> When reading this the first word that comes to my mind is
> chilling. That the discussion of technology issues revolving around
> published ideas stops these ideas from being discussed. I repeat
> chilling.

Welcome to software patents.  Note, I'm not discouraging the
discussion of technology issues - just don't talk about the patents.
They key is "knowingly infringing" - if you know a work is covered by
a patent, and you implement it anyway, it's major badness.  It's less
bad if you accidentally infringe.  So, don't go looking for trouble.

If you want to work on something you know is covered by a patent, you
have to be careful.  Hire a patent attorney to make sure the thing
you're inventing is sufficiently different from the known patents,
and/or you have appropriate licenses from the patent holder.  But,
don't do it in public.


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