes of their actions in this area. Regarding another comment in this thread about Facebook's patent attitude being purely defensive: that may be the case now, and I do believe it is, but in five years, who knows who'll be running the company?

by aristus 12y ago

stevejohnson 12y ago

Fair enough. I do think there's a middle ground between "actively seeks to write new patents" and "full RMS." It's not typically realistic to avoid working at places that hold software patents, but in my (limited) experience you can at least avoid adding to the problem. Ideally, you could negotiate for the patent clause to be removed from the employment contract before you even begin the job. I understand that's not always possible. I used to work at a company that started out without any software patents, and at some point management decided to encourage the engineers to help generate some. I politely informed my manager that I wouldn't be participating, a few others did the same, and as far as I know none of us were penalized. Sometimes it's possible to just say "I'd really rather not" and have that be the end of it. I realize I'm speaking from a position of privilege, in that I have only myself to support and I live in an area full of employment opportunities. But I do think it's valid to encourage people to put some thought into the outcomes of their actions in this area. Regarding another comment in this thread about Facebook's patent attitude being purely defensive: that may be the case now, and I do believe it is, but in five years, who knows who'll be running the company?